A Complete List Of Hapkido Weapons & Their Uses

Weapons are a staple of hapkido. Whilst the art can certainly be trained without them, they are often used as an extension of training. You may find that with weapons such as a knife, your fighting style doesn’t change all that much. You are essentially adding another small weapon to the end of your arm.

Other weapons will change your self defense style a lot. The hapkido cane method will completely change the way you fight since it is a very unnatural weapon.

Overall though, your primary goal should be self defense, this is due to morality and if not, certainly law. There is no point going too far on someone who attacked you just to prove a point. It should also be stated that the fundamental principle when using a weapon in hapkido, is to NEVER let the attacker gain control of your weapon. It must be protected at almost any cost.

Knife / Karambit

Hapkido often teaches knife defense using a variety of blocks alongside wristlocks and elbow holds. If you can control the opponent’s wrist efficiently, then you will need not worry about being stabbed, the same can be said for the elbow. The problem arises when you are not able to control the wrist or the elbow, which is why we see so many deaths every year from knives.

Whilst teaching knife self defense in hapkido is both necessary and practical, it must be emphasized that this should be your last option. Ideally, you want to diffuse the situation or run away. Only when it is your last chance to escape would you consider trying to stop a knife attack, since your opponent can make several mistakes and you cannot afford to make one mistake. The odds are stacked firmly against you.

When attacking with a knife, it is very similar to normal strikes you would learn in hapkido, or even another striking art such as Muay Thai. As long as you are well versed in striking with your hands, there is not too much more to learn. Whilst you wouldn’t master the knife fighting like this, you would be very accomplished and not need to put much more time and effort in unless you particularly wanted to.

Sword

The sword was one of the first weapons used in hapkido, since swordsmanship in general was very popular at this period in time. It is thought that one of Kim Yun-Sik’s students was an excellent swordsman and he was one of the first to teach it under the curriculum. Most schools will not train sword work since it is ancient and does not have too much in common with today’s world at all.

If you wanted to train the sword efficiently, you would be better off finding a Kendo dojo or a martial art that specializes in such things. Whilst sword fighting is still relevant to hapkido, not many teachers will be a specialist in this area in the 21st century.

It should go without saying that you could very easily defend yourself against an average person if you were holding a sword even if you were untrained.

Rope

Perhaps the most inconspicuous weapon on the list. The rope is truly a great self-defense tool. Although not too relevant to hapkido, it can be used as an attacking tool too. If you have ever seen western movies, cowboys are easily able to Lasoo moving objects at quite a distance and pull them down.

For practical self-defense, the rope can be very useful against wild and inaccurate strikes. Also if your opponent does manage to strike you in an unclean fashion, you always have the chance for an entanglement. When you have an opponent’s arm or wrist entangled in the rope you must pull them to the floor immediately to avoid being hit by their other arm. Once you get them to the ground, it will be very easy to subdue them since you have full control over one of their limbs.

The rope can also be used to choke a would-be attacker, but this requires more control and expertise. Whilst it is possible, the safest and most fundamental techniques are to control a single limb and then put your opponent to the floor.

Nunchaku

Popularised by Bruce Lee in martial arts movies, nunchucks genuinely are a decent weapon. Even if you are just using them to show off your skills like Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon, at the very least you will improve your hand-eye coordination, which is always a good thing in martial arts.

Nunchaku are a great way to block your opponent’s strikes, especially if they are carrying a weapon of their own. If your opponent is carrying a knife for example, you are able to extend your own arm with half of the nunchaku (which saves you from being cut). The other half can then be used to strike their arm or weapon. You are given a nice margin or error with the extension as if you misjudge things, you are less likely to get cut.

Of course, nunchucks are a great offensive weapon as well. In the video shown below Bruce Lee manages to hit someone and make them fall into a pool of water. Whilst this is over-theatrical, it would still make someone fall to the floor in pain, if not knocking them out.

Cane

The cane is quite a controversial tool in hapkido. Many of the “experts” will show videos and seminars where they are training against unresisting opponents and pretty much do whatever they please. Whilst the cane does have a hook on the end of it, for beginners it should be advised to not try and use the hook on your opponent (since it makes them more likely to steal it from you).

Instead, there are a variety of grips that can be used when using the cane, discussed in more detail here. With that being said, it is not an exhaustive list as everyone will find a grip that suits them best.

In general, your emphasis should be used to block strikes (which will be painful to your attacker) as well as using strikes of your own. If you are in a cane vs no weapon scenario, you should be able to fend off your attacker with ease. The bonus of carrying a cane is that it is not really considered to be a weapon and is thought of as a walking aid.

Mid-Length Stick

Using a stick to defend yourself is a pretty decent option since it is a bit heavier and longer than a cane. You will mostly see a stick being used in a competition based on form. Here you will find a lot of spins and sometimes throws of the stick. Whilst these may look very nice, they are not too useful.

To use a stick effectively for self-defense in hapkido you generally want to use it in a similar way to a two-handed sword. You should mostly be only blocking and striking. Given that having a stick is quite a big advantage over your opponent, against an unarmed attacker, you should win easily. Even if your opponent had a small blade or a knife, you are still able to put a big distance between yourself and the blade given the length of your stick.

War Fan (Boo Chai)

The war fan is probably the least effective weapon in Hapkido. There will be people who will you about how the fan is a great weapon, but really, what is it supposed to do? You would be better off using a closed fist or dropping the fan completely.

The only real use of a modern-day war fan in hapkido is to use it in a closed position. By using the fan like this, you’re essentially using it as a very short and blunt stick, similar to a baton. Yes, it does not look cool like an open fan. But I can assure you it’s much more effective, think to yourself, would you rather be hit over the head by an open fan or a closed fan? It may be useful in a competition based on form as it looks great, but other than this it is very ineffective.

With that being said, in ancient Korea it would have been a very useful object to carry around since knives or blades were banned in various areas of high society. If you were able to conceal several blades inside the fan, you could then open it and have a very effective and sharp weapon. This is pretty much the only example of a war fan being useful as an open weapon. These days if you were going to carry a concealed knife, there are much less conspicuous methods than carrying around a fan. If anything, a war fan might attract more attention to yourself since nobody does this in everyday life anymore.

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