Weapon Sparring

Weapon sparring may be practiced with padded weapons or shinai.

Permitted weapons are the Tanbo (24-inch stick), the Jo (48-inch stick) the Bo (72-inch stick), or the Shinai (flexible bamboo katana made for sparring) and foam/rubber knife (designed for sparring).

For weapons sparring, participants will be required to wear head and face protection designed for weapon sparring, protective gloves, and chest protectors.

Rounds go to 3 points, with any strike scoring 1 point.

• Illegal techniques include stabs to the face or neck or strikes to the back of the head.

• Strikes must be to the top or sides of the head, and the front or sides of the torso.

• Strikes to the knees are not permitted.

• Strikes to the legs above and below the knee are allowed but do not score points. An example of a permitted technique would be a trip with a Bo.

• A participant will be disqualified from a round if they drop their weapon, step outside the ring, or trip/fall.

• Unarmed techniques like punches, sweeps, or kicks do not score points but are permitted to create space or setup for other techniques.

The ring is rectangular in shape, with the recommended dimensions of 5ft X 10ft. This is to encourage quick, linear, and effective techniques with little room for stalling.