Dear all,

What styles use this style of weapon?
Is this a form of kei-bo or kei-jo?

I believe the majority of classical systems use this size of Bo for their staff forms. Roku Shaku is simply a measurement: Roku=6, Shaku is almost the equivalent of a foot. Thus, the generalization that Bo are six feet in length.

Hope this helps,

Any classical style that does Yari or Naginata probably has Bojutsu. What were you supposed to do if the blade broke off in the middle of the battle?

Rokushakubo (approx. 6 foot staff) seems to be more of an Okinawan standard than a Japanese standard. Bojutsu is pretty rare in Japanese koryu, and when I have seen it, the bo are of various lengths. For example, Tendo-ryu uses a staff that is generally about 5 feet in length, or, the length from the top of the user's shoulder to the ground (representing a broken naginata haft).

Regards,

I can't agree that use of bo stick wasn't Japanese standard. Long stick is weapon used in almost every culture; you may find it in Japan, Okinawa, China, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Korea, all over Europe, Africa…

In traditional Japanese martial arts bo is used in:
Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu
Asayama Ichiden Ryu
Yagyu Shingan Ryu
Kashima Shinryu
Hontai Yoshin Ryu
Takenouchi Ryu
Araki Ryu
Toda-ha Buko Ryu
Yoshin Ryu
Tatsumi Ryu

Some schools use jo instead of bo:
Tendo Ryu
Shojitsu Kenri Kataichi Ryu
Shinto Muso Ryu
Suio Ryu

Tendo Ryu use shorter stick than roku shaku bo, but it is jo not bo.

Mr. Bordoli,

Maybe I didn't compose my thoughts clearly in my last post, but what I was trying to say was simply that bo and various length sticks were used in Japanese arts, but that they were not the main weapons, and were of varying lengths. From what I've seen so far, the length of the sticks don't seem to follow a single standard (ie: 6 shaku) as they do in the Okinawan arts. Also, I think I noted somewhere that I've only come across two Japanese ryu-ha that specialize in the use of the "bo", which are Chikubushima-ryu and Muhen-ryu (IIRC). The rest use sticks and/or staffs as supplemental training to a larger curriculum.

And as far Tendo-ryu goes, I've seen the staff listed as a "bo", being approximately 5 feet in length (goshaku), or as I said, as high as the top of the users shoulder. Terms like bo, jo, etc. are generic terms that historically did not follow strict length rules, but call it what you like.

Regards,

Rokushaku-bo was a vernacular term, however, throughout Japan - at the same time, a tape measure wasn't used to measure the staves, at least in rural areas. A bo was usually anything from about eyebrow height to one or two hands over the head.
I think you will find bojutsu in some very large percentage of sogo bujutsu - and it was particularly common within ryu that had a jujutsu component. BTW - Muhen-ryu was bo/naginata. They "double-up" the kata, using pretty much the same for each weapon. If I recall correctly, the bo came first, allegedly due to the founder's spear breaking in a battle and him then fighting his way out with the shaft. The ryu has been paired-up for generations with Shosho-ryu.

Best