Weapons: Extensions of the hand, or limb, or body that have Lives of their own

Many of us think that a weapon is only a tool that blindly follows our command. But it is useful to remember that, even if tools like sticks, knives and guns, no matter how they are only tools, seems sometimes to have life itself. How many practice sessions have gone wrong where nunchucks hit the forehead of their wielder? How many times did an amateur eskrimador hit his neck with his stick? And by God, only a few months ago I read an article in the internet that a person with a gun accidentally shot his loaded weapon (the other loaded weapon) with the same gun he bought that was supposed to protect himself. Therefore, as all these cases show that it is just common sense that we better not underappreciated practice (with the guidance of a coach, or of a trained instructor of course) with weapons because I can say, given that they hit you back, these weapons have lives of their own.

When confronted with the question if ever are we interested in practicing Martial Arts, especially with weapons, many of us will say: “oh, it’s easy, I’ll just to have a knife, or a gun”. Well, how about if your in a self defense situation where you are confronted with an attacker who will not give a penny if you have a gone or not, are you prepared for the cold sensation of the ethical crisis in your head if you should fire or not? Then here comes the miraculous mental block that you will now be blaming your hands because in this moment, the chill envelopes you. You have a weapon, but the weapon does not heed your call. So what is the problem? Communication.

Edgar Sulite says it best!

Practice is a form of conversation with the weapon. It is like this, imagine a fellow you just met and just have recently talked, will that person agree to let you in in their house for a good night sleep? They will eventually but did you not need the power of conversation for him to agree? Another example would be, imagine you had a new dog. The dog is young but you didn’t have any bond with it, you treat it like nobody, do you think the dog will come to you in case you say you need to be saved? Not really, because you haven’t established a bond, you were not nice to him, you didn’t even train him to come to you by just a single call. 

Practicing is the key. Especially if your practicing a Martial Art with weapons or you are preparing for a self defense situation. The Japanese have long declared that their katanas have identities and souls may be that’s because it is a heavy and unwieldy (trust me, I held one once) weapon if not practiced with. And come to think of it, after years of practice, you will feel the weapon, you become the weapon, if you’ve poured your time and sweat with it. 

K.A.Cinco