What is hanbo in your life?
This is a simple question that the user of a martial arts weapon should ask about any weapon they collect for training. How does this skill help you in your life? For some weapons, we have a curiosity and interest based on the weapon itself. However, there may also be a deeper connection: this weapon can be a practice for real self defense.
The hanbo, a meter stick that I have discussed the story of in one of my other articles, is a good example. On the battlefields of feudal Japan, it was a secondary weapon, something to be used in a pinch. For us today, it is probably one of the most important weapons we can use! What elements around us are like sticks and are about a meter long?
An umbrella
A cane or walking stick
A long-handled ice scraper in the car
A squeegee
A stick in the woods
A piece of rod
A poster tube
An unsheathed sword or a sword in a bag (for martial artists)
Many other things, the list goes on and on.
Each of the above items can be used in many, if not all, of the same ways as a hanbo. Some may even have MORE uses, like the ice scraper or squeegee, both of which have other things attached to the end of the stick that could also be used to subdue an attacker. Look around your home, your workplace, the stores you shop at. If you were mugged NOW, there would be a lot of hanbo-like objects around you. Try this with any weapon you study – look around you and find things that are just like that weapon. How are they alike? What is the difference between them? What can you do with one that you can’t do with the other?
The hanbo represents a very simple and ever-present form to us, the short stick-like object. This kind of thing is over. Even a rolled up newspaper or magazine can be similarly used to apply a choke or punch. My suggestion: try hanbo today. Get yourself one and start exercising with it, become familiar with it, and keep searching the outside world of the training floor for ‘hanbo’ items.
