✦ Member
← Arsenal

WABUKAN Arsenal · Staffs and sticks · Okinawa

Eku

The oar of Okinawan fishermen, about 1.7 m, used as a kobudō weapon; one kata flicks sand at the opponent with the blade.

Also known as

櫂 · ekū; ēku; kai (oar)

Origin and history

The eku is the oar of Okinawan fishermen, adopted as a kobudō weapon. Its best-known kata, Chikin Sunakake no kun, includes a movement that flicks sand at the opponent’s eyes with the blade.

Martial arts that use it

Okinawan Kobudo

Construction

A wooden oar of about 165–180 cm, with a narrow shaft and a flat blade, sometimes with a ridge on one side and a pointed tip.

Basic techniques

Training

Stick and staff training starts with grips, stances and basic strikes and blocks practised in the air or on a target, then two-person drills at controlled speed. Many schools use rattan or padded sticks for sparring, with a helmet and gloves.

Safety

Wear a helmet with a face grille and padded gloves for any contact work; hands and fingers are the most common injuries. Check sticks for cracks and splinters and retire damaged ones.

Legality (general information)

Sticks, staffs and other impact or flexible weapons are ordinary objects in some countries and restricted weapons in others (several European countries, for example, regulate nunchaku, batons or weighted chains). Carrying one in public without a good reason can be an offence even where owning it is legal. Transport it in a bag and use it in the training hall. This is general information, not legal advice: check local law.

Did you know?

The kata name refers to Chikin, a place name, and to “sunakake”, throwing sand.

More weapons

Gun (staff) Baston (rattan stick) Silambam staff Knobkerrie / induku Asa (tahtib stick) Lathi

Sources

Original WABUKAN text, written from these cross-checked sources (facts, not sentences).

  1. Wikipedia — Eku (weapon)
  2. Wikipedia — Okinawan kobudō