When people think of weapons, they immediately think of long range fighting techniques.  But weapons can significantly improve close quarter techniques as well. Using a weapon tranforms how your body works, how it moves and how it reacts.   Over the years I’ve observed several ways in which weapons have helped me adapt to open hand/close uarter techniques.

1.  Staying close to the body.  Because you’re not the only one with a weapon, you learn to keep your hands and elbows close to the body, extending them only when striking.  Keep them, extended unnecessarily only creates a nice target for your opponent’s weapon.  This habit carries over to empty hand where techniques are executed close to the body.
2. Body shifting .  Given the speed at with weapons move, the ability to block requires not only putting obstruction in the way of the attacking weapon, but also getting your body out of the way.  This is reflected in the practice of Sinawali.  This ability to maneuver is essential in close quarter combat for not only moving around your opponent but other objects and obstacles.
3. Reaction speed.   Parallel to number 2, given the speed of weapons, your hand-eye coordination significantly improves.  Since the distance that an opponent’s punch or kick has to travel is minimal in close quarters, the quicker reaction times are a distinct advantage.
4. Strength and flexibility.  Using weapons trains and strengthens and stretches all the stabilizing smaller muscles in the wrist and hand that aren’t as frequently used in unarmed combat.  This gives the hands much more flexibility and effectiveness required for close quarter combat.

There are probably many other ways that weapons help your body perform better in close quarter combat.  What have you observed in your own practice?