White Oak Jo - Short Staff
The Japanese Jo is an approximately four-foot (1.28 m) long wooden staff,
used in some Japanese martial arts.
The martial art of wielding the jo is called jojutsu or jodo; aiki-jo is a set
of techniques in aikido which uses the jo to illustrate aikido's principles
with a weapon. The jo staff is shorter than the bo. The jo is still used by
some Japanese police forces. The techniques for jo were reportedly invented
by Muso Gonnosuke after he was defeated by Miyamoto Musashi (sometime between
1608 and 1611, according to Kenji Tokitsu) in a duel.
The usage of various stick weapons has existed in one form or another long
before Muso Gonnosuke invented his techniques, but his school, Shinto Muso-ryu,
was probably the first known professional school that dedicated itself to the
art of using a jo against a swordsman. Several traditional Japanese koryu (traditional
warrior styles) used the jo like a sword.
The added length of the jo was meant to give it an advantage over the sword.
Further, its wood construction allowed a fighter to improvise a jo quickly from
a tree, branch, or other pole.
