CJ Gives Jo (stick) Lesson

Hi Folks. Last Thursday I got CJ to take a Jo training lesson for the Buntingford Karate Club. CJ can be seen at the back in the first picture shown below. The Jo is a four feet long staff about the same thickness as your average broom handle. The real ones are usually made of either red or white Japanese Oak and are very dense and very hard. They were originally used as staffs much as we use a walking stick, but someone trained in the art of using a Jo becomes a very difficult person to attack and rob. To this end the wondering monks of Japan would often arm themselves with a seemingly innocent staff. Due to the fact that you can use the whole length of the staff as a weapon they have been known to defeat swordsmen.
CJ, Sue and I all have our own Jo staffs. And they are easy to come by, but for cheapness you cannot beat a broom handle! I therefore told the students to get broom handles.

We put mats down to absorb the clatter when staffs got dropped and started with some Health and Safety advice – priority 1 = always check your surroundings before starting to move the Jo!

CJ started by taking the students through a series of very basic moves based on the way that karate-ka punch. Once they had got the hang of this we moved onto more advanced moves and then into some of the “smoke and mirrors” techniques that involve the whirling and manoeuvring of the Jo.

The lesson took up the two hours and all of the students enjoyed it. We will be giving another lesson in about six weeks.

Sensei Bill.