A quick moment here on this somewhat controversial subject of slick sticks (no handles) PR-24s and related Tonfas...
Police training with the PR-24 is also problematic because the police are not taught to use a stick or tonfa at its full and violent capacity. True value of a stick -with-a-side-handle (and a regular "slick" stick) is actually hidden from the police. A good tonfa guy can improve PR 24 police training. But wait! Why stop there? A good slick stick guy will improve that all even still - by sawing off the damn handle.
Recently I was told of a police PR-24 instructor that openly declared he could hold a PR-24 in his hand,
- hand on the side handle,
- stick along the forearm, sort of a like the classical block position.
- strike downward as though he was firing a hammer fist and strike
He said that this hammer fist motion was the hardest velocity possible with a stick, harder than a conventional grip and swing....(?)
This is ABSURD. The velocity of a conventional one-hand/one-end stick swing, far, FAR exceeds the speed and power than at the striking point of the handgrip like a hammer fist. Of course, you could swing the PR-24 from one end and have the same amazing striking power-BUT then the handle is superfluous (not used - for you folks in Rio Linda). May as well have a slick stick with no handle. This instructor is an uneducated dufus really, regurgitating something he learned in his PR-24 class (and probably with PR-24s and classes to sell) The other officers in the large class stood aghast at his proclamation.
I think next he will ask the baseball league to swap in baseball bats for large tonfas and let the hitters swing the tonfa at pitches? Wonder how many hits will go beyond bunts?
There are unofficial "whispers" in the hallway of PR-24 baton training where police learn the real survival tips of using the handle baton grip to maximize strike power. But why work harder and master secret tips? When the slick stick already does it first and easier? These tips will still never match the sheer power of a conventional stick swing.
It does not surprise me that slick, stick people and tonfa people criticize the PR-24 police training. But folks need to take one step back even more to make a criticism on the side handle? For every one reason someone (usually a classical tonfa guy) gives to have a handle, I'll offer up 5 or more not to have the handle.
Most handle-proponents, maybe almost ALL of them, have zero experience in grappling and ground fighting with a stick. Certainly they lack ground fighting experience. While these ranges LOOM in reality possibilities, classical people seem to NEVER experiment with these grappling and ground problems, opting instead for their classical stand-up doctrines. (oh yes, you see the occasional grappling pull down with the handle, but not the officer/karateka must turn the weapon upside- down in a split-second to get this pull, then revert it to finish?)
You get down on the ground and fight with PR-24 or Tonfa and that handle really gets in the way. So to with grappling. Almost all, if not all, Police riot squads and SWAT teams - have long abandoned the side-handle batons because they cannot safely take CQC action, positions and stances with that side-handle pointing out somwhere and nailing the other person or themselves, hooking on their gear, etc.
Another quick point on this "versus" subject. In the older days of the Dog Brothers, they would get some classical black belt guys with tonfas show up to park-fight, tonfa versus the slick stick. The tonfa guys were quickly obliterated by the slick stick swingers. Obliterated! We've tried this many times in my classes. Try this yourself in sparring, but make sure you have someone with tonfa experience, otherwise you will be confronted with the typical argument that-
"that person doesn't know how to properly use the tonfa!"
...and your experiment will be in vain. The Tonfa guys get busy swinging that thing around on its handle, often pre-occupied with trying to use the forearm block against a strike,then whipping it around to hit, working all the extra Tonfa tricks - meanwhile the head-bangers?...are just banging away! Also, go 3 out of 5, or 8 out of 10 rounds. Let the experiment develop. Today, someone showing up in the park with a tonfa, and trying to fight a stick fighter with a tonfa? This immediately considered suicide and just not done.
Oh, I already know the counter-arguements - "ohhh, If only Hock had been to the PR-24 classes" or "ohhh, if only Hock had trained with Grandmaster Chen, he would realize..." But, I have been to the police PR 24 classes. Also, been jacking around with Tonfa in years of Karate classes."
The PR-24's design comes from the tonfa. the Tonfa was originally an agricultural tool, used accidentally and desparetely, all in a desperate era as a nearby, handy weapon. This does not endorse it as a superior, selected weapon. It is shame to see this millstone tool somehow become a primary weapon in some agencies because it does seem to look cool and practical.
On the classical Tonfa today, people caught up in classical martial arts just hate to give up aspects of it for practicality. They try to force-feed old, outdated stuff into a modern applications. A pistol is better than blunderbuss and a smart fellow has just got to throw the blunderbuss away. Or you are a museum collector. Don't show up in Iraq with a blunderbuss. Hang it on the wall and let it go, or realize its a hobby-piece and be happy to play with it for exercise and fun. Keep your machine gun handy on the table-top.
To a moderately trained stick fighter, the side handle is more of a nuisance than a help, especially compared to a slick stick. A slick stick is way more versatile and easier to manipulate, strike, switch grips, grapple and ground fight with, than a stick with a handle. The handle...just gets in the way.
Hock
