What is Kobudo

Kobudo is a martial art that involves fighting using traditional weapons of Okinawa. It flourished during the occupation of Okinawa by the Japanese (17th and beginning of 18th century). The occupiers imposed a ban to the natives on using conventional weapons. In order to defend themselves from the occupiers, the natives started using and training themselves with every day agricultural tools, that they transformed into "weapons". There are many weapons of Kobudo. Some of them are:

• Bo, a wooden stick approx. six feet long, originally used for moving boats in rivers or hanging things on either of its ends and carrying it on the shoulders.
• Tomfa, a wooden handle of a millstone. Tomfas are used in pairs.
• Nunchaku, two wooden pieces connected together with rope or chain.
• Sai, a metallic tool used to grab piles of hay and move them around. Sai are used in pairs.
• Kama, comprising a wooden handle with a curved metallic sharp ending attached to it.

All the above mentioned weapons can be seen below:
  

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