Tekko

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Tekko

Taira with Tekko

One of the more unusual and little known weapons employed in Ryukyu Kobudo are the tekko(also known as tikko Okinawa dialect.

The Tekko evolved after five stages of development. The first, called the "Yawara", consisted of nothing more than a stick or rod, held in the inside the hand. The "chize kun bo", a stick with a loop of rope, which the user could attach to the hand for control,^] came second. Third, the "Teko" resembled the "chize kun bo" but, rather than a rope, had a sharpened wooden extension of the stick, which fit between the first or second finger. An Okinawan tool to help fisherman weave, or haul in their nets without cutting their hand on coral, or a long hairpin used by Okinawan Bushi called a "kanzashi", quite possibly served as the inspiration for this design. The Teko appeared in hardwood form, and as soft molded metal so as to greater increase the mass of the hand.

The fourth stage, or "Tek Chu", allowed for increased function over its predecessors in that it "extended beyond the clenched fist", "a distinct advancement in the evolution of fist-loaded weaponry". The design consisted either of a wooden stick carved with a wooden extension with a finger hole, or of a metal rod with and metal finger ring The bearer held the rod in hand, with the ring around a finger. The Tek Chu often included a carved point or a metal spike protruding from the ring.^[1]

Use of the true "Tekko" per se started with the "Horseshoe Tekko". Because weapons were banned in Okinawa, the Okinawans sought to put otherwise agricultural implements to martial use. "The use of the horseshoe appears to have originated when Bushi in Okinawa used the shoes of their horses as make-shift weapons to defend themselves against surprise attack. "They simply put a horseshoe into the hand to punch with" (Ryukyu Hon Kenpo Kobjutsu Federation). Held as a "U" with the hand in the middle, the two ends extended outwards.

Practitioners also tied two horseshoes together directly facing and overlapping each other. This design provided greater hand mass, and defensive guard, but resulted in larger weapons, not easily concealed, and more difficult to learn. The improved horseshoe tekko featured the two horseshoes welded together. However, the popularity of the horseshoe tekko faded, as attention turned to the smaller, more concealable horse stirrup.

The horse stirrup ("abumi") version consists of a semicircle, with two ends connected by a bar. Some think of this as solely a fist-loaded weapon: primarily a form of knuckleduster (brass knuckles). However, stirrup of Okinawan lineage does not have dividers to separate the fingers. Furthermore, the traditional stirrup tekko consists of light metal and wood, whereas modern day manufacturers of the knucklebuster version tend to focus on heavy metals such as brass, although modern models made out of such diverse materials as aluminium, wood, steel, iron, and even plastic do exist.

As found on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tekko

Innoue School Tekko