Martial arts is the use of fighting skills to defend yourself or use in military warfare. It’s most commonly known as weaponless combat, but many martial arts do use weapons.
In this article, I’ll tell you about some of the best martial arts that use weapons regularly.
Kali
Kali is a traditional Filipino martial art that uses Kali sticks, which are hard bamboo sticks. In a fight, it is a major advantage to hold a weapon rather than just relying on your fists or feet. However, you can’t guarantee to find a Kali stick in every place that you go.
Swinging a piece of wood instead of your arms or legs is a much safer way to fight in real life. In a fist fight, you need to land your punches on certain body parts to inflict damage to your enemy.
In Kali, you have the freedom to hit any body part and inflict a guaranteed pain every time you land even if they block it. Plus, you can also use the Kali stick to deflect incoming attacks.
You have the choice to hold one or two Kali sticks at once. One stick will give you a faster time to swing while holding two will allow you to hit more targets at once or defend against attacks better.
Despite the advantage that Kali can give, we have to acknowledge the reality that Kali sticks are not always available anywhere we go. We can’t also bring it outside because it’s a weapon and it is illegal to hold it in some places; it’s also weird carrying a stick around just in case of a fight.
Kendo
Kendo is another weapon-relying martial art. It utilizes a bamboo Katana. What makes it deserve a higher spot than Kali is the weapon size. Kendo uses a longer and thicker bamboo sword. The flaw is the same with Kali, you can’t really bring your sword anywhere you go.
What makes Kendo an effective martial art to learn than Kali is the much larger weapon that you can use. A longer weapon means you can damage your opponent with further distance which will make you safer for counterattacks and takedowns.
With the increased weapon size, the possibility of it being brought anywhere you go will decrease. It is also heavier making you much slower in swinging it which will cause your moves to be predictable.