Bō
Also known as: rokushakubō
Okinawan wooden staff about 1.8 m long, gripped at the thirds of its length; in some schools its strikes resemble those of a spear or naginata.
Quick Facts
JapanAbout the weapon
The bō is a long wooden staff of Okinawan kobudō and Japanese bōjutsu. According to some sources it developed from the tenbin, a carrying pole used to balance buckets or baskets. Okinawa saw two weapons bans: the first proclaimed by King Shō Shin in 1477, the second after the island's conquest by the Shimazu clan in 1609. Exactly when the carrying pole became a weapon is something we have not been able to establish. The standard rokushakubō measures about 1.8 metres, the nine-foot kyū-shaku-bō up to 2.7 metres. The staff is usually about 3 cm thick and sometimes tapers from the centre (chūkon-bu) toward the ends (kontei) to 2 cm. Older bō had a round (maru-bō), square (kaku-bō), hexagonal (rokkaku-bō) or octagonal (hakkaku-bō) cross-section. They were made of springy wood such as red or white oak, also of bamboo or pine, and most often of rattan; some were wrapped in iron bands for strength. The bō is usually held at the thirds of its length, with the palms facing opposite directions. In the Yamanni-ryū and Kenshin-ryū schools, many strikes correspond to spear (yari) or naginata techniques. The bō is one of the nine standard weapons of the Ryūkyū Kobudō Hozon Shinkōkai, an association founded after the Second World War by Taira Shinken. In Matayoshi kobudō it is practised in the kata Shushi no Kun, Chōun no Kun, Sakugawa no Kun, Tsuken no Kun and Shishi no Kun.
Parts of the weapon
- Butt — kontei