Jo (weapon)

A jo (Japanese: 杖 ) is an approximately four-foot (1.2 m) long wooden staff, used in some Japanese martial arts. The martial art of wielding the jo is called jojutsu or jodo; aiki-jo is a set of techniques in aikido which uses the jo to illustrate aikido's principles with a weapon. The jo staff is shorter than the bo.

Japanese stick techniques (jo) were reportedly invented by Muso Gonnosuke after he was defeated by Miyamoto Musashi in a duel. Struck by his defeat, he invented techniques to fight against Musashi's two swords using only a stick, and defeated Musashi on their next encounter. According to this legend, this was the only time Musashi was defeated.

See also

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See also: Jo (weapon), Aikido, Bo (weapon), Duel, Foot (unit of length), Hanbo, Japan, Jojutsu, List of martial arts weapons