@entrapmentadored The best in the world are from Shureido in Okinawa, but if you can't afford them, just make sure you get steel ones, preferably without chrome, and with something other than fake leather wrapping the handles (nylon cord works well if you have to re-wrap yourself).
@Bigboss5 No, you can learn just kobudo and have no experience in any empty-hand technique - we have a ni dan and a san kyu, nether having been in the pwang gai nun ryu class.
Out of curiosity, do you know what type of board he's throwing the sai into? The ground has always worked just fine for me, but one can't practice that way so much in winter....
@Terriss0421 Despite the blunt tip, it doesn't take excessive force to penatrate human organs! We have had practice outdoors and throw into the dirt - the most common target for Okinawan "police" (or whatever they were called at that time) was the foot, since they wanted to incapacitate, not kill.
It's separate from karate - it's kobudo. You may seem some weapons getting used by karateka, and kobudoka may use empty hand and kicks, but our class has people in both and we separate the class after warmups.
Sais are all blunt: the monouchi have eight-sided shafts and do *not* have a sharp tip - watch the first sai video for this info. You'll note the "Elektra" weapon is not a sai - it's a dagger with yoku.
Not really, just not normally considered ninja weapons...sai were most commonly associated with the Okinawan equivalent of high ranking police officers...and ninja? Spies, assassins and thieves! A lot of what we Westerners have learned about martial arts is from the entertainment industry, *not* history (written or oral). Obviously, I trust Shihan's version of history!
Agreed... the twirling stuff I did wasn't anything close to the history or even the martial arts of Sai's, it is just purely entertainment. So sorry if it offended you in anyway @__o;
However at school everything looks like... the video you have here. Very formal, and traditional. Other then that, wasn't it just a farming tool? Used against those higher ranked richer ppl with swords.
Most were tools, but sai have been used purely as weapons for longer than any other kobudo weapons (although tekko, the Okinawan brass knuckles, couldn't be used for much else!)
I didn't take offense at the twirling, just making sure you knew *that* is not martial arts! Anything that isn't offense or defense opens one for attack, so the showy stuff is bad form in our dojo.
lol oh hell I won't attack/defend with a twirling thing.. LOL
However to training purposes, it has really strengthen my wrists and the weight of the weapon has became like nothing, so in simplier more formal sai uses, has became really really easy. It has its uses in training. Just like in arnis they do some excersises with twirls to strengthen the wrists, not neccessarily to show off.
I'd be careful with your interpretation of ninjutsu practitioners; only some were assassins, specifically of samurai; Shihan's family may have been Samurai--see how he could be a bit biased? Read books my Hatsumi to learn more about their actual history, it's very interesting.
Not interested in reading ninja history. I don't know if Shihan is from a samurai family, but his knowledge of iaido, kobudo, and karate makes him more reliable than anyone I know. E.g.-ninja swords are straight, while samurais are curved - ninja thrust forward with the point, samurai cut with arcing sweeps. Peasants wielding bo and kuwa seem more honorable than either. That's enough discussion of them.
Do you have knowledge of the katana?
nomadkaiser 10 months ago
@nomadkaiser Shihan teaches iaido - I have started taking his class a couple times a month.
hempev 10 months ago
where would be some of the best to get quality of these here apprentices??
entrapmentadored 11 months ago
@entrapmentadored I can't decipher your English there - what do you mean by "these here apprentices" ?
hempev 11 months ago
@hempev haha sorry, the spell check made a mistake. where can i get real quality sais????
entrapmentadored 11 months ago
@entrapmentadored The best in the world are from Shureido in Okinawa, but if you can't afford them, just make sure you get steel ones, preferably without chrome, and with something other than fake leather wrapping the handles (nylon cord works well if you have to re-wrap yourself).
hempev 11 months ago
@hempev hmmmmmmmmmmm.
entrapmentadored 11 months ago
@entrapmentadored haha sorry, the spell check made a mistake. where can i get real quality sais????
entrapmentadored 11 months ago
it seems like one would need a good grounding in okinawan te in order to truly understand some okinawan kobudo weapons.
Bigboss5 1 year ago
@Bigboss5 No, you can learn just kobudo and have no experience in any empty-hand technique - we have a ni dan and a san kyu, nether having been in the pwang gai nun ryu class.
hempev 1 year ago
Out of curiosity, do you know what type of board he's throwing the sai into? The ground has always worked just fine for me, but one can't practice that way so much in winter....
kwanmukarateka 2 years ago
I've thrown mine into plywood with no problem.
Terriss0421 1 year ago
@Terriss0421 Despite the blunt tip, it doesn't take excessive force to penatrate human organs! We have had practice outdoors and throw into the dirt - the most common target for Okinawan "police" (or whatever they were called at that time) was the foot, since they wanted to incapacitate, not kill.
hempev 1 year ago
I like this very much. I wish there was a kobudo school nearby.
SuperSpoonishNess 2 years ago
Comment removed
sk4428 4 years ago
It's separate from karate - it's kobudo. You may seem some weapons getting used by karateka, and kobudoka may use empty hand and kicks, but our class has people in both and we separate the class after warmups.
hempev 4 years ago
I do Uechi-ryu, and I can see where you could fit in the zai just in the bunkai, even though I'm only on the first kata.
PbandJae 2 years ago
Great vid.
TheOneNo20 4 years ago
foom, finally a sai video.
you have a problem with blunt sai's?
ninjaFOOM 4 years ago
Sais are all blunt: the monouchi have eight-sided shafts and do *not* have a sharp tip - watch the first sai video for this info. You'll note the "Elektra" weapon is not a sai - it's a dagger with yoku.
hempev 4 years ago
haha thank goodness I don't have "daggers" or I won't have any limbs left anymore from practicing.
Are sai's anti-ninja or something?
ninjaFOOM 4 years ago
Not really, just not normally considered ninja weapons...sai were most commonly associated with the Okinawan equivalent of high ranking police officers...and ninja? Spies, assassins and thieves! A lot of what we Westerners have learned about martial arts is from the entertainment industry, *not* history (written or oral). Obviously, I trust Shihan's version of history!
hempev 4 years ago
Agreed... the twirling stuff I did wasn't anything close to the history or even the martial arts of Sai's, it is just purely entertainment. So sorry if it offended you in anyway @__o;
However at school everything looks like... the video you have here. Very formal, and traditional. Other then that, wasn't it just a farming tool? Used against those higher ranked richer ppl with swords.
-Vina
ninjaFOOM 4 years ago
Most were tools, but sai have been used purely as weapons for longer than any other kobudo weapons (although tekko, the Okinawan brass knuckles, couldn't be used for much else!)
I didn't take offense at the twirling, just making sure you knew *that* is not martial arts! Anything that isn't offense or defense opens one for attack, so the showy stuff is bad form in our dojo.
hempev 4 years ago
lol oh hell I won't attack/defend with a twirling thing.. LOL
However to training purposes, it has really strengthen my wrists and the weight of the weapon has became like nothing, so in simplier more formal sai uses, has became really really easy. It has its uses in training. Just like in arnis they do some excersises with twirls to strengthen the wrists, not neccessarily to show off.
-Vina
ninjaFOOM 4 years ago
I should have been specific to kata and hojo-undo! For practive and wrist/arm exercises, we *do* use some twirling, just not as part of a form.
hempev 4 years ago
I'd be careful with your interpretation of ninjutsu practitioners; only some were assassins, specifically of samurai; Shihan's family may have been Samurai--see how he could be a bit biased? Read books my Hatsumi to learn more about their actual history, it's very interesting.
calibansfury 4 years ago
Not interested in reading ninja history. I don't know if Shihan is from a samurai family, but his knowledge of iaido, kobudo, and karate makes him more reliable than anyone I know. E.g.-ninja swords are straight, while samurais are curved - ninja thrust forward with the point, samurai cut with arcing sweeps. Peasants wielding bo and kuwa seem more honorable than either. That's enough discussion of them.
hempev 4 years ago