Most practical self-defense styles feature weapons techniques heavily in their curriculum. I respect the preservation of traditions, I respect the art, and I respect that it is important to know how to handle yourself when you have nothing but your body to work with, but weapons have been with us since the dawn of human history for a reason. We are a tool-using species primarily because we have a marked disadvantage over other animals with all the tools and weapons they need built into their anatomy. Our biggest advantage is our ability to figure out how to adapt similar features by utilizing resources around us and to improve upon them. A knife is really just our answer to a tooth or claw, a spear is the long neck and sharp beak of a crane, and as the archer fish shoots a jet of water from its mouth to snipe insects, we flung darts from atlatls, fired arrows from bows, and shoot bullets from guns. I respect the art, and the artistry of weapons is one of the oldest martial arts there is.
In today's world, legality is a concern. Obviously we want the most efficient weapon we can have, but legal red tape can make protecting oneself a much larger hassle than most people realize. A cop once told me "shoot 'em at the door, then drag 'em in the house" because having an assailant anywhere other than in your home requires more thorough investigation, leading to more trouble for you and your family, who were already victims to begin with. When even the enforcers of the law feel the law is out of hand, there is clearly a serious problem, but this is not a political blog, so I will leave it there.
So, for those who cannot carry a firearm, or wish to avoid the legal issues inherent in discharging one into the body of an assailant, then convincing 13 people you had good reason to do so in spite of the wails of their momma and half the church choir, I present for your consideration a number of weapons, most of which are easily made or adapted from mundane items. A weapon which can be played off as anything but a weapon can reduce the suspicion of any criminal or violent intent, which play in your favor. Other than that, any weapon that puts you at a perceived disadvantage can help as well. For those reasons, I begin my treatise with the humble stick...
Rokushakubo- Or, more commonly, simply "bo" a 6ft staff, or one roughly the same height as the user. Most are familiar with this, so I will refrain from any lengthy description of its use.
Jo- A staff about 4ft in length, or, more appropriately, reaching from the floor to the armpit when held against the body of the user. This gets easier to play off as it looks like a simple walking stick.
Hanbo and Crook-Top Cane- 3ft stick, or reaching from the ground to about hip level. This could also be your average walking cane, which actually has advantages over the straight stick as it can be swung like a hanbo, "whipped" about the body (speed makes it harder to see, therefore defend against) and used to execute trapping maneuvers. This is one of my personal favorites because, with all these advantages, it also looks very mundane and even makes the user appear feeble or injured, giving you the element of surprise as well as a legal edge.
Yantok and Tambo- In Japanese and Okinawan martial arts, a tambo or tanbo is any bo (staff/stick weapon) that is less than 3ft in length. Better known as "Escrima sticks" yantok are Filipino fighting sticks commonly wielded in pairs which are roughly the length of the arm. Placing one end against the ribs at the armpit and folding the hand down over the other end is how I was taught to find the right length of escrima stick. Myriad techniques can be applied with these sticks. Escrima is one of the premier knife and stick fighting arts with practical street applications as it was born of political and civil turmoil. Striking, blocking, submission and limb destruction techniques are all easily executed with these weapons while maintaining relatively safe distance from the attacker(s). The only drawback is they are too short to be passed of as anything else, and too long to be easily concealed.
Tonfa, Monadnak, or Side-Handle Baton- Sometimes called a "night stick" or "police baton" this is a weapon of Okinawan Kobudo consisting of a stick and a small handle attached at a right angle to one side about 3-5 inches from one end. Sometimes the handle has a "button" shaped end to help retain grip. The body of the weapon may be round, square, or a combination of shapes. Standard grip positions the long side down the forearm. Properly sized tonfa should cover the length of the forearm, plus a few inches extending beyond the elbow. The short end, sticking out above the fist, should be about the same size as the grip. It is a largely defensive weapon, often used in pairs. The long end is spun, using the handle as a pivot point, for whipping type strikes while the short end is used in punching strikes, or the body of the weapon may be used for blocking and striking as well. Putting the whole body behind the weapon and rushing or lunging with the arm up can knock an assailant back and do a good deal of damage. Rarely, the weapon is held by the long end and the handles are used either in sideways hammering strikes or hooking techniques. They are too large and cumbersome to conceal, however, and carrying one openly may get you sited, if not charged for impersonating an officer due to their common association with law enforcement.
Dan Bong- Hapkido short stick weapon measuring about 12-18 inches long, or measuring roughly from the inside of the wrist to the inside of the elbow. It is a weapon of deceptive potency, less threatening than carrying a bat or baton, yet capable of delivering devastating blows, joint locks and submission holds, as well as outright limb destruction. The "short snapping stick" aka "bone breaker" featured in Echanis' book "stick fighting for combat" is a weapon of this sort, with a lanyard long enough to loop over the thumb, around the back of the hand, so that the stick rests firmly in the palm. This version can also be whipped by the lanyard, or a pair can be lain in opposite directions, pulled through each other's lanyards, and thus creating an approximation of nunchaku* (not recommended, see below) which can quickly be assembled and disassembled.
Yubi-bo and Kubaton- The yubi-bo is a stick about 8in long, and "kubaton" was actually a trademark name that came into the common vernacular, originally marketed to law enforcement as a "compliance device" to supplement or replace the traditional baton. The average "kubaton" is a bit smaller than a yubi-bo, but both are used in similar fashion. Ideally used with intimate knowledge of kyusho or "pressure-point" fighting they serve to dramatically increase the effectiveness of joint locks and nerve strikes. Difficult to master, but easy to conceal, much like the yawara.
Yawara or dulo-dulo- Very small defensive tools, usually just wider than the palm of the hand, so that only 1-2 inches protrudes from each side of the clenched fist. These are essentially wooden fistloads used primarily for striking pressure points or destroying limbs using powerful hammer-fist strikes to the bone tips and joints. This can be a deceptively powerful weapon, but requires a good bit of devoted, serious training to use effectively. They are also easy to conceal. Shapes vary, some having points or large round ends, others with flat ends and knurled grips.
Chizikunbo- similar to yawara, but with a loop at the center for the middle two fingers. This version often features a swell at the palm, tapering toward the ends. Originating as floats at the ends of fishing nets, this version of the palm stick is designed so that open handed strikes and grappling techniques can be executed without dropping the weapon. They are also used with hammer fist strikes, or jabbed into pressure points by twisting them in the hand so they point out from the fingertips. It is important that they not twist beyond the middle finger, so the loop must be sized to fit the user.
Kanabo- metal studded/banded rods of various lengths and shapes. Many Asian demons are depicted with this weapon due to its ferocity. They look cool, and pack a whallop, but are also pretty obviously weapons and nothing more, so it would be difficult to get away with carrying one.
*The problem with nunchaku- First and foremost, they are illegal pretty much everywhere. Secondly, when you see people "practicing" with "nunchucks" there is a lot of spinning, flipping and twirling, but little else. Why? Because it looks cool, but when you hit a target, that energy gets spent and you have to "reload" so to speak, which is not as cool looking. In a real fight, you would hold the weapon at ready and "shoot" the live end with deft timing when a target presented itself. The angle of the strike and the angle or shape of the thing hit will determine the angle at which it bounces off. This can cause the live end to "wobble" in the air. That, combined with the fact that you just spent the energy, means you have to swing it again to correct the "wobble" and reload the energy. Striking at the proper angle, and with only the *tip* of the stick, while maintaining proper follow-thru is meant to avoid this problem. That's what the spinning is really designed for, but emphasis has fallen to "looking cool" and dancing with the things so much that the art of practical use is practically lost at this point. The weapon is better suited to joint locks, throws and limb destruction than the barrage of strikes that video games, movies and cartoons portray. Expert use of the recoil energy could make the weapons useful in an assault by multiple assailants, as is common in the streets, but one would first have to have the practical skill for using nunchaku, which can only be gained from actually striking and throwing real targets. Most importantly, however, is the fact that even if you used them in fully justified self defense against an assailant threatening you with a deadly weapon, you would STILL be charged with felony possession and aggravated assault.
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