KOBUDO 古武道
BRIEF HISTORY
After the 1400's Okinawan farmers began to use their tools of work as weapons, since the commerce in the Port of Tumai was exerted by means of the interchange of food of first necessity of that time (sugar, rice,etc) with countries such as Taiwan, China, Indonesia and Malaysia. In 1600, the army of Shogun SATSUMI, invaded and conquered the islands of the Japanese Archipelago Ryu Kyu. In order to avoid rebellions in Okinawa (the most important of the islands) the natives were prohibited the carrying and use of any type of weapons. Samurai (the military), committed all types of injustices, submitting the invaded town to oppressions and humiliations, reason why the Okinawans in the necessity to defend themselves of the abuse, perfected the Chinese techniques fused with the native techniques of martial arts. While some perfected the techniques of the combat with their hands, others did their own thing using their daily tools of work as weapons.
The handling of these conventional weapons of Okinawa, was generically denominated as KOBUDO (weapons path); these being: Bo, Tunfa, Eku-bo, Saku-bo, Sai and Kamanti.
The kobudo techniques were jealousy hidden to the foreigners until the beginning of the present century, in which the teachers began to disclose their secret art, first in Japan and after World War ll to the rest of the world. Sensei Shigeo Nakazato is the only one to teach the system CHIKIN BO and other systems of Kobudo not known.