• Weapons Book
• By Dave Lowry
• Great read

Jo: Art of the Japanese Short Staff Description

The jo is an exceptional weapon in that, unlike the sword, naginata (halberd), or the other finely wrought arms of the professional military class of old Japan, it is the lowliest of all tools— an ordinary length of wood. Wedo not speak of famous jo made by master smiths the way we do of the katana (long sword). But the jo can and has snapped the best sword blades ever forged. In old Japan it could be carried by the poorest peasant-even the mighty Tokugawa regime couldn't very well outlaw a stick in a commoner's hands —yet at least one school of the jo bears the noble appellation Tenshin Sho (inspired by divine instruction).
The aspiring student of the jo might be baffled at the extensive range of methods, traditional schools (ryu), and techniques available to him in Japan.
Most notably, the jo is taught as a classical budo discipline. Its applications against the Japanese sword are the basis of Shindo Muso-ryu and numerous offshoots of that school of jo. Many of these older ko-ryu (classical weapons arts) contain within their field of study jo techniques which involve trapping, striking, and manipulating the jo as a fulcrum to perform devastating throws and joint locks. The techniques in this book are not a guide to Shindo Muso-ryu. The jo of the Shindo Muso-ryu and various jo federations is an example of the classical budo. It is practiced and taught in clubs in dozens of nations and, closely regulated, its standards are high.
A largely distinct version of the jo can be found within the styles of aikido, which instruct a method of using the weapon best described as aiki-jo, in complement to the circular, flowing techniques of aikido. The techniques presented in this book are those of aiki-jo. They follow closely the approach taken for teaching the jo to upper level aikido students. Morihei Uyehshiba, the founder of aikido, distilled many of them from the ways of using the spear and in principle they resemble closely movements of the spear and naginata.
All of these methods differ radically and they should not be confused with one another, though all are part of the combative schema of Japan's professional warrior class.

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