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The Edged Weapons Training section
will give concepts
of motion for the use of edged man-made weapons studied throughout
American
Kenpo Karate training. The two weapons which will be discussed
most
often will be kenpo knives and the kenpo sword. Initially, I must
request that before reading or trying any of the concepts discussed in
this section that you use these weapons with great care so as not to
injure
yourself in any way, and do not over train in these concepts.
Either
of those would be detrimental to continued training and to the safety
of
the practitioner. Being that edged weapons are much more
dangerous
than virtually almost every other weapon in the martial arts, extra
care
must be taken in training. One suggestion would be to use
practices
weapons such as plastic or wooden knives for many hours before training
with real edged weapons. And should you want to train with more
realistic
weapons, another suggestion would be to tape a practice edged weapon
before
working with a truly edged weapon. Regardless, the best training is
careful
training.
This will more than likely be the shortest installment on this section,
and will probably sound a great deal like the other weapons page,
however,
there will be an additional drill idea added. As with blunt
weapons
the same concept applies, forms and sets are the best method to train
and
learn how to use edged weapons. The same concept of keeping the
weapon
light and continuously moving hold true with both edged and blunt
weapons.
Try the same forms and sets mentioned in the Blunt Weapons section only
with the cutting concepts and motions used with edged weapons.
The
training with sets will help the student to analyze motion and master
key
movements to initially involved in self-defense training. The
footwork
and technique work in the forms will aid with retention and make the
movements
more natural over time. Both of which will give the student
training
to make the transition into self-defense techniques much easier, and
instill
good movement habits.
The drill mentioned earlier is actually very simple, but will aid in
natural
movement and give a good overall warm-up. Dragon Tales has put a drill
together called "clockwork," a combination of several different drills,
that not only helps with motion using both sword and knives, but also
gives
a good full body warm-up. The drill is essentially moving the
knives
or sword in the eight directions of movement around a clock. An
example
would be:
1.
From a Right Neutral Bow with the weapon in left hand (with sword right
hand on top) in a ready position move to a Forward Bow as you slice the
blade downward vertically, then back to Neutral as you move the blade
upward
vertically;
2.
Next in a Neutral Bow move the blade clockwise, right side diagonally,
slice downward then upward in a Forward Bow;
3.
Moving clockwise again slice horizontally to the left in a Neutral then
right with a Forward Bow;
4.
Then another move clockwise left side diagonally slice upward in a
Neutral
Bow then downward into a Forward Bow;
5.
Finally back to a Neutral Bow slicing upward vertically then downward
again
in a Forward Bow and back to the ready position.
From here you can switch hand, or in the case of sword work hand
position,
and your stance and work the left side. Once the left side has
been
studied another idea would be to try counter-clockwise, and even to try
different stance work while working this drill.
With a little modification this "clockwork" drill can also be
translated
in club and staff training.
While working on these forms, sets, and this drill with knives and
sword,
always keep in mind the principles of motion that make Kenpo or any
martial
arts system work. When training with knives and sword work slowly
at first to get the basic movements down before working faster
movements
inherent in these weapons. And, like with any other aspect of
learning
to defend yourself, work on the specialized movements in the training
hall.
Just like with the first ten yellow belt techniques in Kenpo, keep
things
in a live situation simple, direct, and effective.
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