3 Benefits Of Kobudo When Compared To Karate
When people think of martial arts, karate often comes to mind. The ability to fight well with just your bare hands and feet can be an impressive skill set to have as you go through life. But to be clear, not all martial arts are about unarmed fighting. If you want to learn a martial art that's a bit different than what everyone else in the industry is learning, it may be time to take a look at Kobudo. Kobudo teaches many of the same philosophies as karate but adds weapon training into the mix. Students learn to fight wielding weapons like the Bo staff, Sai, or Nunchaku. Here are three benefits that learning Kobudo can provide.
Obtain Extra Strength
Both karate and Kobudo can be physically exhausting activities. But Kobudo also adds an element of strength training that is not traditionally present in karate. Kobudo weapons can come in all shapes and sizes and some are intentionally built to be a bit heavy. A large Bo made out of metal or steel instead of wood, for example, can help you build extra muscle when you swing it around. You'll still be participating in a great deal of aerobic exercise, but the addition of the weapon can help you give additional muscle groups a workout.
Learn to Make Almost Anything a Weapon
Kobudo students tend to focus on a specific weapon type when first beginning their training, but to be clear, the core philosophies learned can be adapted to other weapons or even various objects that you might not consider to be weapons. In other words, Kobudo can teach you maneuvers that will allow you to turn almost any object into a weapon if you desire. When a bully at the local bar has too much to drink and comes at you, you're unlikely to have your Sai on you, but your beer glass or even your shoe could be used with force as a projectile to give yourself a leg up in the fight.
Learn Something Unique
Speaking in general, Kobudo is simply not as popular as some other forms of martial arts that have been popularized by movies like the Karate Kid. But Kobudo shares many of the same basic tenets of other popular martial arts, just with an added twist. When you learn Kobudo, you will learn movements and techniques that will make you effective as a fighter even without a weapon. But the addition of the weapons training will allow you to do something that your peers learning traditional karate will not know how to do.
If you're looking to learn a martial art and want to try something different, reach out to a martial arts center that teaches Kobudo, such as Tanaka's Martial Arts Academy. The weapon training you will learn will add extra strength compared to unarmed fighting, and Kobudo can help you stand out when compared with students of more popular martial arts like karate.
Share