butterfly knives versus broadsword

[HSCLFCPA]

All:

Which weapons form do you recommend to learn first between the butterfly knives or the broadsword?

Thanks

[hskwarrior]

I've learned the two man form version first before learning the set itself

[HSCLFCPA]

Excuse my ignorance. Which weapon for the 2 man form version.

[hskwarrior]

the single butterfly

[HSCLFCPA]

Thanks. My choice is to learn the 2 butterfly knives set or 1 broadsword.

[hskwarrior]

oh very cool

[Lucas]

When you hold each weapon(s) which ones call to you more, or feel better in your hand? if you have absolutely no weapon experience, it may be better for you to learn the broadsword first, as you only need to concentrate on one weapon.

as you develop your skills with the sword, you will begin then to have more control over your empty hand, which is never doing nothing, it is as active as the sword. at which point when you cross over to the dual knives, your main hand will be quite comfortable and your off hand will be to a stage that it isnt completely stupid, making it easier to adapt to using a weapon. you can essentiall then focus more on your off hand, as your main hand is pretty conditioned to weapon use from the sword.

of course, this may not be the case for you at all.

id go with what ever you like more :D

edit: this is one of the reasons that a lot of people begin with a staff. its only one weapon but utilizes both hands and can be quite basic.

will you be able to weapon spar at all?

[HSCLFCPA]

I just finished using the wooden staff. I am leaning toward the 2 knives because then I can stengthen each hand with a weapon on each hand. As you suggested, with the sword, 1 hand would be idled. I would not be sparring with the weapons. Thanks.

[CLFNole]

Go single broadsword then move onto butterfly knives. Single weapon makes sense first as the principles are a bit different. I think it will make it easier starting with the broadsword.

[Lucas]

out of curiosity is this the normal routine for weapon progression at your school; staff, then a choice between the knives or broadsword?

as in does everyone learn staff then choose between broadsword or knives for the second weapon?

[TenTigers]

I teach double ended staff first. It's a good starter weapon, teaches body awareness, balance, ambidexterity, etc. The next weapon I teach is the broadsword, as it teaches the student to open and close, and the techniques translate to single stick, which means that anything you pick up, can be used as a weapon in self-defense. I teach alot of kali drills, attacks, counters, disarms, two-man drills,which come right out of our form. After the student feels comfortable with the stick, they learn the form much easier.
Butterfly knives I teach a bit later. I really enjoy this set. It's challenging, very dynamic, and has great application. Again, I teach application drills first, before learning the set, as I do with empty hand sets as well.

[Eric Olson]

I think it depends on your body type. Broadsword always seemed more natural for my body type (I'm kind of lanky) rather than Butterfly knives. Broadsword is more of a slicing weapon and butterfly swords are more of a hacking weapon. I got the best of both worlds when I learned the double broadswords:D.

That being said, it's pretty cool that you could theoretically hide your b-fly knives in a long coat for a surprise attack. BTW, if you buy butterfly knives don't by the tiger claw ones as they're nickel plated and unbalanced toward the end of the blade. See if you can find some that are plain uncoated steel. Only downside is they'll rust if you don't oil them.

Cheers,

EO

[HSCLFCPA]

out of curiosity is this the normal routine for weapon progression at your school; staff, then a choice between the knives or broadsword?

as in does everyone learn staff then choose between broadsword or knives for the second weapon?

After learning the wooden staff, my Sifu gave me the choice of going with the 2 butterfly knives or the single broadsword. I also e-mailed DFW and he suggested the 2 butterfly knives unless I had a lot of weapons training.

[Lucas]

the reason i ask is if your teacher gave you the option of broadsword or knives, he may feel that you will do well with either at this point. he of course knows you and i dont.

my personal progression was the same as ten tigers lays out.

have fun with what ever you choose :)

[David Jamieson]

http://downlode.org/Creative/Writing/Notebook/Illustrations/itsatrap.jpg

[jdhowland]

Good responses, all.

One thing to consider is why weapons are taught in a particular order. Many styles teach staff first because it is such a basic and readily available weapon, but also because it ties in with Shaolin mythology. Many instructors prefer double knives first because all of the techniques can also be done barehanded and it fits in nicely with basic training. The advantage of the daan dou is that you learn to balance the weapon hand with the complimentary action of the opposite hand--slightly more advanced concepts, but many of the moves work with any size knife or even a short stick.

Personally, I teach daan dou before seuhng dou, but it makes little difference, really. You will learn both soon enough.

jd

[CLFFU]

If you haven't spent much time with either weapon, maybe you could ask your Sifu about trying each of them for a training session. That way, you may be able to get a more intuitive sense of which weapon seems right for you at this point (a little more of a "hands on" approach.) If he's given you the option of choosing for yourself, you might even want to ask his opinion again, as each weapon will help to develop a different aspect of your overall skill set. My Sifu arranges weapon sets with their approximate corresponding open hand forms (double butterfly swords w/butterfly palm set, etc) so that there are more similarities between the open hand and weapons forms being trained in succession. Staff is the first weapon in our school also, with straight sword actually being second because of the open hand form. But kwan dao was the second weapon that I learned, and I've found that to be a bit better in my case, as techniques from both weapons can be applied nearly equally to other objects (pool cue, mop handle, etc.) Over time, I've come to learn that Sifu has specific reasons for my learning specific techniques and applications in a particular order, and I'd bet that your Sifu does too.

[HSCLFCPA]

My Sifu does suggest doing the 2 butterfly knives first. Thanks.

[David Jamieson]

My Sifu does suggest doing the 2 butterfly knives first. Thanks.

enjoy!

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