I also read martial arts novels
As a teenager, I used to read whatever martial arts fiction I could get my hands on. Kung fu comics with the evil Fu Man Chu — Kung Fu Mace Books — anything with a martial arts hero.

I especially longed for any book that dealt with the ninja….

As such, my mind was filled with dipping shuriken into egg white to poison my enemy.

And I also read about my protagonists throwing ball bearings and trapping the enemy in the neck, to knock them out.

Note: Some people label everything thrown as shuriken. These ball bearings cannot be called shuriken, as they are not specifically or metaphorically “swords hidden in the hand”.

Air guns and Shuriken in a martial arts class?

So, you can imagine how I felt when I walked into martial arts class one night and everyone was practicing with blowguns, yes honestly blowguns.

I was excited. What fun. I had a great time “playing” with these impractical weapons.

More realistic martial arts
Now, it’s time to get real…

I realize that when I write, there are several different “audiences” digesting these articles:

• Some are practical martial artists. They sincerely want to defend themselves, if the need arises, but realize that most of the time, society works without constantly “unloading” them and forcing them to use their martial arts.
• Other people who read articles online do so to feed their fantasies, so to speak. These are the guys who plan to carry an arsenal with them wherever they go: shuriken, knives, gunpowder to blind the enemy, and other hidden “mishegas.” These people imagine threats around every corner. And these are the guys who are the self-proclaimed leading men in the world.
• Finally, there are those who have a healthy respect for practical application and really need to use their martial skills on a regular basis. These are our police officers, juvenile detention officers, and kindergarten teachers (just kidding).

Note: I’m willing to bet that you’ll see clear differences in the types of weapons each group would choose to carry. You could probably discover similarities in weapon choice within each group, but when comparing and contrasting between factions, the “flavor” of the weapon would vary.

Martial Arts: Facts vs. Fantasy

I want you to take a more realistic view of self-defense, not for my sake, but for yours. If the devices mentioned in this article look like your cup of “hot chocolate,” then we’re in for a little report:

• It would be quite difficult, if not nearly impossible, to hit someone in the back of the head with a marble-sized ball and cause them to lose consciousness. Not very practical, don’t you think? (And the legal consequences, if you succeeded…)
• Using a throwing star to distract a guard like the ninjas of the past? Really? The most obvious absurdity of all this is that if “I” were the guard and someone cut my arm off with a shuriken whizzing past, my first thought would be “someone is trying to distract me with a shuriken!” And I would focus on where… you get the idea.
• Also, if you had a bunch of sharp throwing stars in your pocket, you might inadvertently cut yourself.
• The legal ramifications of it all… from concealed weapons to excessive use of force. Mind-blowing and more than a little scary.

Yes, I think it’s good to train with as many weapons as possible. The coordination benefits alone are a huge plus. And you never know, you may one day have to use a weapon in a true self-defense emergency.

Still, there’s a big difference between becoming familiar with a shooting star and carrying a bunch of them with you wherever you go.