Bo

From Karate, Kungfu, Wrestling, Mixed Fighting Information Source

A bō is a long stick, usually made of wood or bamboo, but sometimes it is made of metal or plated with metal for extra strength; also, a full-size bo is sometimes called rokushakubō (六尺棒). This name derives from the Japanese words ろくroku (meaning "six"), shaku (a Japanese measurement equivalent to 30.3 centimeters, or just under 1 foot) and bo (kanji, Chinese character meaning "staff"). Thus, rokushakubo refers to a staff about 6 shaku (181.8 cm, about 6 ft.) long, other types of bo range from heavy to light, from rigid to highly flexible, and from simply a piece of wood picked up off the side of the road to ornately decorated works of art.

The martial art of wielding the bo is bojutsu. The basic purpose of the bo is increasing the force delivered in a strike, through leverage. The user's relatively slight motion, effected at the point of handling the bo, results in a faster, more forceful motion by the tip of the bo against the object or subject of the blow; thus enabling long-range crushing and sweeping strikes. The bo may also be thrust at an opponent, allowing one to punch from a distance. It also is used for joint-locks, thrustings of the bo that immobilize a target joint, which are used to non-fatally subdue an opponent. The bo is a weapon mainly used for self-defense, and can be used to execute several blocks and parries. Martial arts techniques, such as kicks and blocks, also are often combined with weapon techniques when practicing this martial art to enhance its effectiveness.

Although the bo is now used as a weapon, its use is believed to have evolved from non-combative uses, like most martial arts devices. The bo staff was traditionally used to balance buckets or baskets. Typically, one would carry baskets of harvested crops or buckets of water or milk or fish, one at each end of the bo, that is balanced across the middle of the back at the shoulder blades. In poorer agrarian economies, the bo remains a traditional farm work implement; yet, when these nations were required to lay down their arms by conquering armies, they looked to their household implements to extend their self-defense. In styles such as Yamani Ryu or Kenshin Ryu, many of the strikes are the same as those used for Yari (spear) or Naginata (halberd). There are stick fighting techniques native to just about every country on every continent. The word "bo" is merely the Japanese word for wooden staff weapons.