Weapon Training in Aikido

Weapon training at Renseikan Dojo is an important component to Aikido training. Students are introduced to the weapons at a fairly early stage in their training, and in some cases in the first few classes as a training tool to understand some of our basic solo exercises. The following are the three basic weapons of Aikido here at Renseikan Dojo.

Bokken or Bokuto

Aikido techniques come from sword movements so to further understand the basic body movements in aikido, an understanding of sword techniques is invaluable. At Renseikan Dojo we train with the wooden sword (Bokuto or Bokken) to learn basic movements and to further develop our aikido empty hand movements. The Bokken is used in solo exercises, in partner exercises, Kumi-Tachi (Bokken vs Bokken) and finally it is used as a weapon that we learn to defend against empty handed.

Jo

Another invaluable training tool is the 4 foot wooden staff. Similar to the karate 6 foot staff (Bo), the jo was predominately used against the sword (see Jodo). In Aikido we train with the Jo not as the weapon of Jodo, but rather as a tool to help us understand strikes, thrusts and circular movements. The Jo is used in solo kata (pre-arranged movements) and with a partner in Kumi-Jo (Jo vs Jo) and finally as a weapon that we learn to defend against. To understand how to defend against the Jo, it is good to understand how the Jo is used.

Tanto

The Tanto, is a wooden knife, and aikido students learn to use the Tanto in a similar way as the Bokken and Jo. We have solo exercises called kata, paired exercises and finally we learn to defend against the Tanto, unarmed.