Did you know that Karate traditionally involves no weapons at all? In fact if you were to sign up for entry level karate classes, chances are you wouldn’t get to touch any of the common martial arts weapons at all. Yet whenever you see a karate movie you see them using all kinds of weapons. Anyway, there are karate disciplines that do use weapons. But here is the fun fact: Karate weapons do not trace their roots back to weapon creation at all. Martial weapons are the offshoot of farming implements!

The staff (or Bo) is a common martial arts weapon you see. But originally it was used for herding cattle. Long before they were smacking each other with these sticks they were poking cows to get them going in the right direction. Or how about the origin of the weapon called a Kama? A Kama Looks a lot like a half moon shaped sickle. And there is a good reason for this. That is exactly where it got its start! And the Sai was originally a device used to plant seeds, specifically rice.

In fact no matter which martial arts weapon you choose, chances are you can trace the roots back to farming. In fact many of the common weapons we see in any martial arts shop can also be seen in fields to this day in eastern countries.

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