Japanese Weapons Training in Melbourne

Weapons training is part of Japanese Jiu Jitsu at our school, and it's the fastest way I know to refine your distance, timing and body control. We use wooden training weapons and rope, with the emphasis on safe practice.

Many new students are surprised by how much they enjoy it, even if they couldn't see the point of training with a sword or a Bo at first. And it's a lot of fun.

All of our weapons training is practised in pairs, usually against a swordsman. When you learn the Jo, for instance, you also learn the correct sword positions, attacks and defences, so you can see how the strategy works.

Staff weapons

Bo (6 foot), Jo (4 foot) and Hanbo (3 foot) are our three wooden staffs. You'll learn striking, locking and throwing against all sorts of grabs, kicks and strikes. With over 80 kata between them, there's always something new to learn.

Sword and knife

Sword training uses a wooden Bokken, and it's one of our most popular weapons. We practise basic, intermediate and more advanced techniques with both the long sword (Katana) and short sword (Shoto). We also train knife (Tanto) defence as a regular part of our routine.

Flexible weapons

Hojojutsu is the art of tying with cord, including rope handcuffs and restraining an opponent. Kasarifundo is traditionally a 1 metre chain with a steel weight at each end, and in class we use a 1 metre rope for safety. A t-shirt, belt or anything flexible about 80 cm long can be used for most of these techniques.

Who trains what

We can lend you training weapons until you get your own. If it interests you, we even have four suits of Japanese armour to lend students studying battlefield techniques.

The facilities here are excellent as is the training. The instructors are friendly and helpful and give plenty of useful feedback during sessions. I enjoy the challenge of learning new things, especially using the various weapons.

— David W.

Common questions

Do you train with real blades?

No, it's safe. We use wooden training weapons and rope, with an emphasis on safe training and good body control.

Do beginners do weapons training?

Yes. It's part of our normal adult classes, and we can lend you training weapons until you get your own.