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I've read, and been told, greatly conflicting accounts of the history of kobudo. So far, about the only bit of information that seems to be common among all of the accounts is that kobudo developed at least as far back as about 1600 A.D. (or, perhaps to 1507 when the Okinawan King Sho Shin outlawed weapons), sometime around the invasion of Okinawa by the Japanese Satsuma clan. The fact that most of the weapons were every day items is also common. However, other than that, there seem to be two conflicting stories of the development of kobudo.

The most common explanation is that kobudo is largely an Okinawan invention, with some Chinese influence (for example, many of the rokushakubo kata are Chinese in origin). The weapons used in Ryukyu Kobudo (or Kobujutsu) are mostly Okinawan inventions (of course, the bo, or staff, is a weapon common to many civilizations). In this train of thought, kobudo was sometimes used by practitioners to defend themselves against belligerent Japanese warriors during the Satsuma invasion, and some people even go so far as to say that the Okinawans fought the invading forces using kobudo and the empty hand styles that were present at that time (te and tode). This seems unlikely, as the Okinawans would have been tremendously overpowered by the well armed Japanese clan. However, it does seem possible that some fighting might have taken place between the two sides, and many of the kobudo kata contain moves that imply a fight against an opponent with armor and a sword. It is true that the Satsuma clan forbid the use of "real" weapons, but they also forbid the practice of all martial arts in Okinawa. Those that continued to train in te, tode and kobudo did so in secrecy.

In this train of thought, the weapons of kobudo began as everyday items used in the daily routines of the Okinawans, and the Okinawans trained to use them as weapons. There is certainly some truth to this. The eku is clearly a boat oar. Fishing spears are also used in kobudo training. Kama are harvesting sickles. The bo was a natural extension of the tonbin, the long stick used to carry pails of water or other things over the shoulders.

Of all of the weapons in Ryukyu Kobudo, only the sai were definitely designed to be weapons (and not concealable as a farming or fishing implement). They were almost certainly imported from China, as metals were extremely rare in Okinawa. The nunchaku, or "wooden flail", may have started out as a farming implement. It may have used to beat grain from stalks into baskets. It may also have been a horse bridle. The tuifa, or "handle" may have been based on the handle of a millstone use to grind grain. It may also have been used as a digging implement.

In the other line of reasoning, some of this is true. However, kobudo developed much as did karate or tode. It is entirely attributable to the Chinese, or other cultures. It may have begun when the "thirty-six families" were sent to Okinawa. However, it didn't really form until wealthy Okinawans went to China in the very early sixteen-hundreds to learn Chinese weaponry simply for the sake of pleasure. It's unlikely it was ever used significantly against any Satsuma warriors, and the moves in the kata implying an armored swordsman opponent are carryovers from Chinese weapons training. This is the conclusion that Mark Bishop comes to in his book (see the references page).

I tend to think the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. I think it's unlikely that Okinawans used kobudo weapons to openly and regularly fight well-armed Japanese warriors. I would guess that some small scale fighting or battles occurred. However, I think that it's also quite likely that the Okinawans did develop some of the weapons themselves, such as the eku. They were, after all, great sailors, and had much boating experience. There is no doubt that Okinawans learned at least some kobudo from the Chinese.