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jezah81
16th September 2005, 04:50
Hi all,

I am interested in restarting jodo but i was wandering if the jo that i bought from Japan will be suited to me. I am 6 foot 1 inch tall and the jo i have is 128cm long, and comes up to my solar plexus. Will this be OK for me to use??

Kind Regards,

A. Bakken
16th September 2005, 07:07
Standard length of the jo as set by Shimizu sensei: 4 shaku, 2 sun, 1 bu (127.57 cm).

Andy Watson
16th September 2005, 11:48
I should add that this subject has been discussed recently on this forum. Aage's statement above is absolutely true for ZNKR Seitei Jo and those that affiliate themselves to this system even if they practise SMR Jo as well.

The koryu jodoka amongst us though argue that the length should be flexible and related to the height of the exponent.

Anyway have a look through the threads (hopefully this won't restart the discussion we had before on this).

ScottUK
16th September 2005, 19:08
The koryu jodoka amongst us though argue that the length should be flexible and related to the height of the exponent.Probably a good job I don't do jodo then... :D

Tony Peters
17th September 2005, 09:33
For what it's worth I'm 6'1" and use the same size Jo (also bought in Japan)

t.matsutaka
17th September 2005, 10:30
> For what it's worth I'm 6'1" and use the same size Jo (also bought in Japan)

..and you probably feel it works for you but using a 'standard' Jo (one size fits all) is akin to using a 'one size fits all' skip rope. It just doesn't work properly.

There is world of difference between operating against someone with a 'standard' Jo and someone whose jo actually fits their height. I know this from personal experience in Nagoya.

Andy Watson
18th September 2005, 19:42
Please, can we not get back into this argument about jo length - it has been done to death and quite recently too...

Tape on jo staff (http://www.e-budo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30332)

Peace to all.

Brian Owens
20th September 2005, 11:43
...i was wandering if the jo that i bought from Japan will be suited to me. I am 6 foot 1 inch tall and the jo i have is 128cm long, and comes up to my solar plexus. Will this be OK for me to use??
Lest we stray too far from your question; only your sensei can tell you if it will be okay to use, but...

It's less than 1/2 cm from the exact length standardized by Shimizu Sensei (in fact, if it's from Japan it's probably right on). So it should be okay for use in a school requiring the "standardized" length.

It reaches your solar plexus, so it should be suitable for those Aikijo styles and other schools where that is considered the correct length.

In short, you should be okay.

(I use the other standard length (54 inches / 137cm / 4.5 shaku), but I'm 6' 5" and don't do ZNKR Seitei Jo. ;) )