Tonfa
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The tonfa, also known as tong fa or tuifa, is a traditional Okinawan weapon from which the modern side-handled police baton is derived.
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[edit] History
Folklore says these were originally used as wooden handles that fit into the side of millstones, or as horse bridles, and were later developed into weapons when Japanese peasants were banned from using more traditional weaponry. Other sources say they have a richer history extending back into Chinese martial arts, and appearing in Indonesian and Filipino cultures. It also appears in Thailand as the Mae Sun Sawk. The slight difference is that the Mae Sun Sawk has rope tying the elbow end of it to the arm (see the explanation below).
[edit] Construction
The tonfa traditionally consists of two parts, a handle with a knob, and perpendicular to the handle, a shaft or board that lies along the hand and forearm. The shaft is usually 51–61 cm (20–24 in) long; optimally, it extends about 3 cm past the elbow when held. Often the shaft has rounded off ends which may be grooved for a better grip.
[edit] Technique
There are numerous ways to defend and attack with the tonfa. Defensively, when holding the handle, the shaft protects the forearm and hand from blows, and the knob can protect from blows to the thumb. By holding both ends of the shaft, it can ward off blows. When holding the shaft, the handle can function as a hook to catch blows or weapons.
In attack, the shaft can be swung out to strike the target. By holding the handle and twirling the tonfa it can gain large amounts of momentum before striking. The knob can be used as a striking surface, either when held by the handle, or when holding the shaft, using it as a club (when striking with the flat end) or like a hammer (when striking with the handle itself, which is an effective application of force amplification). The shaft can also be maneuvered to stab at attackers. By holding the shaft and handle together, the tonfa can be used for holding or breaking techniques. Another method as used by the Thais involves striking with the elbow end of the mae sun sawk while grabbing the handle similar to striking with the elbow in Muay Thai or Krabi Krabong. As the mae sun sawk has the elbow part of the arm attached to it, the swinging out technique described above cannot be used but offsetting that, almost all of the elbow strikes of Muay Thai can be used with great power.
The tonfa is traditionally wielded in pairs, one in each hand, unlike the police nightstick which is a single-hand weapon. As the tonfa can be held in many different ways, education in the use of the tonfa often involves learning how to switch between different grips at high speed. Such techniques require great manual dexterity, as they involve flips and slides with the weapon.
[edit] Media depiction
Recently tonfas have been seen in movies and video games where often the tonfa itself was bladed and sharpened.
[edit] Video games
- Talim from the Soul Calibur series uses "tonfa blades" which are similar to tonfa with a blade along the outside edge of each shaft. Also, one of her additional weapons is a pair of regular wooden tonfa.
- In the Front Mission series of games, mechs can be equipped with a rocket powered tonfa to add power to punches.
- In Tales of Rebirth, the character Mao uses a pair of Tonfas as a weapon.
- The Hero of Suikoden II uses a pair of Tonfa.
- In the Dynasty Warriors series, Sun Ce wielded upgradable Tonfa, which is seemingly kept true to the original design, due to the apparent lack of blades or guns, but the character is able to execute techniques much more quickly than would be possible in reality.
- The weapon of Strider Hiryu called the Cypher (or Cipher) is a bladed tonfa.
- The Recoil Rod of Mega Man Zero 3 resembles a set of energy tonfas.
- Maki Genryusai of Final Fight 2, Capcom vs. SNK 2, and the GBA and PSP version of Street Fighter Alpha 3 fights with a tonfa.
- The character Jax wields a blade tonfa in the games "Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance" and "Mortal Kombat: Armageddon".
- In Death By Degrees Nina can wield one when dropped by an enemy.
- Apharmd from Virtual On series has a pair of beam tonfa as its primary melee armaments. Later subsequent generations have variations that are also manufactured with beam tonfa as melee armaments. However, they are referred to as "Tongfers."
- Proto Eagle and Eagle Robot from "Gotcha Force" wield laser-tonfa as melee weapons.
- One of the later weapons of Josh Calloway from EOE: Eve of Extinction is a pair of energy tonfa.
- In Super Robot Wars Alpha3, Ryuusei's R-blade Custom's most powerful move is called Blade Tonfa.
- Orchid from the Killer Instinct series wields a pair of tonfas in the games Killer Instinct 2 and KI Gold.
- Aya Brea, main character from the Parasite Eve series, uses tonfas (called Clubs in Parasite Eve 1) as her chosen melee weapon
- Eri Kasamoto and Fio Germi, from the Metal Slug series, utilize a one-handed tonfa during a melee attack.
- Mr. Big from the Art of Fighting series uses a pair of tonfas, but then switches to kali sticks for The King of Fighters games.
- Rody Birts, from Art of Fighting 3, utilize a tonfa in each hand.
- Both Yoko and Redeye of Last Bronx use tonfa's,
- The 'Missionary' Boss and the 'Scrapper' enemies from Silent Hill 3 both use a type of bladed tonfa, the tips of which can extend like Stiletto blades. The Missionary can use them to block bullets. (even close-range blasts from a Shotgun)
[edit] Movies
- In Equilibrium, Christian Bale and Taye Diggs fight with tonfa.
- Kroenen from the Hellboy movie uses bladed tonfas.
- In its mae sun sawk form, it was used in the Thai fashion in Ong-Bak, Tom-Yum-Goong, and Khunsuk.
- Mel Gibson's character Martin Riggs used two police batons as tonfa in Lethal Weapon.
- "Wins without a knife", the Japanese fighter from the cult classic Kung-Fu film "Master of the Flying Guillotine" uses a pair of tonfa with hidden retractable blades that extend from the shaft.
- In Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Sarah Connor uses a security guard's Tonfa when escaping from the Pescadero State Hospital.
- In the Jet Li film The Enforcer, Li's character uses metal tonfa to defeat a group of criminals dressed as security guards aboard a boat as part of the final fight scene.
[edit] Comics, Anime, and TV Shows
- Elie, from the popular comic and anime series Rave Master, uses tonfas that are fitted with a system that allows it to fire explosive bullets, thus named "machine-gun tongfa".
- In Mai-HiME, Higurashi Akane uses a pair of Tonfa with a second rotating shaft mounted parallel to the first one.
- In the manga and anime series Rurouni Kenshin, the ninja Okina uses a pair of steel tonfa against the Oniwabanshu Leader, Shinomori Aoshi.
- Kamen Rider Psyga uses a pair of energy tonfas called Psyga Tonfas which can cut through an enemy when the weapon is charged.
- The GF13-021NG Gundam Spiegel mecha from Mobile Fighter G Gundam uses a tonfa-like weapon.
- Prometheus, a DC Comics supervillain, uses an extremely powerful, high-tech tonfa.
- In the South Park episode 'Good Times With Weapons', Stan Marsh wields the 'Tonfa of Takinawa'.
- Gin, from the manga and anime series One Piece wields a pair of tonfas that has been fitted with cannonballs on the ends for extra weight and crushing power.
- In the anime and manga series Naruto, the ninja Tenten occasionally wields a pair of Tonfa, along with an extremely large arsenal of other weapons.
- In the anime, Angel Links, Valeria Vertone wields a pair of tonfa when she joins Meifon for combat.
- 2 of the Sentai characters, Blue Mask from Hikari Sentai Maskman and OhBlue/Zeo Ranger III from Chouriki Sentai Ohranger/Power Rangers Zeo both wield tonfa weapons.
- In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, Michelangelo's nunchucks are replaced with twin tonfa batons.
- In G.I. Joe: Sigma 6, member Snake Eyes uses a Tonfa Sword, which the handle with the press of the green button turns into a tonfa handle, allowing him to hold the sword in a tonfa position. And his apprentice Kamakura uses a Tonfa Staff, and the staff handle can also be put into a tonfa type handle position
- A summoned "fox woman" in Negima uses a pair of bladed tonfas.
- In Star Wars: Darth Maul Sinya uses a pair of Tonfa-style lightsabers.
- Transformers Alternators Mirage, and Transformers Kiss Players Hot Rodimus figures, which are both based on the same Ford GT design, transform their supercharger units into a pair of tonfa.
- Nizer, from Black Cat, wields a pair of oversized tonfa both times he fights Creed.
[edit] See also
| Okinawan weapons of Kobudo, the "old martial way of Okinawa" (Japan). |
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Bo staff | Eku | Kama | Nunchaku | Sai | Tambo | Surujin | Tekko | Tinbe-Rochin | Tonfa |
