Am I WRONG about Kobudo? - kenfuTV S3E48

📖 Chapters

00:00 - Opening
00:14 - Intro
00:58 - My Kobudo History
01:23 - What Is Kobudo
02:31 - A Quick Disclaimer
03:08 - Many Years Later
04:04 - Falling Out Of Favor
04:20 - My Personal Philosophy
05:07 - What is a War Art?
05:54 - What is Karate?
07:35 - Sometimes you hit first
09:21 - The great equalizer
11:02 - Why is it weapon vs weapon?
11:31 - My Struggle
15:30 - Some great advice
16:23 - Can you help?
17:13 - Closing
17:24 - Merch
17:28 - Big thanks to my members!

🙏 Thank you all so much for making this channel so amazing! Spending my time sharing who I am with you has been such a wonderful experience. Get excited about what's to come in the years ahead!

|===========================\
Support the Channel:
|===========================/

|===========================\
Follow Me:
|===========================/

|===========================\
What I use to shoot kenfuTV:
|===========================/

|===========================\
My Lineage:
|===========================/

🥋 Karate & Kempo:

Soke Dan Hausel ➡️ Andrew Finley ➡️ Kenneth Knight

Okinawa Kempo
Dorian Fox ➡️ Andrew Finley ➡️ Kenneth Knight

⚔️ Kali Escrima:

Maestro Michael Mulconery ➡️ John Balcerzak ➡️ Kenneth Knight
Maestro Michael Mulconery ➡️ Kenneth Knight
Chaston Tobosa ➡️ Kenneth Knight

🥋 Kobudo:

Soke Dan Hausel ➡️ Andrew Finley ➡️ Kenneth Knight

Simon Sherbourne ➡️ Andrew Finley ➡️ Kenneth Knight

🤼 Brazilian Jiujitsu:

Simon Sherbourne ➡️ Andrew Finley ➡️ Kenneth Knight

Just started working with Rick long distance but already it has been an incredible learning experience!

|===========================\
Music:
|===========================/

|===========================\
Affiliate Links:
|===========================/

Some of the links in my video descriptions are affiliate links, which means at no extra cost to you, I will make a small commission if you click them and make a qualifying purchase. If you have a different purchase in mind, you can also use these storewide links below.

🚩 If you're a fellow YouTuber, Please let me know! I would love to look at your stuff and maybe even collaborate!

[JustinSmithWY]

Hi Ken this is an interesting one, thank you for taking the time.

[MOsesIcan]

(just a short comment) love the honesty of this vid... your forms are beautiful ... thank you for your openness.

[anderdelrio]

You make many interesting points. You asked at one point, “why do we train against the same weapon?” I think it’s a layered answer. 1. Every generation of sensei brings changes to training, even in kata. We have very likely lost some training styles and practices, especially since there are always levels of training reserved for family and upper level students. Bankai are the epitome of this. 2. The first level of training is mastery of the instrument. This is moving technique from the conscious mind to the unconscious mind, to reflex. By training, for example, bo to bo, we learn the offense and defense of the bo, because we are using and defending against the same strike or block. That first level of mastery is what eventually liberates talent. If we think of playing a musical instrument, you learn to play the notes and all the songs that have been written until you have mastery of technique, then you can improvise, then you can play jazz, then the instrument is an extension of the person and is used with full expression.

[definitlynotbenlente]

i finally found a kobudo teacher and it awesoame

[EzeHSK]

You should talk to Jesse Enkamp, the Karate Nerd. He trains Kobudo as well and has been to Okinawa several times. Maybe also Iain Abernathy who specializes in bunkai. They might give you some insight.

[TimJurgensMA]

If you ever want to have a go with the Taira - Akamine Lineage of Kobudo I would be happy to help. I am a direct student of Akamine Sensei and have been teaching in the US since I returned from Japan in 2009. We will have Akamine Sensei in next year in MN for a seminar.

[kylegewecke]

My understanding of kobudo is that it is the study of the era when the Japanese took weapons (and combat training) away from the Okinawas. Original intent may have been to train as though they were fighting someone wielding a sword, which is probably why bunkai is frequently against a Bo (approximating sword attacks). My approach, from the observation of a physical educator, is that training kobudo teaches us object manipulation skills and safety concepts that can transfer to many other things that you may encounter in more practical applications. Such as manipulating a sai would enhance one’s dexterity in using a knife. Also, using kobudo weapons can teach us to think differently about open hand techniques. I don’t think kobudo should be looked at as any kind of substitute for training with modern combative weapons, but there is value (and fun) in fundamental safety and skill development. Plus, kids love playing ninja turtles so kobudo is a great way to keep them interested.

[michaelbuelow]

I am no weapons expert. I know one bo kata and one jo kata. I have also practiced with sticks of various lengths, from a 10" dowel up to the 6' bo. I incorporate empty hand techniques and variations of kata with my sticks. My intent is to be comfortable with anything that is stick-like that I may use in my environment if I need to defend myself. Brooms, rakes, a nearby 2x4, whatever comes to hand. I have taught men who use canes for support to use their ordinary (not special martial arts) stick for self defense. Beginning with a simple jo kata to teach footwork and smooth stick handling. Then adding variations and alternate targets (instead of a head strike in the kata, shift to the outside knee) or downward strikes when the kata calls for horizontal. Kata are only the beginning. Variation, innovation, intent, will make sticks viable self-defense tools. It is said that every gesture in empty hand kata is a single example of numerous techniques; I look to weapons kata in the same way.

[Bagoth]

So what i would say is that why you don't see that more is because in a traditional mindset the weapon is just an extension of the empty hand martial art or vice versa

Yes it's a force multiplier but it also serves to teach you to use anything as a weapon, teach you proper body mechanics, and force generation on top of a good work out.

The weapon would adhere to the principles and tactics of it's mother art so therefore if you had a weapon or not have a weapon you would still do the same thing to an unarmed person.

[CJ-ufxl]

Ah ha!
Look at early Japanese and Okinawan police use of Tonfa, Bo and Sai, there are many books on the subject, you'll find all the arresting techniques and armed - unarmed combat info there 👍

[MG-bimq]

I don’t know about kobudo specifically, but other weapon systems do research what to do against an unarmed opponent. Off the top of my head: Michael Janich’s Martial Blade Concepts, Arcenio Advincula’s ACE Arnis, and Comtech by James Keating. Those are mostly FMA based.
The Chinese and European systems seemed to take for granted that a well to do individual would always carry some kind of blade. So if you were attacked by any ruffian (armed or otherwise) you could commence the stabbing process. Even in America, side arms were common.
I suggest training with your favorite weapons against an unarmed partner and then translating the moves you come up with to empty hand. That’s how a lot of unarmed martial arts began in the first place.

[CJ-ufxl]

The only place of the top of my head I have seen weapons used in such a way is in some Aikido and Ju Jutsu schools, probably the best place to start, or you could experiment with an ad mixture of kobudo with eskrima principles applied.
Good luck in your search.

[shrijitpaul]

Motobu Choki said that Karate was not meant for ring, yet he defeated a boxer in a ring

[joegoody]

Why do I train in Kali? I find the Kali techniques to be most applicable to the items I carry on my person or even in my personal vehicle. If I pick up a stick, a flashlight, a hatchet, or a knife, I have practiced with a weapon that extends my reach and multiples my force. Realistically, I do not see myself carrying nunchucks, sai, tonga or a bo, but that training is valuable in helping me to think of self defense outside of empty hand techniques. Once I have determined that I am going to be attacked, I bring the A game until the attack is neutralized. I did not ask this person to attack me and I do not feel sorry for any injuries that may have been caused during my self-defense. Learn from traditions, train for the present and innovate for the future.

[davidgeorge]

You have a lot of different questions here and I hope you find answers to them because I too would like to know the answers. In terms of history, culture, and training value questions, I expect there will be a lot of opinions but possibly not a lot of primary source material. I hope that expectation turns out to be wrong. I get that archaic weapons are not likely to be useful in real life but I think the training can build good habits in learning how to move, how to range in and out, and how to find better angles. And if I was being attacked and there was a stick handy to pick up, I'd do it in a minute, against a hands-only attacker if only to keep that joker at a distance.

I think the question of when and whether to bring a weapon into a conflict is not solely a moral one, but also should include a consideration of legal consequences. From a mindset perspective, I would not recommend anyone even carry a weapon if they are not fully prepared (mentally, emotionally, ability) to use it. To me, the mindset is the first hurdle. Training it and pressure testing that training is next. If you're prepared and you're carrying, the next hurdle is legal: what responsibilities do you have if you have the weapon. Are you legally allowed to carry it in the location you are in? If you access that weapon, are you responding proportionally to the threat you are facing? Do you have a responsibility to retreat? If you are the first to access a weapon, you may need to be able to explain why that escalation was justified to investigators and juries.

[tandendo]

Many people misunderstand Japanese martial arts and even Japanese have different ideas. I do not think you can get right idea so easily.
For instance, The character 武 consists of 戈 dagger and 止 stop. So it simply means to stop a dagger. It should not mean to attack. It would be to defense.
However the fact is that people are attacking each other after all. The martial arts you know is from Ryukyu kingdoms martial arts. Not main land Japanese martial arts. That would make so different. The weapons you were showing are for farmers not for Samurai. Actually they are not weapons. They are farming equipment.
I have learned so many things from Youtube. If you want to know more about history of Japanese martial arts, I can explain more detail.
I figured out secrets/core part of Japanese martial arts, too. I am interested in solving secrets not history but I have so much more resources simply because I understand Japanese language.

[renegysenbergs]

I wish you all the best in your search, but the combination of the invasion at the beginning of the Edo Period and the annexation in the beginning of the Meiji Era and the fact that most existing Okinawa Kobudo systems were codified between the late 18th and early 20th century means that a lot of the original usage and intent weren't codified at all.
If you take a look at Nihon Kobudo you can see that during the Edo Period there was a changing of the Koryu curriculum, even if the majority of koryu schools claim that their curriculum has been unchanged since the Sengoku Jidai. The effects of this zeitgeist in Japan would probably also be at work during that period on Okinawa.

Still, wish you all the best in your further search (or should I say Quest).

[yksnidog]

Dear @kenfuTV I don't know you or your channel but it seems to me you look on Karate only. That's why you don't find your answers.

1.) Karate means empty/open/quiet hand - so this tells where the focus allways was.
2.) It evolved from Tōde which means hand technique from Tang (=China) too.
3.) Karate/Tōde was developed to be used by pawns and fishermen so most of them could not afford many weapons.
4.) Since 1422 weapons had been also not allowed in public there.
5.) Tōdejutsu was around 1609 - 1724 only half of the fighting system used back than. Kobujutsu was the other half. It meant art of using the old weapons. So Karate is exactly developed from the wrong side you're searching for at the moment.
6.) Today Kobudo and Kobujutsu are seen and used as synonym by westerners but they aren't. Like "Ken" can be used for an open fist as like as for a blade. Asians just never took words so litterally. They use the essence.
7.) "Kata" means also the core of any jutsu (=art/style). It should be a secret. Like we today don't want DIY plans for an atomic bomb or a gun public to the internet. So you were not allowed to talk about every "Kata" (means also technique/way of moving) to everyone. So weapon techniques had been reserved for higher grades.
8.) Like all around the world of martial arts and even today: Many things are given from one person to the next by spoken words - not written ones. Thats why there isn't much written evidence.

But the knowledge is still out there.. ;-)
So maybe I missunderstood and you had allready knew all this than I apologize big time. But you asked for help and maybe this helps you.

[sullir]

I'm not a historian, so take what I say with a grain of salt, especially because I'm also not a practitioner. I'm just an enthusiast who has sought information because I want to create fictional things and want a functional understanding to base things on.

My observation has to do with kata. I'm not 100% on this, but I think historical European manuscripts don't have kata, but rather, they illustrate techniques. Why kata is used in Asian martial arts might be something to consider. I'm being very assumptious here, but I think it's because of a philosophical difference between East and West. I think that possibly Asian martial arts masters were concerned about their stuff being used for bad means or even stolen. I think they taught through kata as a means to make it more inaccessible, where the underlying secrets were keys held only by the most trusted disciples.

Honestly, I think the problem with Kobudo is kata. There is benefit from it, like learning transitory action chains; however, we are finding that scripted mock fight scenarios aren't actually very useful in a real fight--hours upon hours of experimentation through sparring, where each individual eventually learns to rely on their own version of techniques anyway, is still needed and should be the priority of what you do. If the masters had passed down their techniques in a more accessible form, it would've been more valuable.

I guess my advice would be this. Learn the kata. Do the due diligence there, but only to a certain point. When the desired familiarity is reached, put it in maintenance mode, and don't think it's anything more than a tool. Isolate the techniques, and figure out when they could be used (are they only valid vs another bo? I really don't know how realistic all that weapons are just an extension mumbojumbo actually is). When you think you know the techniques and what they are used for, practice them, just that one technique as if you were Kobe Bryant wanting to add just one more element to his game. Spar a ton, this is where you will actually figure things out (remember that no man knows everything so don't stress about whether or not you learned the actual skills the master meant to teach). Lastly, treat all the philosophical stuff as if it were a theory, learn it, but don't subject yourself to it. Every man needs to judge for themselves what is right and wrong after they have gone about learning the arguments.

[jameymassengale]

NO MARTIAL ARTS SYSTEM IS FACTORING IN CLOTHING. Aikido and Taichi is designed for TRAVELERS WEARING WINTER CLOTHES AND BACKPACKS, compare to standard military basic training CQB in ANY BATTLE DRESS including packs, flack jackets, etc. BJJ AND KARATE ARE USELESS in those conditions. What would you be wearing with the stick, a staff for hikers and a cane for old men.