is the art of using the jo, a four foot staff. The jo is also referred to as a yonshaku bo, which literally means four foot staff.

In Shorinjiryu Karatedo, the jo was originally favoured by Kaiso Kori Hisataka as his mid-range weapon of choice. In this way the jo fits in between the bo (long distance) and sai (short range). It is a fast and effective weapon, and reasonably innocuos.

In recent years, the Shorinjiryu Kenkokan school no longer teaches the jo, and instead emphasises the bokken (wooden sword) as the mid-range weapon.  Kaiso Kori Hisataka left the sword forms as advanced training material only. However, many derivative schools of Shorinjiryu either still teach the jo, or have more recently re-vitalised its practice. In Australian Shorinjiryu Karatedo, we are currently in the process of re-introducing the weapon for people of shodan and above.

In Japan, the jo is still a favoured weapon of many police officers, especially those with guard duties at the Imperial Palace and other major sites. Make no mistake, a police officer with a short staff may not look imposing, but these guys really know how to use this weapon.

Historically, the jo became well known in Japan as it was the weapon used by Gonnosuke Muso in his defeat of Miyamoto Musashi. Muso’s was was of a very very small number who were able to best Musashi, and his teachings continue to this day in the Shindo Muso Ryu school of jodo.

Other than this school, the use of the jo is not overly common in budo, except that it is favoured by Aikido and Aikijujutsu schools. The are several kata and kumijo (2 person jo drills) taught in Aikido.

In Okinawa, only one school was known to teach the jo, being the Ufuchiku-den lineage of Sanda Kanagusuku. A teacher of Kaiso Kori Hisataka, Kanagusuku was also the long time police commissioner for Okinawa. It is unclear as to whether Kanagusuku acquired the jo from Okinawa, or from his Police training. The only known Okinawan jo kata is Ufuchiku no Jo.

It is unclear whereKaiso Kori Hisataka learnt the jo, but there are a couple of possible sources

• From Sanda Kanagusuku; or
• From Minoru Mochizuki, an Aikido 10th Dan with whom he cross-trained in China