One of my master instructors made a statement to me about weapons. that they are of little to know use in are social system. but in times of war, they were always carried, and in that situation they are usful. but the hands and feet and other body weapons are always with you. I asked then, why do we use up are time learning weapons Kata? he said that 1, the additional weight help to strengthen the intire body. example, the bo will add strength to not only the arms but the intire body. and after the wooden bo we learned to use the iron bo. So when you return to the wooden bo you became faster and hit harder. 2, by learning weapons, and if you go to war, that mental training will help you adapt to the use of even modern weapons. but as a unlicenced person carrying weapon is punishable, the use of weapons make you jailable. So as Scott said I can carry a hammer around and if attacked use it and be jailed for it or create a weapon out of me own hand and learn to use it as if it were a hammer and get similar results without going to jail. at a Bob moran siminar I first demo-ed  the use of a hand weapon on a human body and topped the damage with a my hand, to show that the right training is better than the use a weapon, because they are always with you. That is what the original study of Karate was all about! The rest was additional to the original. weapons came later. don't get me wrong, the study of weapons are useful and fun to learn but like all things, there is a (right) place and time for it. my favorite weapon is the Kama don't ask me why, I don't know.