Although the bo staff is a versatile and commonly found weapon, let’s face it – it’s a big stick. You can paint it, and sprinkle it with kanji-adorned mystisism, but it’s still a big stick.

We’ve put together a collection of bo staff technique videos for you to check out.

Basic Spin

Although bo staff spinning isn’t the first things you’ll learn when studying bo staff, it’s certainly one of the more impressive techniques. Like with all elements of Jujitsu however, you’ve got to start off slow and practice hard. I like this video because it’s not out to impress – but it does teach some important, fundamental points to bo staff spinning.

360 Spin

Assuming you’ve watched the first video and come back a couple of weeks later after religiously practising, here’s how to pull off a 360 spin bo staff technique. Expect to clip your ear a few times before you master it

Bo Staff Grip

A great little exercise to develop your bo staff technique – just by repeatedly changing your grip you can build strength, control and balance when spinning the bo staff. This is the unsexy part to getting white hot with the bo staff.

Bo Staff Tricks in Karate

So after a few years of twizzing and twirling, you can stick all your bo staff techniques together in an almight kata, play some thumpy bang-bang music and look damn impressive.

Try Not to Do This…

If you haven’t clocked yourself on the head yet with your bo staff, you obviously haven’t pushed youself past your comfort zone! Get practising and go get all Donatello on your opponents!

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The Yawara is a Japanese weapon used in a number of martial arts. Essentially one or somtimes two small, thick sticks they can be palmed and used to throw opponents, applied to pressure points or even break bones. Yawara is also a form of martial arts, and the name is used interchangeably with Jujitsu.

It is believed that this style of fighting developed from a sheathed knife fighting technique called tantojutsu.

While the Yawara stick is easily concealed, it remains legal in all jurisdictions. The effective use of this Japanese tool requires some training, but is characterised by simple moves that incapacitate the opponent quickly. Any object can substitute for the basic six in long stick – a dog chew, a dowel or even a small piece of a branch, if sufficiently sturdy. The flexibility of this weapon is obvious. Small, light and non-invasive it allows the carrier a great deal of protection without violating the law.

The Use of the Yawara Today

The use of this Japanese weapon was introduced to police officers in the 1940s. Professor Frank Matsuyama wrote a book describing the use of the yawara stick directed at law enforcement officials who had some level of hand to hand combat training. As the yawara stick is easier to manage than a night stick and more easily concealed by a plain-clothes officer, the stick enjoyed great popularity among street savvy cops.

Yawara jitsu remains a martial art used by only a select few, and is now taught at a small number of jujitsu schools and other kobudo schools around the world.

The jo staff is a wooden staff used in many forms of Japanese martial arts kobudo, such as jujitsu. The form of martial arts that uses a jo staff is called jojutsu, or jodo. The jo staff is a little more than four feet in length made entirely out of wood.

This weapon is used similar to that of a sword or other stave. The jo staff can be made pretty quickly from various trees, and thick branches. This is one advantage fighters had that swordsmen didn’t. If there came a time to fight, a jo staff could easily be manufactured.

The jo staff is a shorter version of the bo staff, another Japanese weapon. It is said that in the early 1600s, a samurai warrior named Muso Gonnosuke Katsuyoshi came up with the idea after he was defeated in a duel by the famous Musashi, but not killed. His weapon of choice at the time was a bo staff, but it was too long. So through deep mediation while in the mountains, he came up with the jo staff which is about two feet shorter than the bo staff. After he started using the jo staff, it is said that Muso was never defeated in a duel again.

Studying the Jo Staff

There are two branches of modern study of the jo staff. One is called koryu, or ‘old school’ jodo. The other branch is called seitei jodo. Jojutsu has also been modified for the Japanese police force, referred to as keijo-jutsu or as police stick art.

The Bo staff on the surface is one of the most simplistic of all Japanese weapons. Used in many different art forms from karate to jujitsu, the Bo staff is one of the most destructive and adaptive weapons available to the martial artist.

The Bo Staff is used extensively in Jujitsu kobudo (weapon training) as it offers a range of opportunities for disciplining kata, footwork, distancing and control.

Unlike many other martial weapons, the bo staff has a very long range an enable the attacker to have superior reach on his opponent. Most Bo staffs are about 1.8m long, although the concept of a wooden stave as a weapon can be found easily in most cultures – the Quarter Staff in medieval English for example that rose to popular culture fame through the duel of Robin Hood and Little John.

An expert armed with a Bo can keep a much heavily armored and armed opponent at bay frustrating and neutralising their effectiveness. While this weapon can not be easily concealed, it is so common that most armed opponents will not even think twice about it. For example, in these times it could easily be disguised by carrying buckets or baskets. These buckets would be carried on either end and the Bo staff would be draped across the back. Simply set the buckets down, slide the staff out and you are instantly armed. The key is that you are trained in the proper technique to make the weapon as effective as possible.

The Bo Staff – Simple Tool to Deadly Weapon

While staffs have a history of being used throughout mankind, the Asian martial artist has taken this weapon and turned it into an art form. The staff is traditionally about two meters long and three centimeters thick.

While the weapon has been used informally since the earliest recorded history, a martial art called kobudo emerged from Okinawa in the early 1600s that featured this weapon. The reason for this was one of necessity as all the commoners of Okinawa were banned from having weapons. This ban forced the people to find other ways to defend themselves and using a simple staff proved to be the best.

The Japanese Katana is known as one of the deadliest edged weapons originating from Oriental cultures, perhaps through western movies and culture, but rightfully also through the hundreds of thousands who have died by its edge.

The origins of the Katana are somewhat unclear; however, it is commonly attributed to a mixture of both Chinese and Japanese craftsmanship. Some people will tell you one thing, other will insist on the opposite. There is a lot of evidence the Katana was introduced to Japan from China, although in a early form.

The term Samurai, commonly used to describe the members of the Japanese warrior class during the 15th-19th centuries, is often associated with the Katana sword, as in feudal Japan anyone else was prohibited from using them. This deadly sword is a natural evolution of craftsmanship: starting as a hefty “greatsword”, and changing with time into a more agile, lighter blade which was required in faster battles. The Katana is often distinguished from many other swords by the fact that it sits blade edge (Ha in Japanese) up in its sheath, allowing the warrior to draw the Katana and slice his opponent with a single motion. In fact the art of drawing and cutting the Katana is known as Iaido

History of the Katana

The familiar version of the Katana sword first began to appear in the Muromachi period of Japanese history, 1392-1573 AD. The Japanese history of edged weapon craftsmanship stretches back over 2,000 years. This relatively small island nation is a historically renowned home to some of the finest weapon-smiths since its rise to political and military power.

The use of a Katana is commonly used in Jujitsu training, to complement the unarmed nature of the martial art – in fact there are many Jujitsu sensei who will tell you Jujitsu was used as a ‘backup’ for armed soldiers when their blade was lost or broken in combat. At its inception, Jujitsu was a strictly “no weapons” method of combat, concentrating on domination of the opponent. However, modern day practitioners often attempt to gain proficiency with both fighting styles.

While the Katana is no longer used for military purposes (it was however well into the first world war!), it carries heavy ceremonial and historical importance in Japanese culture, much like the Japanese Jujitsu fighting style.

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