Top to bottom: tonfa, nunchaku and kama

Impact weapons have been around since primitive man first picked up a stone or stick to club a four-legged mammal for food or a two-legged one in self-defense. Those implements are probably responsible for having killed more people than any other weapon in history. In most modern martial arts, impact weapons take the form of sticks, batons, staffs and the nunchaku – despite the fact that in most places such weapons are antiquated, to say the least. In the real world, most people don't carry around their trusty 6-foot-long bo or escrima sticks in case they're attacked. In many states and countries, you can go to jail just for possessing those nifty nunchaku.

In my art, Dynamic Combat, we loosely define an impact weapon as any solid object, tool or implement you can use to cause injury through ballistic contact. Under this rather broad definition, anything from a rock to a cell phone or a glass to a bar stool can be included. We separate them into the following four categories:

Conventional Weapons

They're what we think of as obvious or traditional weapons. A handgun, for instance, has no peaceful purpose other than as a portable (and concealable) killing tool. Some people may argue that you can use them for recreational purposes like target practice and sport shooting, but most people don't purchase them for fun. They get them for personal protection. The same goes for swords, spears, daggers, axes, escrima sticks and staffs. Today, people may use these devices recreationally in competition and at demonstrations, but originally they were designed for combat.

Unconventional Weapons

Their primary purpose is peaceful, Therefore, they must be adapted for combat. A perfect example is the nunchaku. Originally, Okinawans used it as a rice flail. However, during the Japanese occupation, all conventional weapons were banned, so the locals turned their farm tools into weapons. Along with the kama (sickle), which was used to cut grain, and the tonfa, which was a crank handle, the nunchaku became another unconventional yet deadly weapon. No longer used for combat, they've been transformed into conventional martial arts weapons.

On the other hand, pens, pencils, steak knives, forks, scissors, combs, keys, ashtrays, drinking glasses and cell phones have peaceful purposes in modern society. They were not designed as self-defense devices, but they can become deadly in a crisis. Moreover, most of them are expedient, meaning they're readily accessible and can often be used in an emergency.

Improvised Weapons

They're usually unconventional weapons that are environmentally and situationally specific. In other words, they're not common, but they just happen to be there when you need them. A padlock isn't a common object like a pen or a coffee mug, but if you have one in your gym bag during an assault, it can function like a set of brass knuckles. We don't consider a floor lamp to be a weapon, but in a time of need, you can knock off the shade and break the bulb to create an improvised spear. Leave the thing plugged in and you have a 120-volt spear.

Makeshift Weapons

These are implements you create on the spot by modifying or combining objects to use in self-defense. For example, if you have to defend yourself in a bathroom, you can wrap a bar of soap in a towel or sock to create a makeshift mace. Alternatively, you can bend a wire coat hanger to create a crude edged weapon.

If you're a student of the reality-based martial arts, you need to learn how to use your self-defense techniques in real-world situations, not just in traditional dojo scenarios. To that end, you need to familiarize yourself with real-world versions of impact weapons. Learning how to wield a pen, pencil, rock, stick, ashtray or telephone as a weapon should take precedence over learning a nunchaku kata or sinawali drill no matter how "real" you think your practice sessions are.

I'm not saying traditional drills have no use. They're wonderful for developing speed, timing, accuracy and reflexes – all of which are important components of advanced martial arts training. However, you have to ask yourself how likely a "stick war" is to take place in the world we live in and set your training priorities accordingly.

About the author. Richard Ryan is the founder of the Dynamic Combat Method and co-founder of Integrated Combative Arts Training. For more information, visit http://www.blackbeltmag.com and click on Community, then Black Belt Authors.

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