Weapons In Karate

Karate, as I spoke many times before, is a martial art that involves your arms and your legs. Though it is very rare to actually get to learn how to use weapons in Karate, some sensei's show and teach them for students. My sensei chose from the Dojo's arsenal only one weapon to teach me, the katana. The point for this was not for any self-defense, physiological or actual training with weapons, it was to enhance my karate training. Many exercises that I have to do with the katana involves muscles that I need to strengthen and that are hard to strengthen only with karate. These are muscles located in the shoulders and chest. But swords are not the only weapon that can be taught in karate; the staff and the daggers are also used. I am really in favor of these types of trainings not only because they help me to get out of the routine of katá and fighting sessions but also because I really enjoy learning they things, especially when I know they will help me later on. The katana training also helps to correct my posture, a key element in karate katás, even though it may seem trivial. The last advantage of learning how to use a weapon is that it is very awesome, and if one day I am mugged and I happen to have a katana in my back pocket: I know how to use it!