tonfa or sai

Tobias_Reece · Brown Belt

Hey troops.........bak again.

Right, another weapon question, except this time dealing withe defence.

If you were attacked by a staff (as this happens to us many times nowadays, especially when we are travelling in our sandels to the well to collect our drinking water

), would you rather have in your hands a pair of sai/zai or tonfa/tunkua (etc.)

Let explore what the pros and cons of each weapon are..........
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"You Are Never Given A Dream Without Also Being Given The Power To Make It True. You May Have To Work For It, However"

Principal Kobudo Instructor & Owner
West Yorkshire Kobudo Academy
2nd Kyu (Matayoshi Okinawan Kobudo, IOKA UK)

SBN Doug · KF VIP

I have personally weilded neither. However, if I had to choose, I would take the tonfa, since I am practiced in short sticks.

I like the choice of the double short weapon to counter the long single one, though.

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Kuk Sool Won - 4th dan
Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.

Blade13 · Purple Belt

Hmm... thats a toughy. They both have helpful abilities. The tonfa could protect your arm and whatever other body part, but thats only from attacks that are swung. The tonfa could also be used to fight back since it has a longer range. But then of course, the sai could disarm them if you catch the bo in it, and then you could fight them away. My personal choice would be the tonfas, because I just like that weapon better.

omnifinite · Purple Belt

That's tough. I've worked with zai but haven't used a tonfa before. So as things are now I'd have to pick the zai. But if I were equally proficient with both I have a feeling I might choose the tonfa... I think against a staff I would appreciate the thickness of the tonfa and the added protection my fingers would have when blocking. Plus I think I'd appreciate the little extra leverage the side handles (whatever they're called) might give me. But I could be wrong... I'll get back to you when I pick one of them up

.
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1st Dan Hapkido
Colored belts in Kempo and Jujitsu

ZeRo · Black Belt

i have never used either weapon so im goin for tonfa as it would be easyer for me.

Tobias_Reece · Brown Belt

Personally, ATM, I would choose the tonfa. I think that is because the basics of the weapon is very similar to the basics in Karate - so really i have been 'training' with the tonfa for x amount of years, without actually picking them up.

Obviously, the two weapons were strong in different ways - I would not like to face a katana with a tonfa in my hand - wood cuts slightly more easily than metal. Yet saying that, with the zai you have to be pretty accurate to block.

Oh, and no matter what protection, it still hurts when u block :'(

Oh and KSN Doug - congrates on the mod status. Well deserved.
_________________
"You Are Never Given A Dream Without Also Being Given The Power To Make It True. You May Have To Work For It, However"

Principal Kobudo Instructor & Owner
West Yorkshire Kobudo Academy
2nd Kyu (Matayoshi Okinawan Kobudo, IOKA UK)

SBN Doug · KF VIP

Thank you sir, I appreciate that.

I know you can get some extra cover distance from the sai if you "X" block with them. Then you don't have to be AS accurate. But since your question pitted each against the bo, I'm still sticking with the tonfa.

_________________
Kuk Sool Won - 4th dan
Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.

Tobias_Reece · Brown Belt

[quote]But since your question pitted each against the bo, I'm still sticking with the tonfa[\quote]

Touche

SaiFightsMS · KF VIP

Tonfa or sai against bo? That is a good one. It would be close but for someone with experience and training with sai they would have a slight edge.

FunkyBasser · White Belt

Hello,
I'm new here and I know this post is a lil old but hey it's got something I know, Tonfa's. Now luckily my bestfriend uses Sai's so I got an equal vantage point here. Now in the right hands it is highly unlikely for anything less then a sword to get past the tonfa's block, it's range can vary depending on your preffered size, I myself use a 24", therefore you can attack pretty easily, also it's a little easier to use a one arm block one arm attack method with the tonfa against a bo then the sai. I'm sure you all know this, oh one more point, the tonfa would give even a novice a semi-fair chance against a bo. Now the sai on the other hand if used with speed and accuracy can disarm the bo and dispatch the opponent rather quickly, down side is predict the wrong move such as going for a high X-block and catch a wooden shaft the groin, or legs, go for a low X - Block and it's goodnight everybody lights out! So I'd say for novice's and above tonfa, for advanced martial artist and above sai. The choice is really yours, it also depends on your personal abilities, I tend to go with tonfa because I have more strenght then lightning fast speed, my friend is insanely fast with less strenght, sai works great for him. So there you have it, my insight on it all, oh yea btw I pick tonfa.

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