Weapons of Jiu Jitsu: Bo

The Bo is simply a long stick that was originally used to carry buckets of water and food - it was known as tenbin. It was carried across the shoulders and was a functional tool. However when the Okinawan people revolted they took up many tools as weapons (tonfa, sai, etc.) including the tenbin. It became bo, a staff typically about six feet in length, but the bo should be tailored to the preferences of the person using it. A standard bo (roku shaku-bo) is a tapering stick of wood, 1¼" in the middle and ¾" at each end. The bo is round smooth and solid. The tapering gives the bo both flexibility and strength as well as making the centre easy to find.

Originally bo were not round as they tend to be today but instead square (kaku-bo), hexagonal (rokkaku-bo), or octagonal (hakkaku-bo) prisms. This gave the bo edges which would provide a greater pressure on the area struck.

In jitsu practise is with either a standard bo as described above, or occasionally with a bamboo bo - Take-bo.

Attacks

The bo is an exceptionally versatile weapon and there are any number of twirls spins and strikes that can be accomplished with a bo. The art of Bo jutsu has many kata and strikes, but as always in jiu jitsu a basic grounding is given only.

In jitsu, basic strikes begin from the body's centre. The bo is rotated around the mid-section into the strike. This enables the hips to turn extra power into the strike and gives extra control and rigidity to the attack as well.

Usual striking points are:-

Head - aim for to strike the side of the head onto the temples.
Torso - aim for the floating ribs and if possible the kidneys or an elbow.
Feet - aim for the ankles and even if you miss you may get the shin or knee.

Defences

Attacks made with a bo can be deceptively fast and the jitsuka must be aware of this in order to muster a worthy technique. As with any technique, the jitsuka wants to be in as close to the attacker as possible. This requires a quick advance at an opportune moment. As a strike is swung in the jitsuka can attempt to gather the bo under his/her control by matching the speed and turning with it. Taking hold, the jitsuka should be able to use the movement of the bo against the attacker - in an extended version of tama garuma for example. But anyone skilled in bo jitsu will expect such a defence and know of several techniques to turn this grab against their opponent. So once you have hold try and reverse the tables and take the balance of the attacker as quickly as possible.

From a thrusting attack, the jitsuka can try to move in as though defending against a very long sword (though it has the advantage of being very blunt), or in true cinematic style breaking the bo in two by striking it with the hand or foot!

Defences Incorporating a Bo

Against unarmed attackers the bo is very useful with it's long reach - typically further than any other hand to hand weapon. For this reason alone the jitsuka should probably settle themselves to some simple long range strikes (unless the fancy taking up some real bo jitsu). Essentially striking the opponent before they reach you is the best form of defence with a bo.

Of course there's always that time when the attacker is too close too fast and you become entangled in a more brawling situation. Here the sturdy bo can still be used to put small atemi in and can allow a greater leverage over an opponent. This can allow the jitsuka to perform trips / gari with the bo aiding with a hook of the leg or movement of the head. You may even be able to get a strangle - indeed its very strrong with the leverage a bo gives you.

The versatile bo may then be used for all manner of fiendish locks (probably as many as a baton - just with more leverage) and chokes - so the fun doesn't necessarily stop when the opponent falls prone! Why bother striking a man when he's down when you can use a big stick to lock keep him squirming when you talk to him about the error of his ways.

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