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WABUKAN Arsenal · Staffs and sticks · Japan

Jo

A wooden staff of about 128 cm. Jodo and aikido use it to strike, thrust and control a swordsman's wrists.

Jo
Jo WABUKAN illustration

Also known as

杖 · jō; tanjō (short stick)

Origin and history

Tradition says Musō Gonnosuke created the art of the stick, Shintō Musō-ryū, in the early 17th century after losing a duel to Miyamoto Musashi. The art survived in the Kuroda domain and spread as jōdō in the 20th century; Morihei Ueshiba also used the jō in aikido.

Martial arts that use it

Jodo Aikido

Construction

A plain round hardwood staff (usually white or red oak) of about 128 cm and 2.4 cm in diameter, with no metal parts.

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?

Japanese police adopted techniques from Shintō Musō-ryū for their keijō-jutsu (police stick) training.

More weapons

Jutte Bo Tonfa Hanbo Eku Gun (staff)

Sources

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

  1. Wikipedia — Jō
  2. Wikipedia — Shintō Musō-ryū