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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 live edged weapon. Regardless, the best training is
careful
training.
For the final discussion on Launching and Definite Action, we are going
to examine an even more sophisticated and difficult level of training.
As it has been stated in the analogies used in the previous sections,
the
same principles used in the video game FAST DRAW SHOWDOWN do apply very
immediately to Kenpo Training (and the reference to the Star Wars
Trilogy
game really applies to Sword Training). In fact, those principles
also apply to a Japanese Sword Fighting art called Iaijutsu, or the
Sword
Drawing Art. Iaijutsu is the practice of drawing the sword from
it's
scabbard as quickly and skillfully as possible combined with a strike.
An expert at the art had to decide what technique his opponent would
throw
so that he could direct his counter unobstructed. The same
applies
to knife work, should the knife or knives be in their scabbard, they
should
be employed with great speed and accuracy. Just as with an Old West
shoot-out,
the weapon had to be drawn more quickly then your opponent and employed
with complete accuracy to survive the encounter.
With that said, how do you translate this over to Kenpo Training? Well,
the principles are the same either whether you are using Kenpo knives
or
a Kenpo Sword. The cutting strikes that are used do not differ,
they
are just accelerated through Kenpo concepts. The knowledge that
the
best place to find area's of study for weapons training is in
self-defense
techniques and forms can not be emphasized enough. They give you
the safest and quickest method of study in all of the principles
involved
in whatever martial art you study. This is especially true in the
study of American Kenpo.
With Launching in particular, the concept of continual motion with as
much
speed as possible is studied and executed. From the time the
knives
or sword is pulled from the scabbard to the blades return to safety,
maximum
speed with the least amount of effort should be found. To a point
your opponent should dictate your action when executing different
movements.
However, launching is one the Kenpo principles where your opponent
doesn't
have a great deal of affect.
Blade training, whether with a Kenpo sword or knife, does require a
very
vast amount of sophistication in motion, and just as much training to
give
more definition in movement. Definite motion is important not
only
in executing the motion against your opponent, but in Blade training it
is especially important to ensure self preservation. Blunt weapons
will,
generally, only due blunt trauma when struck accidentally due to
student
mistake, but edged weapons will do a great deal more damage if the
student
makes a mistake. When using single knife in practice, practice
good
definition in executed motion, and work to keep the alternate or
checking
hand out of the way of the blade. With two blade training, the
same
applies where motion is concerned. Whether blocking or striking (or
both),
keep the alternate hand away from the blade. When doing sword
training
it can't be stated enough to take heed in your movement. Given
that
swords are heavier and take up more space, they can do more damage to
the
student if not careful. If you are training with one hand
movements,
be sure to keep the other hand in a neutral position from the
blade.
With two hand training be sure to keep the blade away from yourself all
together. Whether handling the blade in the fencing or forward
position,
or the cradle or reverse position (this reference will be explained
later),
always be aware of the position of the blade and yourself.
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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