Bo
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Bo
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The Bo is one
of the oldest martial weapons, and to many the most versatile.
The Bo is the main stay of RyuKyu Kobudo having more kata than
any other weapon. The Bo or Roku Shaku Bo as it is more precisely
known (a shaku is a unit of measurement almost a foot long),
is the predominant kind of Bo used and attracts the most interest
by practitioners.
Its length is 6ft, or as is sometimes customary, cut to the
height of the user. The wood used is usually Red Oak or White
Oak and the Bo is tapered from the tip ends to facilitate better
focus of power when impacting a target with a thrust. The weight
is dependent on the wood used and is a critical factor for students,
too heavy and the techniques become cumbersome, too light and
there is not enough power. The weapon itself is an derivation
of the water-bucket staff, or tenbin, used since ancient times
on Okinawa. The practitioner is taught to hold the weapon initially
divisible by thirds and then openly encouraged to develop a
more flexible holding style allowing full use of the weapons
potential distance. Real Bo-jutsu is fluid with a continuous
flowing technique. It is not accurate to perform Bo kata the
same way as Karate kata. Striking with the Bo should be more
reminiscent of cutting with a sword, rather than the often static
techniques of Karate basics.