Jodo

Jodo is the way of Jo or way of the wooden stick. A jodo form that has been adopted by the Zen Nihon Kendo Renmei (All Japan Kendo Federation) is currently being practiced.

Jodo is considered as a discipline that serves to integrate the practitioner's personality. It is said that this specific method have been established by the famous swordsman Muso Gonnosuke some four centuries ago after he was defeated in a fight with wooden swords by the famous rival Miyamoto Musashi, whose inimitable style of fighting with two swords was later adopted as Nito Ryu. According to this legend, after this duel, Gonnosuke retired to a Shinto shrine where he underwent long periods of meditation and purification, while at the same time persistently practicing with the stick, developing the art of Jo, combining elements of the technique of fighting with a spear, fencing with a sword, and some other, less important martial arts methods. He named his style Shindo Muso Ryu and tried to challenge Musashi again to a new fight. This time, the method he invented allowed him to effectively defend and even penetrate Musashi's own defense with two swords. It is said that Gonnosuke have continued his training until he was able to develop the 12 basic techniques (of which he later combined more than 70 kata) that form the technical basis of modern Jodo. These basic strikes usually take place in formal exercises (Kata) performed by a practitioner with a wooden sword (bokken) and his partner armed with a long stick (jo).

Unlike other martial arts such as kendo, no armor or protectors are used in jodo. Therefore, the practice of jodo kata consists of real training exercises with jo as an effective weapon.

Jo is made of Japanese oak. The length is 128 cm and the diameter is 2.4 cm. It is approximately 30 cm longer than the average sword and its weight is 550 g.

The Jo is:

straight, which symbolizes wisdom
round, which expresses kindness and benevolence
tough, which shows bravery

The benefit of Jodo is the following:

training of the mind in correct etiquette or manners, confidence, integrity and simplicity
to strengthen the body and to learn how to move fast and active
to learn a correct body posture and correct behaviour
to improve your judgement and the ability to take decisions and to develop self confidence
to improve our relationship with other human beings

Jodo can be practised by everyone. In Japan it is used by the army, police and fire brigade. It's a method to defend yourself without big psychical efforts and without harming your opponent. But Jodo will be only effective and efficient after years of investments in training under qualified guidance.