Bo-Jutsu

The Bo is perhaps the most ancient of all weapons and tools. Imagine primitive peoples picking up a stick to defend themselves or fashioning a point to create a spear. The spear, along with rocks, is likely among the first projectile weapons.

Because of the Bo's contributions to humankind, it has also acquired powerful religious connotations with sages and wise people throughout history depicted with scepters and staffs. The staff of course is used in major martial arts throughout the world in the form of Bo, spear, Jo and halberd. Staffs are most commonly used among empty-handed fighting systems (such as Kung-Fu, Karate-Do and Aikido) as relate directly or mimic these fighting styles.

Modern history of the Bo can be traced to Okinawa, where as mentioned earlier, weapons were banned from the general populace. Although the government prohibited production and use of all weapons the developers of Karate ingeniously managed to apply five basic weapons to their system; the Bo (staff) the Sai (metal forked instrument) the Kama (sickle) and Tonfa (millstone handle) and the Nunchuku (wooden flail). All these weapons have Southeast Asian origins and are not indigenous to Okinawa, through time the methods of employment took on a distinctively Okinawan flavor.

Rokushaku Bo might be of some interest to students of Bojutsu. Rokushaku Bo is the name of a simple looking weapon as well as a fighting system. In Japanese, "Roku" means "six"; "Shaku" is a measurement of about a foot, and Bo, of course, means staff. Okinawan Rokushaku Bo generally have tapered ends and are referred to as "Kons" (as in Kontai or ChuKonBu) This was done to provide a more centralized focus in striking the opponents body. Rokushaku Bo's use depends entirely on a knowledge of Karate.