WEAPONS PROGRAM (HIGH YELLOW+)

The mastery of weapons is a skill that all students can achieve.  We have introduced a new grading system in 2009 that allows all students to achieve their Black Belt in Weaponary!  Each weapon has four levels, the forth being their black belt in that particular weapon.  Students will receive a patch for each weapon and a certificate upon successful grading of each level.  This will allow those students who excel in weaponary to improve and progress to the next level.  A Certificate for Black Belt in weaponary will be awarded to students for each weapon they successfully grade for.  

A grading fee applies for weapons grading.

BO STAFF:

A Bo or Kon, is a long staff traditionally made of tapered hard wood like white oak, bamboo or for training purposes rotan.  Modern day bo staffs used for extreme weapons training are made of light weight wood or graphite to allow the user more dynamic and faster movements.

Although the Bo is now used as a weapon, its use is believed by some to have evolved from non-combative uses.  The Bo-Staff is thought to have been used to balance buckets or baskets.  Typically, one would carry baskets of harvested crops or buckets of water or milk or fish, one at each end of the bo, that is balanced across the middle of the back at the shoulder blades. There are stick fighting techniques native to just about every country on every continent.

DOUBLE KAMA'S:  

Kama are Okinawan and Japanese traditional farming implements sinilar to the sickle used for reaping crops and also employed as a weapon.  Kama are often included in weapon training segments of tae kwon do, karate and in some kung fu systems.   The kama is a formidable weapon against weapons such as the sword or Bo because of the curved blades- users are able to trap or block such long weapons with one kama and attack the opponent with the second.

SAI:

Sai is the Ryukyu name for a traditional Okinawan weapon also used in India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.  It is believed the Sai was always a weapon.  With skill, it can be used against a long sword by trapping the swords blade in the sai's handle.  The Sai is typically used in pairs, with one in each hand.  Included in kata's are a variety of blocks, parries, strikes, and captures against attackers from aoo directions and height levels.  The use of the point, knuckle and central bar is emphasised, as well as rapid grip changes for multiple strikes and blocks.