Submit Article

If you would like to submit an article, click the button below.

Navigation

<-- Back to Current Category

Kubotans and Yawara Sticks

By: Tom Fredrick, Thu Dec 8th, 2005 11:14:59 PM

B>Kubotans and Yawara Sticks

The kubotan or yawara is basically a small piece of wood, bone, PVC, or metal. They usually run about 5 1/2 inches give or take a 1/2 inch. There are many who claim to have "developed", "discovered", or created the Yawara or Kubotan. That is a subject of two long articles and not germane to our discussion here. It is certainly not a threatening weapon, in terms of appearance, but getting hit correctly by one is possibly the last thing one would want to experience.

Having discussed more benign approaches to thwarting attackers, such as a keychain alarm, or pepper spray, they pale in comparison to the destructive power of the tiny kubotan. Sure, no assailant wants the sound and lights flashing from a personal alarm, they would rather work silently and in the darkness. We know that some mentally disturbed attackers, and some drunken or doped up assailant walk right through a cloud of pepper spray, only to complete a vicious assault on the person who sprayed them. True? Well, yes it is true, but not ordinarily.

The configuration of a kubotan or yawara is generally: long enough to fill the hand, with a bit protruding above the hand, and below it. These ends are sometimes round "knobs", flat, or pointed on one (the new keychain models), or both ends. I prefer the pointed end and have a beautiful hand milled, checkered grip, dual pointed stick made from aircraft aluminum. It feels like your hand is empty if not for the checkered grip, and the scenarios I can employ it in, are almost as limitless as the places available to strike my opponent. Trust me, they add thunder to your fists!

I'll share a couple of "carries" for the kubotan, and some strikes you can employ immediately upon purchasing one. Use the empty space of air, and imagination as your training partner, but I prefer a heavy bag or a rubber training dummy, which is a lifelike simulation of a man from the waist up. There are several choices available.

The first is closed fist, and using the downward protruding tip, like the end of a hammer striking a nail. Grip your weapon tightly and drive down into the shoulder - near the neck - on either side! And you thought the "Vulcan Nerve Pinch" was bad huh? Also it can be driven into the orbital areas of the eye area and will blind an opponent, or crush the fine bones surrounding the eyeball - a real show stopper! If you're a woman pitted against a man, it can still be hammered down and into the attacker's throat, or his chest, just below the sternum (maximum effect) or into the pectoral muscles (extreme pain).

Another way I like to hold and use my Yawara is to use the portion sticking out above the clenched fist (above the thumb). This is excellent for thrusting or stabbing strikes, to the solar plexus, or rising to the throat, under the chin in the soft area of the neck. Just behind the point of the jaw, is a concealed major nerve. It can also be thrust into the bladder, or rising to impact under the armpits, and into the major nerve centers located there. It will be an unforgettable experience for your assailant.

There are hundreds of strikes and many variations of the "carry". In fact they are so affordable, I would sincerely recommend purchasing a few of them at about $5 each at most online retailers. Keep one handy in the house, in your vehicle, or wherever needed. Go ahead and spring for one of those karate "pressure point" charts, and a training manual too. Practice driving the kubotan into those marked areas, as you do repetitions and drills with your new weapon. You have my word that after only a week or two of practice with imagination and a sincere desire to employ this weapon, and you'll be amazed at how quickly you will rely on it, and not shy away in the least, from using your kubotan for self defense. Dynamite comes in small packages!

About the author: Tom Fredrick is an accomplished martial arts practitioner with over 30 yrs. of active training and teaching Okinawan Karate, Yang Tai Chi Chuan, and Escrima. He served in the USMC, and has also worked in law enforcement, undercover airport security, and as a personal bodyguard.

Sign In