A is an approximately

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

en staff, used in some

Japanese martial arts Japanese martial arts refers to the variety of martial arts native to the country of Japan. At least three Japanese terms (''budō'', ''bujutsu'', and ''bugei'') are used interchangeably with the English phrase Japanese martial arts. The usage ...

. The martial art of wielding the jō is called ''jōjutsu'' or ''

jōdō , meaning "way of the '' jō''", or , meaning "art of the ''jō''", is a Japanese martial art using a short staff called ''jō''. The art is similar to ''bōjutsu'', and is strongly focused upon defense against the Japanese sword. The ''jō'' ...

''. Also, ''

aiki-jō Aiki-jō (Kanji: 合気杖 Hiragana: あいきじょう) is the name given specifically to the set of martial art techniques practiced with a ''jō'' (a wooden staff about four feet long), according to the principles of aikido. Jō techniques wer ...

'' is a set of techniques in

aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art which is split into many different styles including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai, and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practic ...

which uses the jō to illustrate aikido's principles with a weapon. The jō staff is shorter than the '' bō''. Today, the jō is still used by some Japanese police forces.

Legendary origin

The techniques for jō were reportedly invented by Musō Gonnosuke Katsuyoshi (夢想權之助勝吉,

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

c.1605, date of death unknown) after he was defeated by the famous swordsman,

Miyamoto Musashi , was a Japanese swordsman, strategist, artist, and writer who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in his 62 duels. Miyamoto is considered a ''Kensei (honorary title), kensei'' (swo ...

(宮本武蔵, 1584–1645). They fought each other in a duel sometime between 1608 and 1611, according to Kenji Tokitsu. The record mentioning this duel, the , recounts:

When Musashi was in Edo, he met an adept named Musō Gonnosuke, who asked to fight him. Gonnosuke used a wooden sword. Musashi was in the process of making a small Bō; he picked up a piece of firewood. Gonnosuke attacked him without even bowing, but he received a blow from Musashi that made him fall down. He was impressed and left.

A different text, the ''Kaijo Monogatari'' (dated to 1666) differs considerably from the ''Nitenki'' version. In it, Gonnosuke is a boastful and brash warrior who duels Musashi intending to see how Musashi compares with Musashi's father in swordsmanship. The fight occurs in Akashi, not

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

, and Gonnosuke wields a staff four '' shaku'' in length and reinforced with steel rings. After his defeat, he then went to Mount Hōman-zan in Chikuzen (near

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

), where he practiced considerably, changing his preferred weapon to four ''shaku'' and two ''sun'' in length – as compared to . The school he founded to transmit his techniques has some old records which claims that Gonnosuke, struck by his defeat, went into solitary meditation until he received divine inspiration in a dream; he then invented techniques to fight against Musashi's two swords using only a stick, and defeated Musashi on their next encounter. Assuming the records are accurate and genuine, this would be the only time Musashi was defeated,Hatsumi, Hatsumi and Chambers, Quinton (1971). Stick Fighting. Kodansha International Ltd., p. 9. as the vast majority of documentation states that Musashi was never defeated.

Subsequent history

Several traditional Japanese '' koryū'' ("old schools" of martial arts) used the jō like a sword. The added length of the jō was meant to give it an advantage over the sword. Further, its wood construction allowed a fighter to improvise a jō quickly from a tree, branch, or other pole.

Legendary origin

Subsequent history

See also

References

Further reading