Kobudo is the martial art of Traditional Okinawan weapons, all of which are really just parts from the farming implements that they used at the time - here are some examples:

• The Bo - a six foot staff. These were commonly taken from the handles of implements such as hoes or rakes.
• The Jo - a four foot staff. These were commonly taken from the handles of brooms, etc.
• The Nunchucku - two pieces of wood about 1 or 1 1/2 feet long, connected with a rope (chains are commonly used now), originally used as rice-flails.
• The Sai - a three pronged fork (mini-trident) with the two outer prongs much shorter than the middle prong. These were used in pairs as hay forks.
• The Tonfa - looks basically like a truncheon, but with an extra handle sticking out at right angles a short way up from the base. These were the handles of grinding wheels used to grind flour.

Originally in our syllabus, we were allowed to choose two weapons to "master" and we had to perform katas from these weapons for all our brown belts and, eventually, our black belts. Both Helena and I chose the Bo and the Nunchucku.

It is interesting to note that the Tonfa is the only one of these weapons commonly used today by police forces in many countries. I think that the USA was the first country to fully embrace the Tonfa as an improvement to the original police truncheon - they called it a night-stick.

The reason that it was considered an improvement is that by gripping the side handle and having the long end run up the arm towards the elbow, it could be used to effectively block an attack from an assailant brandishing weapons such as base-ball bats. The techniques used for accomplishing this closely resembles the Karate upper block, middle block or lower block with counter attacks possible using many different traditional Tonfa techniques.

We practiced our chosen weapons very diligently (very often sporting bruises to prove it) and considered ourselves as being fairly proficient. It was only when members of our club attended a course run by a true weapons master, called Julian Mead (then a 5th Dan in Kobudo), that we came to realise that our skills were only very rudimentary at best.

Julian Mead's skills were outstanding and we quickly came to realise that each and every one of those weapons were a complete martial art in themselves including very numerous kata and applications. Any chance of becoming really proficient at these would require us to devote enormous amounts of time.

This was the main reason that we removed all weapons from the syllabus - the time needed to practise them would eat into the time that would be better spent mastering karate, and for what use?

If we go on to look at the enormous variety of Chinese weapons as well, such as the broad sword, the tai chi sword, the spear, the trident etc; there is absolutely no hope of mastering them all, unless you choose to devote your life to them. A lot of people do as part of their hobby or interest in those weapons and their desire to preserve the traditions and the cultures surrounding them.

That's fine and I have the utmost respect for those people as I have for anybody that shows real skill in anything.

But, as we consider ourselves to be training a self-defence orientated style of karate, we really questioned the benefits and decided that weapons were not for us.

In their day, they were effective weapons that were readily available and many people bore arms as they did in the wild west of America. But nowadays, people in the western world seldom carry arms and if they do, the weapons they carry are usually knives or fire-arms.

Most people are not in the habit of carrying a bo, jo, tonfa, nuchucku, spears, swords, fighting sticks or tridents. They are quite simply illegal to carry around and they are damned hard to conceal, therefore they are not generally to hand if a situation were to arise where self-defence is required. In other words, there self-defence value is practically nil!

Empty handed techniques do not readily transfer to these different weapons and therefore have to be trained independently: it is damned hard to free-spar with these weapons without doing serious injury to each other.

I do hold up a couple of martial arts as exceptions to this - and these are some of the Pilipino arts such as Escrima. Escrima is a fascinating martial art where the techniques learned readily transfer from their fighting sticks, to knives to empty hands. Dan Inusanto is one example of an Escrima Master that has phenomenal skill and shows how identical techniques can be used with or without these Pilipino weapons.

A lot of people disagree with my philosophies regarding weapons training. They argue that the skills and co-ordination gained from weapons training are of great use for Karate.

Sure, but I argue back and say that why don't tennis players take up squash or badminton to better their tennis? The reason is that the best training for tennis is tennis.

The best training for Karate is Karate.

I am not saying that weapons training is a waste of time. Nothing is a waste of time if you enjoy it, if you have the time. There is an enormous fun factor involved in weapons training.

But personally, if I had more time, I would play more tennis, table tennis or badminton as these are sports that I love.

Most of us have full-time jobs, families, social events and other commitments that force us to prioritise the little free time that we have left. I prioritise family & friends, career and Karate in that order.

For those of you that feel the need to carry concealed weapons to feel safe, it is important to remember that any weapon that you carry can be used against you - so you could well be worse off in a self-defence situation by carrying them.

Nobody can easily take your hands, feel, elbows, knees or head off you and hit you with them. If they do, then you have probably already lost your fight for life.