Jo, the Japanese Short Staff

by Tom Lang and Don Zier

Book Overview

In the early 1600's, master martial artist Muso Gonnosuke was defeated by Musashi Miyamoto. Humiliated, Muso isolated himself. During this period of time, he conceived the idea of a new form of staff... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0865680582
• ISBN13: 9780865680586
• Release Date: January 1985
• Publisher: Unique Publications
• Length: 97 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 7.0" x 10.1"

Customer Reviews

Awesome!

This book is a nostalgia piece for me since it is one of the first martial books I ever owned, and wielding the jo, based primarily on what I learned from the book, was one of my obsessions as a child and teenager. It has now been well over 20 years since I first was given the book by my parents as a Christmas present. Since that time I have spent 8 years in Kendo, 7 in Fencing and 22 in Judo. To put it simply, my practice with the jo opened up a wider world of martial arts to me. It is now part of my spirit. The jo is a much more complex activity than using either a sword, spear or naginata, because it is a double ended weapon and there is a fair bit of grip changing, which not only makes it a great weapon to familiarize oneself with before moving on to tackle other simpler ones, but also makes for a rewarding, interesting and I believe even spiritual exercise even when done completely alone, due to its intrinsic interest brought about by its fascinating capacity to be used to link its multifarious proven-useful techniques together in sequences. I still train with the jo and love it, and once a week with some of the same people even as I trained with 20 years ago! I think the fact that it requires no equipment, and no instructor besides this book, makes it a very democratic kind of martial arts pursuit, and one that can be suited to one's own taste. It is intrinsically rewarding, so rankings, recognition, and even training partners are not absolutely required to get something meaningful out of time spent with the weapon. While training you have to harmonize yourself with the spirit of the weapon in order to maximize control of it. This has a spiritual meaning in that you are harmonizing yourself with the circular and linear forces of nature - linking yourself with the rest of existence and coming to terms with that fact at least on an experiential level. The use of solid wood and lack of armor means the weapon is deadly so the spiritual value of courageously facing death every instant is constantly present in jo training, unlike most other martial arts where protective measures are taken such as soft weapons and/or armor. I cannot recommend this book enough to those looking for spiritual solace, good exercise and weapon skills - of whatever use they may still be in our modern world - at least "manual dexterity" is still of great value, if not specifically hand to hand combat weapon manipulation. This is THE book for the jo, specifically for the individual taking up the practice of the weapon alone. The techniques and routines are all demonstrated solo. This fact means that you can start this solo training on your own and then later in life if the opportunity presents itself you can join a jo dojo where you can learned paired katas and learn some refinements to your techniques, or if the opportunity or the desire does not, you can keep your pursuit of the jo a personal journey, and a helpful, healthy dose of daily exercise for your body. Dependin

Really great manual

The instructions in this book are very clear and easy to follow. The photographs are also very clear and additional sequences are added to illustrate more complicated movements. Aikijo has become popular in North America as it is part of the aikido weapons training. However this book illustrates jodo which is not related to aikido philosophy and principles. Still many of the techniques on stances, guards, strikes, sweeps and so on are applicable to aikido weapons training. This is the best book that I could find on jo practice. The book contains practice drills and traditional jo long form.

One of the best

This is one of the best martial arts books I've seen because I actually learned something from it. The writing is clear and the photographs and foot patterns are easy to follow. It also answered a lot of my questions about why certain moves are done, adn my jo work is better because of it. Some of the moves are different from what I've learned, but it should be good for beginners and advanced students, no matter what style of jo they do

Unusually clear

A bit of a departure from the frequent form of martial arts books that continue to enshroud technique in mysticism, this book breaks things down in a way that reveals the essence of the techniques clearly, and the keys to their performance. Progression of photographs is particularly clear. A brilliant companion to live instruction, which is needed for mastery of any such art. I have found it very useful for students interested in significant progress in this discipline.

An excellent primer for the use of the short staff

Jo, the Japanese Short Staff provides a very good introduction to this art. There is a brief history which illustrates the potential of this misunderstood martial art. The photographs and diagrams are especially good and manage to capture the key points of the basic moves very well. As with any book on the martial arts, it is crucial that anyone truly desiring to learn, find a sympatico sensei and practice, practice, and practice some more. Fran McHugh, Winslow, AZ