Welcome to the Pro Self Defense Products kubotan page.

Kubotan self-defense keychains are close-quarter self-defense weapons developed by Soke Takayuki Kubota. It is essentially a derivation of the Yawara stick, usually 5.5 inches (14cm) long and 0.56 inch (1.5 cm) in diameter, slightly thicker or the same size as a marker pen.

Attached with a keyring for convenience and concealment, the Kubotan appears as an innocuous key fob to the untrained eye. The Kubotan is designed to be used against bony surfaces, soft tissue and nerve points. It is effective because of the temporary paralysis or extreme pain it causes.

Even for those without experience in a martial art, The Kubotan provides an inexpensive and easily learned method of self defense. The Kubotan is legal and entirely unregulated. To most people, the Kubotans are little more than nondescript key rings.

While the Kubotan is not particularly intimidating, it remains an effective self defense product. 

It can save your life.

Concept
The Authentic Kubotan Keychain.

 
Aside from its size and shape, much of its usage is quite similar to the yawara stick. As with the yawara stick, the principal areas for attacks in self-defense include bony, fleshy and nerve targets such as knuckles, forearms, bridge of the nose, shins, stomach, solar plexus, spine, temple, ribs, groin, neck, eyes etc.

The Kubotan is usually held in either an icepick (for hammerfist strikes) or forward grip (for stabbing and pressure point attacks). Common uses include hardening the fist (fistload) for punching, attacking vulnerable parts of an assailant's body, and gaining leverage on an assailant's wrist, fingers and joints. With keys attached, it can also function as a flailing weapon.

As a pressure point and pain compliance weapon it can attack any point a finger can, but with greater penetration because of the smaller surface area at the ends. For example, a law enforcement officer may wrap his arm around the suspect's neck while simultaneously digging the end of the Kubotan into the small of his back. The officer may also reach around the suspect's neck and underarm from behind and cause pain by digging the end of the Kubotan into the top of his pectoral muscle.

One typical pain compliance technique is a wrist "gasket" lock in which the attacker's wrist is captured and sealed around with both hands and the body of the Kubotan laid across the radial bone. Downward squeezing pressure is then applied to the bone to take down the opponent. Its techniques are greatly linked to 'empty handed' martial arts techniques, and almost all of its uses can complement the fighting style in which it is included. It is a weapon that can adapt to an art, rather than just dictate its own set of movements and uses.

The use of the Kubotan (and similar weapons like its predecessors the yawara stick and the Koppo stick) makes it a particularly interesting self defense weapon because improvised versions can be readily found and can be equally effective. Since a Kubotan is just a rod of plastic, metal or wood, any restrictive regulation would most likely be ambiguous and undefined due to the ability for any rod-shaped item to essentially be used in kubotan-like fashion. This property makes it one of the few weapons that can be replaced by everyday items, whilst retaining all its combative properties. Typical improvised items can include rolled up paper or magazines, a roll of hard candy, hairbrushes, pens, magic markers and Sharpies, flashlights, twigs, Tootsie rolls, etc. Almost anything with roughly the same shape and size can be a viable replacement.

In the United States, there are no legal restrictions on them. Even in the UK where most self defense products are banned, the Kubotan is not targeted.