thumb|250px|A traditional rokushakubō is 1.82m (6 shaku) and wielded with both hands, due to its weight and size.

A (pong (Korean); pang (Cantonese); bang (Mandarin); kun (Okinawan)) is a staff weapon used in Okinawa. Rokushakubō are typically around long and used in Okinawan martial arts and Japanese arts such as bōjutsu. Other staff-related weapons are the jō, which does not have a standard length, and the hanbō (half bō), which is long.

Types

The bō is usually made with unfinished (no varnish, stain, etc) hardwood or a flexible wood, such as red or white oak, although bamboo and pine wood have been used; more common still is rattan wood for its strength and flexibility. The modern bō may be tapered in that it can be thicker in the center (chukon-bu) than at the ends (kontei) and is usually round or circular (maru-bo). Some bō are very light, with metallic sides, stripes and a grip which are used for XMA and competitions/demonstrations.Older bō were round (maru-bo), square (kaku-bo), hexagonal (rokkaku-bo) or octagonal (hakkaku-bo). The average size of a bō is 6 shaku (around ) but they can be as long as (kyu-shaku-bō). Some were inlaid or banded with strips of iron or other metals for extra strength.

The bō is typically gripped in thirds, with one palm facing the opposite direction of the other palm, enabling the staff to rotate and to secure the weapon when blocking. The power is generated by the back hand pulling the staff, while the front hand is used for guidance. Bō technique includes a wide variety of blocks, strikes, sweeps, and entrapments.

Prior to the 15th century, Okinawa, a small island located south of Japan, was divided into three kingdoms: Chuzan, Hokuzan, and Nanzan. After much political turmoil, Okinawa was united under the First Sho Dynasty in 1429. In 1477, Emperor Sho Shin came into power. Determined to enforce his philosophical and ethical ideas, while banning feudalism, the emperor instituted a ban on weapons. It became a crime to carry or own weapons such as swords, in an attempt to prevent further turmoil and prevent an uprising.

In 1609, the temporary peace established by Sho Shin was violently overthrown when the powerful Shimazu clan of Satsuma invaded and conquered Okinawa. The Shimazu lords placed a new weapons ban, leaving the Okinawans defenseless against samurai weaponry. In an attempt to protect themselves, the people of Okinawa looked to simple farming implements, which the samurai would not be able to confiscate, as new methods of defense. This use of weapons developed into kobudo, or "ancient martial way" as known today.

Although the bō is now used as a weapon, its use is believed by some to have evolved from the long stick (tenbin) which was used to balance buckets or baskets. Typically, one would carry baskets of harvested crops or buckets of water or fish, etc., one at each end of the tenbin, which is balanced across the middle of the back at the shoulder blades. In poorer agrarian economies, the tenbin remains a traditional farm work implement. In styles such as Yamanni-ryū or Kenshin-ryū, many of the strikes are the same as those used for yari ("spear") or naginata ("glaive").

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File:Bō.jpg|Japanese bō 6&nbsp;ft tall

File:Bō 2.JPG|Japanese bō, close up of one end or tip (kontei)

File:Various antique Japanese bo (staff) showing the (kontei).jpg|Various antique Japanese bo showing the kontei (end or tip)

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See also

  • Arnis
  • Bōjutsu
  • Budō
  • Gun (staff)
  • Hanbō
  • Jō
  • Kanabō
  • List of martial arts weapons
  • Nami
  • Okinawan kobudō
  • Quarterstaff
  • Stick-fighting
  • Tahtib
  • Tanbō
  • Yubi-bo
  • Ruyi Jingu Bang
  • Donatello
  • Jade
  • Gambit

References

  • Martialarm.com
  • Koryu.com

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sv:Japanska stavvapen#Bo