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Weapons training is an essiantial part of Black Sword Aikido.
The three main weapons
for training are the Ken, the Jo,
and
the Tanto.
Naginata instruction is also available upon request.
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Ken
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The Japanese mastered the metallurgic arts essential for the crafting of
superior swords as early as the second century B.C.E., with a curved,
single-edged blade, as designed by Amakuni in the eighth century,
eventually becoming the standard design.
To a bushi, as to warriors in other cultures, the ken or sword was
considered far more than a mere weapon. Swords were considered to possess
magical force, some swords even being considered immensely powerful
sentient beings, the very soul of the samurai.
Training with the ken develops ma-ai or distance-spacing-timing; suki or
the ability to perceive weakness in an opponent; and zanshin or physical
and mental domination of the enemy.
Training with the ken utilizes bokkens or wooden swords and shinai or
bamboo swords. Body armor is also utilized.
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Jo
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Muse Gonnosuke, a master of the bo or long staff, was defeated in his
famous match against the master swordsman Miyamoto Musashi in the
seventeenth century.
Thrown into the depths of despair Muso sought refuge on a mountain top in
Kyushu in Southern Japan and for years led a life of meditation and
asceticism. Achieving enlightenment, he devised a new weapon by shortening
the bo, thus creating the jo. He reasoned that a shorter staff would
enable him to get closer to his opponent and to deliver more blows to vital
points. Within the movements of this weapon, Muso combined the tsuki or
thrust of the spear, the utsu or strike of the sword and staff and the
harai or sweep of the naginata. Because of its shorter length, combat with
the jo is characterized by its speed and high frequency of reversals of the
weapon. Seeking out Musashi, Muso's jo proved superior to the sword, the
instrument of Musashi's only defeat.
Techniques of the jo are taught primarily through solo kata and kata
opponents armed with another jo or bokken.
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Tanto
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The knife is by far the most likely weapon one might encounter anyplace on earth. Although the
gun is only a thrusting weapon, the knife is both a thrusting and a slashing weapon.
Consequently, at close range, it is more dangerous. Both armed and unarmed techniques are
taught using wooden practice knives.
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Naginata
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The naginata is a Japanese weapon consisting of a long wooden staff at the
end of which is attached a sword blade. Originally a weapon of the
warrior monks, by the twelfth century it was adopted by the warring
Minamoto and Taira clans, where it became an early favorite with the bushi
or classical warriors. When the Mongols invaded Japan the following
century, the naginata was a major factor in their replusion.
By the seventeenth century, the naginata had become almost exclusively a
woman's weapon with such famous women warriors as Kesa Gozen gaining fame
in its use.
The blade, shaft and butt of the naginata are all utilized in combat.
Skill in ha-kaishi, the ability to change the position of the blade
rapidly, enables the user to cut as with a sword, but with powerful
sweeping arcs at a much greater range due to the length of the shaft.
In training, naginatas with bamboo blades are used, students often wearing
protective body armor, as well. Practice consists of kata or choreographed
exercises and sparring.
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