i don't actually train with weapons...damn! does this count? occasionally i'll ask someone if they're attacking me, and then defend myself with leg kicks.
I grew up using sticks from trees in my yards as swords, knives, staves, etc.. that is where I got the most useful practice in my life. My neighbor and I would fight for hours with them.. now I can pick up practically anything and fight with it...Not quite like Jackie Cahn (such as the ladder from first strike Police Story 3) but well enough to defend myself./
I actually like doing my broadsword forms without the broadsword but with the intention that it is in my hands. Because my art is internal you can get in touch with the movements on an internal level and then do the forms *with* the broadsword and get deeper levels with the weapon in hand... it's a nice training activity.
We've been through the "everything is a weapon" discussion before, but you have to admit, practicing bo kata with a pencil is funny. Yes, I've done that -- because either a bo or a hanbo, in my hands, will wreak havoc in my house!
At a lau gar club i use to visit they never used proper staffs. Just bits of wood they cut themsleves (hard to use but good fro training).
as practice bo in the dojo for the ppl who havent got their own bo we have bits of wood and lengths of hard plastic pipe... works well did I mention yard broom bo and whip bo??
I've picked up markers, pencils, pens, scissors, and other stuff and used them as knives. I don't use a broom, but I use my metal rake as a bo. Got some nasty scratches from that. I've picked up my dog's leash and tried to use it as nunchucks. Used a blade of grass as a knife once when I was bored. People stared at me. I hate that. When people stare at me. It just ****es the hell outta me. Unless it's a hot chick. I like that. She stares at me and then I go to her..... Oops....Went on rambling again.
Re: Re: Poor man's alternative... A while ago we used wooden spoons (the big ones) for our knifesparring, as they are so broad in the end that if you by accident hit the opponent's eye, it wouldn't impact on the eyeball. We still joke about us as "The spoonfighters!"
I forgot the greatest improvised self-defense tool story ever, from Pen and Teller's book How to Play With Your Food. Pen Jillette was accosted by an angry trucker he'd inadvertantly offended, late at night, at a truck stop. Thinking quickly, he grabbed his chocolate milkshake, stood up, flashed the peace sign, and poured it over his own head. The bemused and rather frightened trucker left hastily, and our comedic magician was left sticky, but having peacefully resolved an imminent conflict without a bit of physical conflict. I think I've told that story before, here, but it's just so good!
I was practising my kata and the cat didnt like the bit where I spun it in one hand over my head, passed it behing my back and then grabbed it in the middle and did a couple of downward strikes... it also objected strongly to being held by the tail while I swung it around my head very fast.... IMHO cats are not suitable for bo practice!
"do you know who to use that?" "Ofcourse. Pointy end goes into other man" "This is going to take a lot of work"
