I'm not talking about firearms here, and it probably doesn't apply to swords either (I would not know, as I do not know how to use a sword). I am referring to the traditional martial arts weapons that originally (supposedly) came from farming and gardening tools. Like the kama, or the tonfa (allegedly).
I have been using a nejiri kama the last few years in my garden. It has taught me a lot about how to properly use, for example, the martial arts kama. This is primarily because the nejiri kama I use in the garden actually has to do work, and using it incorrectly is dangerous and hurts my back and arms. It's also ineffective.
The nejiri kama looks a bit like a small kama used in martial arts, but the blade is slightly angled like the blade on a modern razor used for shaving. It works by applying it at the base or root of a plant you want to remove and drawing it towards you in a pulling but slightly circular motion. If you do not get low and apply it at the right angle, it doesn't cut easily. If you pull with your back, you end up hurting your back. If you pull with your arms, you end up hurting your arms. Instead, it is a graceful, relaxed, pull towards yourself with back and legs and shoulder and arm, with a slight circular motion applied with wrist and arm and even shoulder. Then you get a smooth and effortless cut, and weeds pop out of the ground like magic. You're not tired, sore, or sweaty. And the nejiri kama is razor sharp, improper use leads to bloodshed. Don't ask me how I know this.
When applied to the kama, I imagine myself making the nejiri kama cut stroke. It's a pull, it's a twist, it's a circular motion applied to the opponent's neck or protruding appendage like a hand or arm. It's not a dagger, for the most part. You don't impale people with it. You cut them using the natural abilities of the tool itself. This leads my body mechanics in the correct positions.
Doing kama training in the dojo is difficult if you don't use a kama or similar tool in real life. You do the motions, but are you doing them correctly, or just mimicking what you see? We do the hook and pull, but would it actually work? If you actually find a real-world application for the tool, you can put it to the test and learn how it wants to be used.
I am trying to apply this theory to all the weapons I am training in. What is the weapon's nature? How does it want to be used? What movements are effective and which would either expose me to danger or wear me out using them ineffectively?
"Let the tool do the work" is a phrase my father taught me. I used to try to use hand tools by applying brute force to them; which works sometimes. Pounding nails in boards with a hammer can be done lots of ways, but the pure brute force method leads to bent nails. I used to watch my dad use a hammer; it looked like magic. He'd tap a nail once, then raise the hammer and bam, the nail would vanish into the board. Why? Because he used the tool the way it wanted to be used, and he let it do the work; he just guided it. I realized years later that he gripped it differently than I did, and he used his wrist, which I had always kept straight and rigid. He used follow-through to let the hammer continue applying power after the initial impact instead of letting it bounce back at him. I still can't drive a nail the way my father did, but I'm much better at it now, and I'm hell on fence posts with a sledge hammer because of his training.
I believe this philosophy applies to weapon training as well. Use the tool the way it wants to be used, and let it do the work.
I have been using a nejiri kama the last few years in my garden. It has taught me a lot about how to properly use, for example, the martial arts kama. This is primarily because the nejiri kama I use in the garden actually has to do work, and using it incorrectly is dangerous and hurts my back and arms. It's also ineffective.
The nejiri kama looks a bit like a small kama used in martial arts, but the blade is slightly angled like the blade on a modern razor used for shaving. It works by applying it at the base or root of a plant you want to remove and drawing it towards you in a pulling but slightly circular motion. If you do not get low and apply it at the right angle, it doesn't cut easily. If you pull with your back, you end up hurting your back. If you pull with your arms, you end up hurting your arms. Instead, it is a graceful, relaxed, pull towards yourself with back and legs and shoulder and arm, with a slight circular motion applied with wrist and arm and even shoulder. Then you get a smooth and effortless cut, and weeds pop out of the ground like magic. You're not tired, sore, or sweaty. And the nejiri kama is razor sharp, improper use leads to bloodshed. Don't ask me how I know this.
When applied to the kama, I imagine myself making the nejiri kama cut stroke. It's a pull, it's a twist, it's a circular motion applied to the opponent's neck or protruding appendage like a hand or arm. It's not a dagger, for the most part. You don't impale people with it. You cut them using the natural abilities of the tool itself. This leads my body mechanics in the correct positions.
Doing kama training in the dojo is difficult if you don't use a kama or similar tool in real life. You do the motions, but are you doing them correctly, or just mimicking what you see? We do the hook and pull, but would it actually work? If you actually find a real-world application for the tool, you can put it to the test and learn how it wants to be used.
I am trying to apply this theory to all the weapons I am training in. What is the weapon's nature? How does it want to be used? What movements are effective and which would either expose me to danger or wear me out using them ineffectively?
"Let the tool do the work" is a phrase my father taught me. I used to try to use hand tools by applying brute force to them; which works sometimes. Pounding nails in boards with a hammer can be done lots of ways, but the pure brute force method leads to bent nails. I used to watch my dad use a hammer; it looked like magic. He'd tap a nail once, then raise the hammer and bam, the nail would vanish into the board. Why? Because he used the tool the way it wanted to be used, and he let it do the work; he just guided it. I realized years later that he gripped it differently than I did, and he used his wrist, which I had always kept straight and rigid. He used follow-through to let the hammer continue applying power after the initial impact instead of letting it bounce back at him. I still can't drive a nail the way my father did, but I'm much better at it now, and I'm hell on fence posts with a sledge hammer because of his training.
I believe this philosophy applies to weapon training as well. Use the tool the way it wants to be used, and let it do the work.
