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One example of a Kubotan.

The Kubotan (sometimes spelled Kubaton) or self-defense keychain, is a highly accessible, durable, and effective self-defense weapon. It is essentially a shortened Yawara, usually less than 8" long and slightly thicker than a marker pen. Typically attached to a keyring for convenience and concealment, the kubotan appears to be an innocuous key fob to the untrained eye. Often it is carried instead of or as a complement to pepper spray, with the advantage that it does not deplete or backfire due to wind direction.

In usage it is very similar to the yawara, except that it is only long enough to protrude from one end of a closed fist, and the attached keys can act as a flail of sorts. It is often touted as needing very little training to be effective.

Common uses include stabilizing the fist for punching, applying pressure to sensitive parts of an assailant's body, or gaining leverage on an assailant's wrist or fingers. The end of the Kubotan may also be used for jabbing, or by gripping it by the key-ring it may be swung or flicked with some precision.

As with the Yawara, the principal targets for use in self-defense are boney parts, such as knuckles, forearms, bridge of the nose, or shins. In addition to this, it is a very effective pressure point weapon; it can attack any point a finger can, with much greater effectiveness. Its techniques are greatly linked to 'empty handed' martial arts techniques, and almost all of its uses derive from the fighting style in which it is included. It is one of the few weapons that adapts to an art, rather than having its own set of movements and uses.

The kubotan (and equivalently the yawara) is a particularly interesting weapon because makeshift versions can be readily found and are equally effective. This property makes it one of the few weapons that can be replaced by household items, whilst retaining all its combative properties. Typical improvised items can include credit cards, keys, pens, torches, twigs, etc. Almost anything with roughly the same shape and size can be a viable replacement, while still using all of the kubotan's techniques. It is because of this property that adaptive martial arts such as ninjutsu value the yawara and kubotan.

Kubotan is a registered trademark of Grandmaster Takayuki Kubota, by whom it was originally developed as a tool for police officers to restrain suspects without permanent injury. Its popularity began in the mid-1970s when Grandmaster Kubota brought the weapon to the attention of the LAPD and began schooling female officers in its application. Because of its extreme effectiveness in breaking the will of unruly suspects with painful locks and pressure point strikes, the Kubotan is also dubbed the "Instrument of Attitude Adjustment". The Kubotan gradually expanded toward civilian self-defense application and is now a moderately popular self-defense tool.

The official Kubotan (as sold by Takayuki Kubota) is a hard plastic cylinder about 5 1/2" long and 9/16" in diameter which has a key ring attached. The body is marked with six circular grooves for added grip, and there is a split ring and screw eye attached to one end for keys. There are many other forms and variations of the design available, ranging from aluminum alloy to spiked, pointed or special "ninja" models. However, these are often more offensive in nature and are not considered to be authentic Kubotans. In addition they may be considered illegal and can pose more danger for the owner if dropped during a scuffle.

United States, however, is still widely unregulated.

• Arnis sticks
• Hanbo
• Yawara
• List of martial arts weapons

• Article on Kubotans
• Use of the Kubotan
• Takayuki Kubota (auto)biography
• Kubotan official trademark (uspto.gov)