Nunti Bō
A bō staff fitted with a manji-shaped sai that has a hook on one side and a point on the other; technique according to Isshin-ryū relies mainly on the hook.
Quick Facts
JapanAbout the weapon
The nunti bō is a spear-like weapon: a bō staff with a manji-shaped sai fitted at its end. This variant of the sai, called nunti-sai or manji-sai, has a hook on one side and a point on the other. We have not been able to establish its origin and dating. Chris Thomas, who describes the teaching in Isshin-ryū karate, states that the technique relies more on the hook than the point. The basic movement combines a diagonal downward strike (kesa-uchi, also uchi otoshi), a pull, and a thrust, aimed at the neck and shoulders; the pull catches with the hook, the thrust releases it again. The names of the kata differ between sources. Thomas cites in Isshin-ryū the kata Shishi no Kun Dai, which he calls a kata made entirely for the nunti bō, and the more general Shishi no Kun Shō with techniques of both weapon ends. A survey of Okinawan kobudō names the kata Nunti Shō and Nunti Dai, while Matayoshi kobudō lists the kata Nunti Bō no Kata. We have not been able to verify how these names relate. Thomas suggests that both the sai and the nunti bō served as weapons of law enforcers and, at the same time, as badges of legal authority.