I don't like them. They are a bit better than being unarmed but a bit worse than just about every other weapon that exists.
So a bit less useful than a torch. But a torch is not considered a weapon..
Otherwise you hammer fist people with them.
Do you generally encourage carrying a weapon? If so, what weapon would you encourage? For the sake of discussion, let's leave out "guns" because their legality varies from state to state.
They are illegal in south Australia. However there is actually books and DVDs out on how to use them properly. They can be jammed up under the armpit for controlling, as you said loading your fist and as drop bear said for the hammer fist. I don't know of anyone personally that teaches it's use though. It's primarily used for striking pressure points and nerves.
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Interesting. A 9-inch piece of wood with a brass end cap is illegal. I take it there's a lot of criminal activity down there then?
I would certainly recommend them. If it's on something like your keys, you'll always have it on you. You may even have it in your hands when someone might be more likely to try to jump you.
I had a discussion with an FMA instructor who said that the worst place for a kubaton is your keys (alongside, the worst improvised self defense weapon is your keys) because of the risk of disarm. If you get disarmed and you're wielding your keys or a bauble attached to your keys, and they get knocked out of your hand, then you lose your weapon AND your means of escape on the same beat. I agree with this instructor, personally. Especially at a "women's self defense" standpoint because unless the woman is training regularly, she's going to take a 1-afternoon, 2 hour long self defense class, but the second someone attacks her, the adrenaline will surge and she'll shake too much to even properly grip the keys and/or kubaton.
I thought the fighting manual that came with mine was a bit goofy. Lots of instructions on how to hook and lock joints. Which, sure, I'll go for that if the opportunity presents itself, but primarily, it's a serious striking enabler. Particularly for a person that might not have much training who's going to be happier with a hammer fist type motion anyway.
I think it has a lot more to do with training. Mainly, if you're in an FMA school that practices joint manipulation with a knife, and obviously you'd be practicing with a wooden or rubber knife on your classmate, joint manipulation with a kubaton should be easy. Someone who isn't training all the time however, is definitely going to wield the kubaton like a very small baton, though, definitely. I actually tell people who ask what it is that it's simply a trinket that I like, but if the need arises, I'll use it to shatter the window of a car if I find a child suffering from heat exhaustion.
Where I live, the laws don't really prohibit specific things so much. It's more about intent. A baseball bat is just as legal as a knife or a gun, as long as you don't have any ill intent. Which I think is odd. So as long as I can justify it, I can carry whatever I want.
Anyway, this makes the kubaton a good choice for me. Clearly, I didn't intend to go out ne-er do welling with my "keychain" that helps me find my keys and makes it easier to pull my keys out of a bag full of other stuff.. It's very unimposing. Mine is just a plain straight stick shape without embellishment. Rings or other changes would make my "intent", even though it's obviously self defense, suspicious.
Like I said earlier, I carry it as a trinket, in my pocket, mostly because the ring broke off of mine because I twirled it on my finger too often.
Your laws sound much like Upstate NY's knife laws. I can carry a knife with a blade of up to 4" in length, but there's so much vague "intent" legalspeak mixed in, where I'm convinced that if a police officer wanted to, he could simply take my knife because he wanted a new knife. Of course, I have no intentions of carrying a sheath knife because it has a suggestion of menace to it. I don't want people thinking they should keep their distance from me. I get enough complaints about carrying a folding pocket knife as it is.
I agree with Drop Bear that hammer fists are the most effective way to use these. Quickest. Hardest. And you really don't lose that much range compared to using it forward. Certainly not the only way though. I haven't heard of anyone training it specifically, but I would wager that if you're good with your hands or a knife, you'll do fine with a kubaton. Certainly better with special training, but sufficient without it.
Question for the knife pro's on this forum. Adrenaline, shock, and drugs can make a person can seriously dull the effect of pain. In that situation, would the blunt force of a kubaton be better than the knife? Able to deliver serious force without causing shock, and with stopping power? And without the legal issues of lethality?
In shape it's similar to a knife, so you're definitely right -- it would work well in the hands of a knife wielder. Figure, when me and my classmates drill knife fighting/knife defense, we use pieces of rattan about 9 inches in length, which is essentially what a kubaton is anyways. When I practice with my kubaton at home, it's in my left hand in ice pick grip/downwards, though when I want to "shadowbox" my knife fighting, I put it in my right hand, held upwards/sword grip.
Also, the people I've spoken to who have dealt with drug addicts on the move have said that they've seen people have their jaws broken off, legs broken, and more, still attempting to attack people. Drugs are scary things. I doubt anything more than an actual
knockout hit or choke hold will do you any good against someone like that. When there was a situation with "bath salts" sweeping New York State, I convinced my mother to keep a small aluminum baseball bat by the door, after hearing that a man who had done bath salts had taken six bullets to the torso and kept going, as if nothing had happened.
I'm going to disagree with you on this.
If I'm willing to use a weapon, then that means I think my life is in danger. And if I think my life is in danger, then the fight cannot be more serious than that. And I will do anything necessary to end the fight in my favor.
I think you're right about this. In the event that you've drawn a weapon, even in defense where I live, you could be charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Also, the whole conundrum of "appropriate force for the situation" leaves you in a gray area that would keep you from wielding a weapon unless the need truly arose, such as with multiple opponents or if they've already drawn weapons themselves.
Back in the day, I think everyone in Martial Arts went through a Kubaton stage. Usually lasted a month or two. I think Martial Artists are more realistic now. Think of all the Martial Artists you know, and everyone in protective services you know. How many carry a Kubaton?
Only because martial arts "masters" are much more trusting in their own skill. I see carrying a weapon as a means of "insurance." An example would be the difference between your MA instructor who has lived in bad neighborhoods, been jumped, been mugged, been assaulted at a party because someone got too drunk, and so on and so forth. They've since those days trained to plan for them, and therefore have "seen it all." A student of beginner to intermediate level would however be better off carrying a kubaton or a small knife, or simply traveling in a group, only because they
don't know what to expect, and perhaps
haven't trained that much, and thus
need something on them as back up.
