"If you choose to carry this weapon, one of three things will happen
to you. 1 nothing, 2 you will end up getting yourself killed because
it leaves your hands, or 3 it may save someone's life."

I will never forget the words of the sheriff's deputy who taught the
concealed weapons class I attended many years ago.

As a child I had always been taught extreme respect for weapons. I
grew up in a household and a culture where firearms and other
weapons were an integral part of life. If there was one thing I was
taught early as a child, other than how to talk, it was that weapons
were not toys. They are to be used correctly and never recklessly.
You learn to use your weapon and take it seriously. Not only is it
literally a matter of life and death, it is a matter of personal
pride. Take good care of your weapons, treat them with respect,
learn to use them with skill, and they will take care of you.

As a martial artist, I was originally trained in an empty-handed
style. To be able to use weapons was considered a privilege. It was
not a part of the regular curriculum, and you had to show
proficiency in the basics of empty-handed combat prior to picking up
a weapon for the occassional weekend weapons seminar. A weapon was
not the proverbial magic bullet; if you did not have the basics to
go behind it, you would be even worse off than you were before you
started. Weapons can be used against you. We were always reminded
that not only can a weapon be taken away by your opponent, but also
by your instructor. Basics first, dessert last.

I attended a martial arts tournament yesterday, and saw a variety of
weapons forms. Some were very good, and I found others to be truly
awful. I felt like telling those particular competitors that I
really did not appreciate them making a mockery of the use of
weapons, and that they obviously did not 1. understand the entire
concept of using a weapon 2. show any respect for their weapon 3.
have a clue about what they were supposed to be doing and 4. had no
right to be calling themselves a martial artist .

Call it my upbringing, but I found it incredibly, unbearably
offensive to watch someone being so disrespectful as to willingly
throw their weapon with the only purpose being to catch it again, or
to twirl it around to impress someone watching. You never, ever,
ever, willingly let your weapon leave your hand. (The only exception
to this being of course, if it were being used to impale your
opponent, or if it were a weapon designed to be thrown or launched.
This is not the type of weapon we were dealing with. )

A form is supposed to be the simulation of fighting multiple
opponents. A weapons form is supposed to the the simulation of
fighting multiple opponents with the use of a weapon. The particular
weapon in question is a bo staff.One of my favorite weapons because
of it's sheer simplicity and practicality. So how can you take one
of the simplest and most practical of all weapons and really screw
it up? By trying to make it into something that it is not. The bo
staff is meant to be used as a weapon of self defense, not as a
flashy, twirling implement, leaving your hand, thrown in the air
multiple times with the only purpose being to catch it again.

If you are fighting multiple opponents, once that staff leaves your
hands, you will never see it again. You will be fighting empty
handed. The staff will be used to bludgeon you to death unless you
are really good at defending empty-handed against weaponry. Had the
form shown this, I would have been impressed. You throw your weapon
away, then defend empty-handed against what was once your weapon.
That's the reality you've just simulated. That would look really
cool if you managed to pull your butt out of that one. Could be
done. You'd have to be incredibly good at your basics of unarmed
combat. You would have to display a level of skill way beyond any
that the competitor in question would have been capable of. One that
shows a true mastery of the martial arts. Not just a regurgitation
of a few cool techniques that someone has shown you. You have to be
able to think like a warrior. Something the competitor in question
was obviously incapable of doing.

Where was this kid's dad when he was growing up? Geez, hadn't anyone
ever taught him that weapons were serious stuff. They were not toys.
Please do not insult me as a martial artist and use my weapon as a
toy. Please do not call it a weapon if you intend to use it as a
toy. Please do not disrepect my weapon in this manner, I find it to
be very offensive. This is not the way of a warrior.

So I had quite a dilemma. Here I was sitting as a judge. How do I
score a competitor like this? If I were to go with my heart, what
kind of score does he get? He has just committed a grave sin. I can
still hear the mantra of my first martial arts instructor in my
head, "Respect and Discipline.... the two most important things we
teach in this school..." Wow, he had just violated the Prime
Directive. Ouch. Not only that, he would also be dead. So I gave him
a score, one that would be socially acceptable; as the other judges
scored him high. What I really wanted to do though, was put the
score on the card then put a big slash so everyone could see as I
held up the scorecard it would say 9.3/Dirt Nap. In parentheses
below that would be the explanation: That means you're dead, but you
looked cool getting your butt killed.

Spartan, come back with your shield or on it. Do not be throwing it
away. Some fair Scottish-trained lad or lassie will be kicking your
sorry butt. Duh.