راه كاراته

What is the hanbo in your life?

This is a simple question that the user of a martial arts weapon should ask about any weapon they pick up to train with. How does this skill help them in their life? For some weapons, we have a curiosity and an interest based on the weapon itself. However, there can also be a deeper connection - this weapon can be practice for real self defense.

The hanbo, a three-foot stick that I have discussed the history of in one of my other articles, is a prime example. On the battlefields of feudal Japan, it was an incidental weapon, something used in a pinch. For us today, it is probably one of the most important weapons we can use! What items around us are stick-like and about three feet long?

• An umbrella
• A cane or walking stick
• A long-handled ice scraper in the car
• A squeegee
• A stick in the forest
• A piece of rebar
• A poster tube
• An undrawn sword, or a sword in a bag (for the martial artists)

Plenty of other things, the list goes on and on.

Each of the items above can be used in many if not all of the same ways as a hanbo. Some might even have MORE uses, like the ice scraper or the squeegee, both of which have other things attached to the end of the stick that could also be used to subdue an attacker. Look around your house, your workplace, the stores you shop in. If you were assaulted right NOW, there would be plenty of hanbo-like objects all around you. Try this with any weapon you study - look around and find things that are like that weapon. How are they the same? How are they different? What can you do with one that you can't with the other?

The hanbo represents a very simple and ever-present shape for us, the short stick-like object. These sorts of things are all over. Even a rolled-up newspaper or magazine can be used in a similar way to apply a choke or a jabbing strike. My suggestion - try out the hanbo today. Get one and start working out with it, get a feel for it, and keep looking in the outside-the-training-floor world for 'hanbo' objects.