Bojutsu

Stick and staff arts of Japan's classical warrior traditions: some introductory comments (Page 2)

Now, following the new Edo Jidai (Edo period), feudal police (often referred to as torimono, doushin,..) were employed to maintain law and order. Weapons were employed for both practical usage and as a symbol of post. The long staff was one of the lower weapons used by the feudal police, and as a long weapon (nagamono) was used as a feudal police weapon (torimono dougu) to arrest violent or armed criminals (perhaps armed with a sword or another dangerous weapon). The techniques of this origin are designed to arrest a person without unduely injuring the individual, as compared with the more acute tactics of warrior/battlefield long-arms usage. The 6 foot length staff (rokushakubo) became a standard in this period, and it follows that terms such as "hanbo" (half staff), a stick of some 3 feet in length, would have been devised circa Edo Jidai. This is also to say the common use of names such as hanbo, bo, jo and rokushakubo is to an extent a byproduct of Edo Jidai martial culture, and that staff and stick names are and were both tradition-specific (eg Yagyu Shingan Ryu: tesakikiribo, Shindo Muso Ryu/Uchida Ryu: Tanjo) and also in wider popular use (bo/jo).

Japanese Bojutsu is one of the core elements of classical martial study. Remaining traditions are a valuable store of traditional culture, and are today receiving a revival in interest.