A Weapons Showcase! (Kinda)

I wanted to take a few moments to show a quick slideshow of some weapons that could be encountered in the Martial Arts world. Its a short slideshow, so it wouldn't hurt to take a look, right?

While I'll go over the weapons in a few moments, I want to say something about them. While it may not seem important to learn the art of sword or spear play in the modern day world with the invention and mass distribution of guns, its important to realize that the arts are kept alive not solely for their practicality, but as both a cultural heritage and a path towards self perfection. Martial Arts and the various specialized uses of weapons extends thousands of years back, and as most creations do, these arts inherited the will of their creator, and then parts of the wills and personalities of each person who has passed that art down. Arts like Brazilian dance fighting represent cultural heritage, or how slaves learned to use their cultural dances to not only pass on their memories and ideals, but as a form of self defense. The same is true of weapon play. One does not learn the sword because he intends to use it to harm another, but to help define oneself in relationship to, and through, the learning. Finding the grace in sweeping movements and perfecting it, or feeling the rage of a powerful strike, or inheriting the stoic nature of steel.

So, a quick list of the weapons you can expect to see in this slidehow:

• A set of swords containing a Katana and two Wakizashi.
• A pair of Sai
• A pair of Nunchaku
• A pair of Hook Swords
• A decorative Cane sword

Further details as well as what's what can be found in the slideshow. So, what do you think? Do you think you could learn something from mastering one of these?