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WABUKAN Arsenal · Staffs and sticks · Japan

Hanbo

The Japanese “half staff”, a hardwood stick of about 90 cm used for strikes, locks and strangles at close range.

Also known as

半棒 · hanbō; sanshakubō

Origin and history

The hanbō, the “half staff”, is a short stick taught in several Japanese koryū traditions and, in modern times, especially in the Bujinkan and related schools. It combines strikes with joint locks and strangles at close range.

Martial arts that use it

Ninjutsu Jujutsu

Construction

A plain hardwood stick of about 90 cm (three shaku, hence sanshakubō), roughly half a rokushaku-bō, sometimes the length of a walking stick.

Basic techniques

Training

Stick and staff training starts with grips, stances and basic strikes and blocks practised in the air or on a target, then two-person drills at controlled speed. Many schools use rattan or padded sticks for sparring, with a helmet and gloves.

Safety

Wear a helmet with a face grille and padded gloves for any contact work; hands and fingers are the most common injuries. Check sticks for cracks and splinters and retire damaged ones.

Legality (general information)

Sticks, staffs and other impact or flexible weapons are ordinary objects in some countries and restricted weapons in others (several European countries, for example, regulate nunchaku, batons or weighted chains). Carrying one in public without a good reason can be an offence even where owning it is legal. Transport it in a bag and use it in the training hall. This is general information, not legal advice: check local law.

Did you know?

Because it looks like a walking stick, the hanbō is often presented as an everyday object that can be used for self-defence.

More weapons

Eku Gun (staff) Baston (rattan stick) Silambam staff Knobkerrie / induku Asa (tahtib stick)

Sources

Original WABUKAN text, written from these cross-checked sources (facts, not sentences).

  1. Wikipedia — Hanbō
  2. Wikipedia — Bujinkan