Bōjutsu

Bōjutsu

Bōjutsu demonstration
Also known as	Art of the staff
Focus	Weaponry
Country of origin	Ryūkyū Kingdom Japan
Creator	Various
Olympic sport	No

Bōjutsu (Japanese: 棒術, lit. 'staff technique') is the martial art of stick fighting using a bō, which is the Japanese word for staff.¹² Staffs have been in use for thousands of years in Asian martial arts like Silambam. Some techniques involve slashing, swinging, and stabbing with the staff. Others involve using the staff as a vaulting pole or as a prop for hand-to-hand strikes.

Today bōjutsu is usually associated either with Okinawan kobudō or with Japanese koryū budō. Japanese bōjutsu is one of the core elements of classical martial training.

Thrusting, swinging, and striking techniques often resemble empty-hand movements, following the philosophy that the bō is merely an "extension of one’s limbs".³ Consequently, bōjutsu is often incorporated into other styles of empty-hand fighting, like traditional Jū-jutsu, and karate.

In the Okinawan context, the weapon is frequently referred to as the kon (棍).