The Bo

[CStephens]

Gojumaster said:

Wow,

Small world. I was in Terry Reed's dojo (should I say farmhouse?) a few years back when we were first learning the kata from Kimo Sensei.

Cool. The only time I was out there was back in July of '02. We had an inter-dojo tourney, plus a Dan testing/awarding for a few of his students, and a seminar on the Tinpe & Rochin, and the Chizi Kun Bo.

[MightBHooked]

CStephens said:

For me, I'd never been particularly interested in the weapons arts of Okinawa, at least from a purely martial standpoint. After all, it's not all that legal to walk about town with a pair of sai, and it's a rare thing to have access to a tuifa (tonfa) in a self defense situation. However, I've always had a certain fascination with the Bo. I've rarely been in any place that doesn't have something so similar to a bo that I could use it for defense.

Sometimes kobudo / kobujutsu is called a dying art. It will not die, as long as we preserve what we've been taught and share the beauty / value of learning and teaching kobudo to others.

Regards,
Larry

[MightBHooked]

A question for Russ.

Russ,

In 1997 at the budokan, I saw Matayoshi's students demonstrating various weapons. One of them was, what looked like a bo tied to a shorter bo, maybe a sanshaku bo, like nunchaku. The person demonstrating it was a swinging it down onto the floor. I don't think it was a sanchaku no kun, because it only looked like two. I could be wrong, because I was quite a distance away up in the seats.

Is there a name for this weapon? Since then, I was always curious.

Thanks in advance,
Larry

[Gojumaster]

Larry,

That weapon is called Kuruman bo.

MightBHooked said:

A question for Russ.

Russ,

In 1997 at the budokan, I saw Matayoshi's students demonstrating various weapons. One of them was, what looked like a bo tied to a shorter bo, maybe a sanshaku bo, like nunchaku. The person demonstrating it was a swinging it down onto the floor. I don't think it was a sanchaku no kun, because it only looked like two. I could be wrong, because I was quite a distance away up in the seats.

Is there a name for this weapon? Since then, I was always curious.

Thanks in advance,
Larry

[MightBHooked]

Gojumaster said:

Larry,

That weapon is called Kuruman bo.

Russ,

Thank you, I never heard of it before.

[CStephens]

Just a minor post, seems I can post again without stuff coming up garbled.

I think I'm going to need to relegate my Bo training to "maintenance only" status. About two weeks ago, I hyperextended my right elbow diong Tokumine. Don't cry for me, though. The joint itself is fine, and the muscles around it are starting to get stronger. Within a few weeks, I should start being able to put some power into my strikes, and start lifting weights with that arm.

[olddragon]

CStephens said:

For starters, are there any karate students/kobujutsu practitioners on-site who place a decent bit of importance in learning the Bo?

Studying bo teaches you about body mechanics. As for the opportunity to use bo in self defense, there is always a broom around or a shovel.


For me, I'd never been particularly interested in the weapons arts of Okinawa, at least from a purely martial standpoint. After all, it's not all that legal to walk about town with a pair of sai, and it's a rare thing to have access to a tuifa (tonfa) in a self defense situation. However, I've always had a certain fascination with the Bo. I've rarely been in any place that doesn't have something so similar to a bo that I could use it for defense.

What it will teach you is that you can use something like a wooden sthingy or a hammer held against your arm to block a weapon attack.

Again, if there are any Karate/Kobujutsu practitioners on-board, please share your thoughts on this particular weapon. I'll try to post a bit more (hopefully) interesting thoughts after I get my computer in proper working order.

Kobudo is for me a natural progression from empty hand. I study Ryu Kyu Kobudo and Isshin Ryu Kobudo and have studied on occassion Matayoshi kobudo. I study from Hidemi Tamoyosi (Ryu Kyu Kobodo Tesshin Kan) and Kotoro Iha (Matayoshi) .... I also study Isshin Ryu Kobodo and Matayoshi through AJ Advincula.

Mike O'Leary