Jojutsu (Japanese:杖術) or Jodo is a Japanese martial art using staves (jo), similar to bojutsu, in defense against the Japanese sword. The jo staff is usually about 3 to 5 feet (0.9 to 1.5 m) long, about the average length of a walking stick. However the art was not used, as one might fancifully imagine, by travelers to ward off aggressive bandits or swordsmen, but was the province of professional warriors. Jojutsu is reputed to have been invented by the great swordsman Muso Gonnosuke about 400 years ago, after a bout won by the legendary Miyamoto Musashi. According to this tradition, Gonnosuke challenged Musashi using a bo, or long staff, a weapon he was said to wield with great skill. Nevertheless, he was defeated by Musashi's famous two-sword technique. He then withdrew to a Shinto shrine and after a period of purification, meditation, and training with the staff, created the art of the jo, blending techniques of long staff, spearfighting and swordsmanship with those of other, minor methods of combat. He named his style Shintō Musō-ryū and challenged Musashi again. This time, the faster and more intricate techniques of this shorter weapon allowed Gonnosuke to mount an effective defense and penetrate Musashi's own two-sword strategy. Hawaiian State Grappling Championships. ... Quarterstaffs in use, from Old English Sports, Pastimes and Customs, published 1891 A quarterstaff is a Medieval English variant of the staff weapon, consisting simply of a long shaft of hardwood, usually oak, hawthorn, hazel or ash. ... A jo (Japanese: 杖 jō) is an approximately four-foot (1. ... Bojutsu (棒術) is the martial art of using a staff weapon called bo (abbreviation of roku-shaku-bo (six-shaku-staff), a shaku being close to one foot long). ... A foot (plural: feet) is a non-SI unit of distance or length, measuring around a third of a metre. ... The metre (or meter) (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ... A walking stick (or two) is a tool used by many people to ease pressure on the legs when walking. ... A swordsman is one skilled in the use of swords. ... Muso Gonnosake by unknown artist Musô Gonnosuke Katsukichi (夢想權之助勝吉) was a samurai and the traditional founder of the Koryu school of jojutsu known as Shintō Musō-ryÅ« (神道夢想流/神道無想流). He is perhaps most famous for his duels with the legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. ... Miyamoto Musashi killing a nue, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861). ... A torii at Itsukushima Shrine Shinto (神道 Shintō) (sometimes called Shintoism) is a native religion of Japan and was once its state religion. ... Bojutsu (棒術) is the martial art of using a staff weapon called bo (abbreviation of roku-shaku-bo (six-shaku-staff), a shaku being close to one foot long). ... Sōjutsu (槍術, sometimes incorrectly read as yarijutsu) is the art of fighting with the Japanese spear, yari (槍). ... Swordsmanship refers to the skills of a swordsman, a person versed in fencing with a sword. ... Shintō Musō-ryū (also Shindō Musō-ryū) is a koryu style of jojutsu. ...

The modern study of the jo, known as Jodo (way of the stick), has essentially two branches. One is the koryu, or "old school" Jodo, which also incorporates other arts and weapons, such as the short staff (tanjo), the chained sickle (kusarigama), the police truncheon (jitte), and a lesser-known art called Hojojutsu, the art of tying up one's opponent after subduing him. All of these point to Jodo's strong connections to law-enforcement, which is probably what it was originally used for. The other branch is called Seitei Jodo, which is practiced by the Japanese Kendo Federation (ZNKR) in conjunction with Kendo, the art of Japanese fencing, and Iaido, the art of drawing and cutting with a real blade. Seitei Jodo starts with 12 kata (or "forms") which are drawn from the koryu system. After mastering these 12 kata the student continues with the study of the koryu. Koryu (古流) is a Japanese word that translates literally as old school or old tradition. ... Kusarigama at Iwakuni Castle Kusarigama is a traditional Japanese weapon that consists of kama (Japanese for sickle) on a metal chain with a heavy iron weight at the end. ... Hercules fights the Lernaean Hydra with a club A club or cudgel is perhaps the simplest of all mêlée weapons. ... A jitte, or jutte (Japanese: 十手; the power of ten hands weapon), is a specialized weapon used by law enforcement officers called okappiki, or doshin, in Edo period Japan. ... Koryu (古流) is a Japanese word that translates literally as old school or old tradition. ...

Today, jojutsu has also been adapted for use in the Japanese police force, who refer to the art as keijo-jutsu, or police stick art.

Literature

• Michael Finn: The Way of the Stick Paul H Crompton, 1984, ISBN 0901764728
• Pascal Krieger: Jodô - la voie du bâton / The way of the stick (bilingual French/English), Geneva (CH) 1989, ISBN 2-9503214-0-2
• Matsui: Jodo Nyuumon (Japanese, with illustration of all seiteigatas, kihon) Tokyo, 2002, ISBN 4884580184

See also

• Stick fighting
• Aikido - Martial art that incorporates jo training. Note that this is not the jo training practiced in Jodo.

Stick fighting is a generic term for any of several martial arts which employ a small staff, cane or walking stick as a blunt hand weapon. ... Aikido (合気道 Aikidō, also 合氣道 using an older style of kanji), literally meaning harmony energy way, or with some poetic license, way of the harmonious spirit, is a gendai budo â€” a modern Japanese martial art. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Jojutsu

• [1] Shindo Muso Ryu Jodo Website
• http://ejmas.com/jnc/jncart_taylor_0900.htm
• http://www.koryubooks.com/library/wmuromoto1.htm
• Muso Gonnosuke Katsuyoshi article in Fight Times magazine
• Jojutsu article in Fight Times magazine