Post by JWG on Feb 12, 2016 14:14:10 GMT
I thought it useful to write something similar to my previous article with regards to the sword in Aikido.
The Jo is a stout wooden staff of about 4 feet in length which was/is used as a substitute for the short spear (Yari) and also less known as a substitute for the long/great sword (no-dachi).
The origins of the Jo (and the appreciation of such origins) have been lost to many Aikido schools and in some schools it is not even used (see earlier post re. Aiki-ken). The issues surrounding the Aiki-ken in Aikido are exactly the same as for Aiki-jo only more profound because of the transmission from spear to staff.
We have 20 basic Jo Suburi compared to the 7 base ken suburi which clearly demonstrates the versatility of the jo as a weapon over the sword.
The system of Aiki-jo as taught/created by the Founder and promulgated by Saito Shihan is a product of his intensive study in this area. Ueshiba O'Sensei was a student of Daito-Ryu, Yagyu-Ryu and Juken-jutsu.
Daito-Ryu which was a descendant school of Hozoin-ryu which was a school that specialised in the art of Spearmanship (So-jutsu, Yari-jutsu) which was founded in 1560.
Yagyu Shinkage Ryu is one of the oldest Japanese martial schools from the mid 16th century and was primarily and foremost a sword school with a tai-jutsu element but it did however include elements of Jo-jutsu (short staff) within its curriculum.
Yagyu Shingan Ryu founded in the 1600's was a derivative of the Shinkage School and covered primarily Yawara (unarmed combat in armour), Ken-jutsu and Batto-jutsu (Sword and sword drawing) and So-jutsu (spear) and Naginata-jutsu (Glaive). Ueshiba O'Sensei was awarded the Menkyo Kaiden ("Licence of Total Transmission") from both these schools in the early 1900's.
O'Sensei also studied Juken-jutsu (Bayonet fighting) and studied this at the military school/Toyama-ryu. He became so proficient in the use of the bayonet (naturally through his study of the spear) that he was asked to produce a manual of the bayonet and teach it to the Imperial Japanese military. He was recognised for his bravery and combat prowess in hand to hand combat with the bayonet when serving in the Russo-Japanese War in the early 1900's.
Interestingly Ueshiba O'Sensei never studied Jo-jutsu as an art and this is where the clear difference between traditional Jo-do/Jo-Jutsu and Aiki-jo lies.
