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Been a while since I talked about karate.<\/p>\nBeen a while since I talked about karate.<\/p>\n
I started working on the tonfa, a side handled baton descended from a grain grinding implement. It is believed to have been first “weaponized” by the okinawans, and bears a strong resemblance to the riot batons carried by police.<\/p>\n
There are lots of fun ways to use a tonfa. You can poke with the ends, block with the long arm paralleling your forearm, pivot it out in a sweeping motion, and even flip it around and grab the long end for use as a club. I find that it flows very naturally as an extension of what I’m already trying to do. It makes my arms just a bit stronger and exends my reach a few inches, but the motions are otherwise quite similar to the unarmed motions of shaolin kenpo. <\/p>\n
It also hurts like stink when you clip your knee or other boney part with it. My body is, once again, covered in small bruises.<\/p>\n
I like the tonfa a lot. Honestly, it’s the first of the weapons I’ve studied that I would actually like to have with me, were I to get into a fight. The staff can be foiled by someone getting in too close (though a good staff practitioner would be able to prevent that in most cases), and the escrima sticks are fun, but they’re just sticks. Nunchucks and kamas? Forget it.<\/p>\n
There is also distinct joy in the fact that I’m one of the only people at my school to learn this weapon. The school doesn’t even own a pair, everyone who learns them buys their own. They’re a bit off the beaten path in terms of the standard weapons progression. I like the fact that even the most senior black belts (with two exceptions) don’t have this particular knowledge. <\/p>\n
I’ve also gotten to the part where I seem to have all the basic material that I’m going to get prior to testing for black belt. Now come the curve-balls to grind the knowledge into my bones. Sure, I know the formal exercises, but it still throws me to do them facing 45 degrees off from the way we usually work. I’ve got a pile of of punch response combinations but now I get to do them left handed, or in some random order. I like the fact that there is a depth to this study, and that there are any number of variables that I can tweak to get a much more difficult workout. Even deciding to drop my stance a few inches will turn a simple run-through into a sweat dripping exertion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Been a while since I talked about karate.<\/p>\n
I started working on the tonfa, a side handled baton descended from a grain grinding implement. It is believed to have been first “weaponized” by the okinawans, and bears a strong resemblance to the riot batons carried by police.<\/p>\n