Sensei Dave is the Practical JuJitsu England Banner Representative and the current Head Instructor of Freestyle Ju Jitsu and has founded the Berkshire club of Freestyle Ju Jitsu. He started Martial Arts at the age of 9 in 1985 and started Ju Jitsu in 1991; he gained his black belt at the age of 19. He became Head Instructor on 7/11/00 and he also holds several positions within Freestyle Ju Jitsu and outside Freestyle Ju Jitsu too.

To me the Kubotan is one of the most effective self-defence tools that you can use today; it is a rod made of metal/plastic or wood and is about 6 inches long.

As for the legal side a Kubotan that has a flat end and no spikes on it or no way of opening it is legal (at this time) but ones that have spikes or ones you can unscrew are not legal (e.g. ones called ninja sticks etc) so if you are to buy one make sure you get it from a respectable source.

One of the great things about a Kubotan is that it can be used with any Martial Art whether it is Aikido, Ju Jitsu, Karate, Kung Fu anything it does not matter. I use it in my Ju Jitsu training and in all truth it helps with all of those locks that do not work on some people and it has some of the nastiest locks on it's own to, it is so versatile that in my opinion it is one of the most effective little tools going today.

It is a tool of pain pure and simple and you don't need years of training to be any good at it, you can just pick it up and go if you like, now I'm not saying that a bit of training wont go amiss for like all things you need to start some were so my advise is to find a qualified Instructor or a official course that can give you the proper tuition with it and when you have the basic's then you can have fun and play.

One other thing that is great about the Kubotan is when you get the basics you don't necessary need a Kubotan, a pen is just as good (although there are some things that you cant do with a pen and you can with a Kubotan) so now you know were the pen is mightier than the sword came from (just kidding) as you will see a Kubotan is a key ring so when keys are combined, you have a very good striking tool if you like a mini set of Nunchakus.

Right as I was saying it is a versatile tool but Basics make foundation, Foundation makes good technique, Technique moves to knowledge and a little Knowledge with a Kubotan is just painful.

So first up is striking: -

• Striking (without keys)

  When you use a Kubotan on its own you have 6 inch of metal that can cause a lot of pain (or plastic / wood) but as like basic punching you need to know how to have your hand right well same thing with the Kubotan you need to know how to hold it, well you hold it about half way so there is a bit sticking out each end (this is the basic hold there are others) one thing to remember is try not to put your little finger in the key chain bit for if some one gets hold of it and pull it will break your finger or worse (that's why people that put up football nets never wear wedding rings or any type of ring for if it gets hooked it gets nasty)

  Now with this type of hold you can apply pressure to nerve centres and use jabbing strikes or hammer-striking moves to it's down to you.

• Striking (with Keys)

  One of my old Instructors once told me that one of the best self defence weapons you can use is a set of old keys that you have no use for, if attacked you ram them in there face and run not being worried about the keys (which is good but remember to use the right set) now put them on a Kubotan and a hole new world just opens up in front of you (just make sure you don't wait to long) and now if you hold it the other end you can swing away all you like.

  One of the basic ways is a figure of 8, starting from your shoulder and striking diagonally down to you hips e.g. a right handed person (I'm left by the way) starts at their right shoulder striking down to their left hip bringing it back up to their left shoulder and down to their right hip and so on it makes a big figure of 8 and then it gets smaller and tighter until you do it without thinking.

  That concludes all I'm going to cover with it at this time, but as I have said and will keep saying go to an instructor to learn any type of weapon, tool or martial art then you know (I hope) that you are being taught safe and good plus downing it right.