Weapons: Extension Of Discipline
weapons
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I am a forms girl by heart. I love forms, but my second love is weapons. I have not dived into this facet of martial arts as much as I have wanted to in past years. Right now, my weapon of choice is Nunchucks.
My first Weapon
My first weapon was the nunchucks. I remember practicing the same motions repeatedly and then the same combinations repeatedly. It’s been a while since I last spun them around, and after a few drops and a few pushups, everything started to flow again with the same motions and combinations. I want to learn some new tricks and combinations to grow with this weapon, but it’s always basics first when learning something new and just training in general. Basics create a solid foundation for all the upper-level tricks. You have to crawl before you can walk.
My favorite techniques are the spins. I used to be very good with doubles, but as I get back into it, I know I will need to focus on one set on each side before transitioning back up to doubles. Each hand has to be able to move independently of the other for most combinations to work properly. Very rarely are the two sides doing the same thing, but both need to be moving.
My Second Weapon...
The second weapon that I learned was the BO Staff when I was training in Kuksoolwon. This was a change for me as Nunchuck is more fluid and the BO staff is more rigid. At least the solid bamboo one I had. They do have thinner ones that seem to ebb more for speed and clash. I did not spend much time here before I was off into the real world after graduation. I did learn some spins and strikes, but never any combinations. When I get back into this weapon combinations will be my goal, learning to flow from one technique to the next and creating fluidity.
Recently, I have picked this weapon up again and started learning some combinations. Once again my favorite techniques are the spins and turns. I am excited to learn more.
A Part of You
All weapons need to be seen as an extension of your body, not just something that you pick up and twirl around. That is why continuous training is necessary so that you feel comfortable and are able to flow from one movement to the next not only with the weapon but with your body.
I have not yet had the time to get back into this practice but would love to hear how you train your weapons and what weapons you train. As I learn more and develop these two in my training, I will share any tricks I learn.
Other weapons I hope to have the chance to learn are 3 sectional staff, a Kama, and a sword.
My goal is to first become comfortable with the 2 weapons that I have experience with, nunchucks and bo staff. Then expand to additional weapons and make each of them an extension of myself and my discipline.
What weapons are you interested in or have knowledge of?
Till next time keep kicking and blessed be.
