Customer Reviews

Jo, the Japanese Short Staff (Unique Literary Books of the World)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Jo, the Japanese Short Staff provides a very good introduction to this art. There is a brief history which illustrates the potential of this misunderstood martial art. The photographs and diagrams are especially good and manage to capture the key points of the basic moves very well. As with any book on the martial arts, it is crucial that anyone truly desiring to learn, find a sympatico sensei and practice, practice, and practice some more. Fran McHugh, Winslow, AZ

A bit of a departure from the frequent form of martial arts books that continue to enshroud technique in mysticism, this book breaks things down in a way that reveals the essence of the techniques clearly, and the keys to their performance. Progression of photographs is particularly clear. A brilliant companion to live instruction, which is needed for mastery of any such art. I have found it very useful for students interested in significant progress in this discipline.

This is one of the best martial arts books I've seen because I actually learned something from it. The writing is clear and the photographs and foot patterns are easy to follow. It also answered a lot of my questions about why certain moves are done, adn my jo work is better because of it. Some of the moves are different from what I've learned, but it should be good for beginners and advanced students, no matter what style of jo they do

It does not cover the 'details,' but makes for a good classroom companion. I do not think this is the right book for anyone who has not been instructed how to 'properly' use a Jo. In some pictures the technique is weak, but the kata (forms) are laid out very well and are easy to follow. It is a good book and I do recommend it if you study Jo and are looking for more material or just like to have it in front of you. Or, If your one who studies Kenjutsu and have reached the Jo section of your program this would be a great aid. This book focuses on the defeat of Musashi and is a must for a true student of Ken.

This book is a nostalgia piece for me since it is one of the first martial books I ever owned, and wielding the jo, based primarily on what I learned from the book, was one of my obsessions as a child and teenager. It has now been well over 20 years since I first was given the book by my parents as a Christmas present. Since that time I have spent 8 years in Kendo, 7 in Fencing and 22 in Judo. To put it simply, my practice with the jo opened up a wider world of martial arts to me. It is now part of my spirit. The jo is a much more complex activity than using either a sword, spear or naginata, because it is a double ended weapon and there is a fair bit of grip changing, which not only makes it a great weapon to familiarize oneself with before moving on to tackle other simpler ones, but also makes for a rewarding, interesting and I believe even spiritual exercise even when done completely alone, due to its intrinsic interest brought about by its fascinating capacity to be used to link its multifarious proven-useful techniques together in sequences. I still train with the jo and love it, and once a week with some of the same people even as I trained with 20 years ago! I think the fact that it requires no equipment, and no instructor besides this book, makes it a very democratic kind of martial arts pursuit, and one that can be suited to one's own taste. It is intrinsically rewarding, so rankings, recognition, and even training partners are not absolutely required to get something meaningful out of time spent with the weapon. While training you have to harmonize yourself with the spirit of the weapon in order to maximize control of it. This has a spiritual meaning in that you are harmonizing yourself with the circular and linear forces of nature - linking yourself with the rest of existence and coming to terms with that fact at least on an experiential level. The use of solid wood and lack of armor means the weapon is deadly so the spiritual value of courageously facing death every instant is constantly present in jo training, unlike most other martial arts where protective measures are taken such as soft weapons and/or armor. I cannot recommend this book enough to those looking for spiritual solace, good exercise and weapon skills - of whatever use they may still be in our modern world - at least "manual dexterity" is still of great value, if not specifically hand to hand combat weapon manipulation. This is THE book for the jo, specifically for the individual taking up the practice of the weapon alone. The techniques and routines are all demonstrated solo. This fact means that you can start this solo training on your own and then later in life if the opportunity presents itself you can join a jo dojo where you can learned paired katas and learn some refinements to your techniques, or if the opportunity or the desire does not, you can keep your pursuit of the jo a personal journey, and a helpful, healthy dose of daily exercise for your body. Depending on space availability you can even practice quite a number of techniques inside your home, and even the overhead strikes can be practiced in a kneeling position on the ground if there is enough head space above. I would like to thank Don Zier and Tom Lang, the authors, for having such a positive effect on my life through this book.

The jo is a fascinating weapon: simply constructed yet multifunctional. Practicing with it enriches any empty-handed fighting art. My martial arts training began with karate, but the traditional school I attended did not teach weapons. I had always been fascinated by the long staff (bo), but my first exposure to a Japanese weapon martial art was kenjutsu using the wooden sword (bokken). Since those techniques were taken from aikido, I also learned about the jo. I took a weekend course in aikijo from the local community college and decided to continue practicing on my own.

This is not the only book I own about the Japanse short staff. My first book, written by Dave Lowry, is also recommended. However, since I was teaching myself, I wanted a book that included more kata. This book gives a good overview of basic techniques, and it also includes several short solo exercises (suburi). At the very end are two long forms that deserve close study.

I realize that a book can never replace personal instruction, but as long as I live where the art of jo-do is not taught, this book is a welcome addition to my library.

I'm mostly coming from a Chinese martial arts background, where I focus mainly on the sword, so I'm not all that knowledgeable about the Japanese arts. With our jian training, we do a lot of full contact (with some protection) free sparring with realistic weight, blunted wooden weapons. I picked up this book as on overview of the jo, and was quite impressed. Rather than get bogged down with a lot of metaphysics and complex theories, this book starts where martial arts should always start: with the basics and simple, effective techniques. I found the pictures and the accompanying descriptions of the techniques quite easy to follow, and the techniques themselves feel very natural, logical and powerful. I like the author's progression from single techniques, to short combinations, to a couple longer forms (although I doubt I'll get to the longer forms). As someone who has some full-speed experience facing opponents who are trying to hit me with heavy pieces of wood, I would feel quite confident applying a lot of these jo techniques in that situation. The only thing this book could have used a bit more of are some simple breathing, stretching and muscle building techniques that are practiced without jo in hand, as I would have to assume these do exist within the art of jodo. It should go without saying that you can never claim to have really learned a traditional martial art if you aren't under the guidance of a real teacher as opposed to a book, but that being said, this book is highly recommended by me----a great resource to get a basic foundation of the techniques of this very versatile weapon.

This might have been a good and instructive book, but it is not.
The reason for this is the abyssmally poor quality of the pictures.
They seem to have been xeroxcopied from xeroxcopies of the original pics.
If you can find this book in first edition somewhere, buy it. If not, get something else.
This was a disappointment.

The instructions in this book are very clear and easy to follow. The photographs are also very clear and additional sequences are added to illustrate more complicated movements.

Aikijo has become popular in North America as it is part of the aikido weapons training. However this book illustrates jodo which is not related to aikido philosophy and principles. Still many of the techniques on stances, guards, strikes, sweeps and so on are applicable to aikido weapons training.

This is the best book that I could find on jo practice. The book contains practice drills and traditional jo long form.

I am often interested in understanding what would cause someone with so little understanding of a subject to write a book about it. It is true that there is little published information available on the aiki-jo system of Morihei Ueshiba, apart from Morihiro Saito's excellent books, but that hardly justifies this rather amateur attempt on the subject. The fact that the aikido weapons systems are not well known has as much to do with people's egotistical unwillingness to concede that they know nothing about the subject and therefore seek out competent instruction as it does with any lack of qualified teachers. I appreciate the need for guide texts on the subject, however this book provides no solution. The techniques are badly performed imitations of correct technique. The authors lack an understanding of application and, therefore, form departs from function. It becomes an exercise in baton twirling. Martial arts technical manuals are seldom useful without access to a competent teacher. This book is worse than many.