The Tonfa

The tonfa is a very versatile weapon, both when it comes to blocking, striking and restraining techniques. For this reason it has become associated with various police forces around the world.

There are 3 conventional grips with the tonfa, as demonstrated in the video below. Those grips are honte-mochi (standard), gyakute-mochi (reverse) and tokushu-mochi (special). The starting grip, honte-mochi, places the handle in the hand with the long arm of the weapon resting along the bottom of the forearm. This grip provides protection along the forearms, and also provides reinforcement when striking. In use, the tonfa can swing out to the gyakute grip for a strike or thrust. Another technique is to flip the tonfa and grab it by the shaft, called tokushu-mochi. This allows use of the handle as a hook in combat similar to kama techniques.

To watch the tonfa in action, have a look below.