Weapons Used In Aikido

Bokken

A bokken is a wooden Japanese sword used for training, usually the size and shape of a katana, but sometimes shaped like other swords. Other common shapes are wakizashi and tanto. They are also known as bokutō, which is also the usual term in Japan.

These should not be confused with shinai, the bamboo sword used in kendo.

Historically, bokken are as old as Japanese swords, and were used for the training of warriors. Miyamoto Musashi, a kenjutsu master, was renowned for fighting fully armed foes with only one or two bokken. In a famous legend, he defeated Sasaki Kojiro with a bokken he had carved from an oar while traveling on a boat to the predetermined island for the duel.

Types of Bokken:

1. daitō or tachi (katana-sized), long sword;
2. wakizashi bo, short sword, (wakizashi-sized);
3. tanto bo (tantō-sized); and
4. suburito can be made in daito and shoto sizes but are meant for solo training. They are much heavier and harder to use, developing greater muscles, increasing skills with 'normal' sized bokken. One famous user of suburi sized bokken is Miyamoto Musashi who used one in his duel against Sasaki Kojiro.

Jō Staff

A jō is an approximately four-foot (1.28 m) long wooden staff, used in some Japanese martial arts. The martial art of wielding the jō is called jōjutsu or jōdō. Also, aiki-jō is a set of techniques in aikido which uses the jō to illustrate aikido's principles with a weapon. The jō staff is shorter than the bō. Today, the jō is still used by some Japanese police forces.

The techniques for jō were reportedly invented by Musō Gonnosuke Katsuyoshi after he was defeated by the famous swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi (1584–1645). They fought each other in a duel sometime between 1608 and 1611, according to Kenji Tokitsu. The record mentioning this duel, the Nitenki, recounts:

"When Musashi was in Edo, he met an adept named Musō Gonnosuke, who asked to fight him. Gonnosuke used a wooden sword. Musashi was in the process of making a small bow; he picked up a piece of firewood. Gonnosuke attacked him without even bowing, but he received a blow from Musashi that made him fall down. He was impressed and left."

A different text, the Kaijo Monogatari (dated to 1666) differs considerably from the Nitenki version. In it, Gonnosuke is a boastful and brash warrior who duels Musashi intending to see how Musashi compares with Musashi's father in swordsmanship. The fight occurs in Akashi, not Edo, and Gonnosuke wields a staff four shaku in length and reinforced with steel rings. After his defeat, he then went to Mount Homan-zan in Chikuzen (near Fukuoka), where he practiced considerably, changing his preferred weapon to four shaku and two sun in length - 1.28 meters as compared to 1.2 meters. This school was called the Shintō Musō-ryū because of Gonnosuke's previous training under Sakurai Osuminokami Yoshikatsu of the Shintō-ryū.