21 Brutal Karate Weapons Used in Martial Arts

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Everyone knows Karate. But it’s not just punches and kicks. In fact, there are a number of tools and weapons used by Karate practitioners. But what are the most widely used Karate weapons?

Here are some of the most widely used Karate weapons:

  • Bo Staff
  • Nunchaku (nunchuks)
  • Shurikens
  • Tonfa
  • Katana
  • Fukiya
  • Sai

But those are just a few!

Below I’ll get into all 21 of the most popular weapons used in Karate. I’ll cover how they work, how effective they are, and how to use them. Karate is a martial art developed in Okinawa, Japan, for self-defense.

It is practiced by many people worldwide with the use of weapons. Accordingly, various brutal Karate weapons are used in martial arts, like the famous Nunchuck and Tonfa.

This article entails rare and popular Karate weapons you need to see. Read on to get your mind blown.

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Now let’s review my list of the . . .

21 Brutal Karate Weapons

1. Nunchuck

Nunchaku (often called nunchucks in the US) is one of the most well-known traditional Okinawan weapons. Nunchaku is made up of two sticks. It is sometimes referred to as Nunchucks or a dual-section stick. It gained prominence after being used in motion pictures by legendary martial artist Bruce Lee in the early 1970s.

The fundamental handling method is a centrifugal force that results from swinging the weapon. An individual who employs this weapon is known as a Nunchakuka, and it is undoubtedly the most popular weapon in martial arts, and it falls under the training weapons of martial arts.

Nunchucks are a bit hard to use without adequate training, which leaves you wondering if it’s a good weapon for self-defense.

I wrote in a recent article all you need to know about it. I get into the differences in nunchuck length, why some are foam, wood, or graphite, and how some practitioners are so good they can use one in each hand.

Click on the link to read the full article on this website.

2. Hook Swords

The dual hooks sword, often known as the hook sword, was first created in China. Common characteristics of hook swords include their hook, back, sharpened end, crescent guard, and link. The hook can slash, trip, or capture an opponent’s weapon.

Finally, the sword’s crescent guard serves various purposes, including slicing, blocking, and trapping.


3. Bo Staff

One of the most often used traditional weapons in Okinawa martial arts is the Bo staff. This staff is typically quite long; to be exact, it is roughly 6 feet long. The uses for a Bo staff include striking, thrusting, blocking, sweeping, and entrapping an opponent.

Often, unfinished hardwood or a flexible wood, such as red or white oak, is used to make the Bo staff. The Bo staff resembles a long stick, and some prominent martial artists use it as a walking stick.

4. Tonfa

The Okinawan martial arts frequently employ the Tonfa, also known as Tong fa or Tuifa, as a weapon type for blocking and striking. The weapon has a perpendicular handle and is typically built with a stick. it

It consists of a stick between 380 and 510 mm (about 1.67 ft) long with a vertical handle affixed halfway down the stick’s length.

5. Tekko-Kagi

The Tekko-kagi is a Japanese weapon that has its roots in Okinawa. This type of weapon can be used to mark opponents. Moreover, it performs defensive and offensive roles. Tekko-Kagi is a hand claw with four iron nails, and ninjas frequently use them to attack and perform slash adversaries.

This weapon, often called hand claws, was commonly utilized by the ninjas as a farm tool.

6. Spear/Qiang

Qiang, which has a wood shaft and a pointed head, is sometimes called a Chinese spear. In most cases, the pointed head is either the sharpened end of the spear itself or an attachment.

The attachment may be constructed from various substances, including steel, iron, bone, flint, and obsidian, which are everyday objects. The spear is also used in Filipino martial arts.

Moreover, spears longer than 9 feet are known as short spears, whereas spears less than 9 feet are known as spiked staffs.

7. Katana

A katana is a Japanese sword with a long grip that can hold two hands and a single-edged, curved blade with a squared or circular guard. It was worn with the edge facing up by samurai warriors in feudal Japan.

Cutting, hitting, and blocking maneuvers are all possible with the weapon. Martial artists utilize the sword during training to acquire various martial arts systems, and they sometimes use wooden swords as an alternative for training.

8. Kunai

The Japanese tool known as a kunai is said to have originated from the masonry trowel. There are two varieties—one is referred to as the short Kunai, and the other as the huge Kunai.

Frequently, a rope is attached at the back to enable the Kunai’s handle to be wrapped to serve as a grip or to be fastened to a stick to serve as an alternative spear.

9. Shurikens

A Shuriken is a historical weapon used in ancient Japan as a Metsubushi or a hidden dagger to divert or confuse. They are also referred to as throwing weapons and can be used to initiate surprise attacks.

Shurikens, often known as “ninja stars,” are a deadly weapon that samurai sand ninjas use. They utilize the weapon to attack the enemy’s face, eyes, and other vulnerable body parts. Many a Japanese soldier wielded one, often to deadly extremes.

10. Podao

A single-edged Chinese army weapon, Podao or Pudao, is still largely utilized during martial arts training. Podao, which is also known as a horse-cutting sword, typically has a razor-sharp blade that resembles a Dao, a Chinese broadsword. It has a unique design.

The traditional Chinese weapon has a long handle that is often approximately 6 feet long in addition to the blade.

11. Kama

Kama, known as kai or double kai, is frequently practiced in martial arts weapon training. The weapon is Japanese in origin.

The machinery resembles a sickle and is primarily intended for agricultural use, with a wooden handle.

This bladed weapon is also necessary for other tasks, such as blocking, entangling, and stealing an enemy’s weaponry. The weapon is quite popular, as games like mortal combat use it today. Some people often refer to them as hand sickles.

12. Sai

The martial art weapon, Sai, is primarily used to block and stab adversaries. It is a deadly weapon that was formerly employed by the domestic police in Japan.

Metal is often used to make Sai, and It frequently includes a metal prong that is blunt and has two curved side prongs. These lateral prongs of the Okinawan traditional weapon extend directly from the handle.

13. Wakizashi

Samurai soldiers frequently wielded Wakizashi in feudal Japan. The Japanese weapon resembles a sword but is slightly different from a regular sword, yet it differs from the Katana sword.

Its typical length ranges between 12 and 24 inches. Moreover, there are two varieties of Wakizashi. The term “Wakizashi” refers to those that are about the same length as katana swords.

The term “ko-wakizashi” is frequently used to describe swords that are comparable in length to Tant swords.

14. Tekkan

The Tekkan, often referred to as Tetsu-ken or Tett, is a Japanese weapon that was in use from the end of the Edo era to the start of the 20th century.

They are equipped with blunt, heavy blades that are designed to strike foes wearing armor as hard as possible. It was created primarily for opponents who were wearing armor. Hence it had to be hefty to be effective against the weak places of the armor.

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15. Testubishi

The term “thorns of surprise” was coined by Black Belt Magazine to describe this weapon, which is also known as Makibishi. These are small metal spikes, like jacks for kids, that are hurled on the ground to slow down opponents and stop the pursuit.

The spikes have a sharp point long enough to penetrate thin soles.

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16. Brass Knuckles

Brass knuckles are fist-load weapons used in hand-to-hand fighting and go by many names, including knucks, brass knuckles, knuckle busters, iron fists, paperweight, and a classic. Now they are not unique to Japan as variations have been used all over the world since ancient times. But they are prominent in Japan as well.

These are metal objects that wrap over the knuckles.

They are made to concentrate and conserve a punch’s force by aiming it toward a more complex and limited area of contact, increasing tissue destruction.

17. Chigiriki

This wood and metal weapon’s top has a weight tied to a chain that was used to trip, attack, or disarm an adversary. Chigiriki could pass for regular wooden sticks or a wooden staff because the chain is hidden inside the shaft.

18. Fukiya

The Fukiya is a long-range weapon with various uses, including discreetly dispatching foes and communicating with allies.

This versatile weapon is portable and can be used as breathing straws, pipes, or flutes. Fukiya has now become an international sport comparable to archery, as evidenced by recent advances.

Curious about the secrets of Okinawan Karate styles?

I wrote about it in a recent article. I get into the most popular styles that came from Okinawa, whether they borrowed from Chinese Kung Fu, and how the styles differ from what’s practiced in the US.

Just click that link to read it on my site.

19. Ono

The Japanese name for an axe is Ono, often spelled Wono or Masakari historically. Ono was a favorite weapon of ancient Japanese Yamabushi, or warrior monks because stone axes precede those fashioned of iron and steel.

These poleaxes, which are around six feet tall, were employed by the Yamabushi in close combat or one-on-one battles.

20. Kubotan

The Kubotan, or Yawara, are small grip weapons resembling key chains that can fit in the palm of one’s hand. Although they may be pointed, they often feature blunt ends on each side designed for striking an opponent. Their blunt ends have proven particularly effective on pressure points.

Its main benefit, whether rounded or hexagonal, lies in how the user grips the weapon, increasing their punch and preventing hand breakage.

21. Rope Darts

Rope darts, sometimes known as “rope javelins,” are another traditional weapon utilized in numerous martial arts forms. The weapon has a long rope built into it. The rope, which is at least 10 feet long, frequently has a metal dart fastened to one of its ends.

The warriors benefited greatly from the use of rope darts. For example, they can strike, penetrate, and cut adversaries. The weapon works well for several other techniques, such as twining, binding, and tightening.

Conclusion

Karate is an exciting martial art with new moves and weapons to explore. In this article, I ran through a list of widely known Karate weapons that are efficient for training, some of which are Tonfa, Sai, Kama, and Nunchucks.

An overview of each weapon is provided, along with information on how to use them and the damage they cause to opponents.

Image by WikiImages from Pixabay

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