Bo Staff Training

33rd Soke Toshigutsu Takematsu Sensei

A lot of our weapons training is done in pairs with a nominated attacker and defender. This month we’ve been studying Bo (6 foot staff) and the Kata that we’ve been practicing more than any other so far is called Kote Zuke (Wrist Thrust) and it goes like this…

Tori has the Bo in Chudan No Kamae
Uke has a sword in Seigan No Kamae

Tori thrusts with the Bo towards Uke’s chest and
Uke blocks the Bo by moving back into Seigan No Kamae with the sword (moving the sword tip of the centre line and exposing the right side of the body)


Tori then Sanshin steps forward with the right foot and does a left Do Uchi strike to Uke’s floating rib which
Uke blocks by stepping back 45 degrees with the left foot into a Seigan No Kamae position with the sword not on the centre line pointing at Tori

Tori then flips the Bo directly over to strike down onto the top of Uke Head
Uke squats while raising the sword over head to protect themselves

Tori then quickly strikes from underneath to Uke’s now exposed wrist to knock the sword from their grip.

The way that I have written this above actually makes it harder to learn but easier to read so I’ll rewrite it the way you should do it a bit further down

To do this Kata properly you need to learn three main sections

1. The Bo’s sequence of attacking movements
2. The Sword’s series of blocks and most importantly
3. How they relate to each other as a sequence  via distance, timing, strategy etc

These three part make the whole, if you don’t know number 2 then you also lose number 3

Here’s how you should actually practice because all the movemnts are connected and it’s not 9 seperate movements but one connected flow


Tori has the Bo in Chudan No Kamae
Uke has a sword in Seigan No Kamae

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Tori thrusts with the Bo towards Uke’s chest and Uke blocks the Bo by moving back into Seigan No Kamae with the sword (moving the sword tip of the centre line and exposing the right side of the body)Tori then Sanshin steps forward with the right foot and does a left Do Uchi strike to Uke’s floating rib which Uke blocks by stepping back 45 degrees with the left foot into a Seigan No Kamae position with the sword not on the centre line pointing at Tori Tori then flips the Bo directly over to strike down onto the top of Uke Head Uke squats while raising the sword over head to protect themselves Tori then quickly strikes from underneath to Uke’s now exposed wrist to knock the sword from their grip.


Written the other way it gets taught like this – 1-2   3-4   5-6   7- 8   9   and that’s what we see most of the time


It connects 3 and 4 together but ignores the relationship that is extremely important between movement 4 and 5

It is no use learning just the Bo strikes if you don’t also know the correct sword blocks.  It’s only with the correct strikes and blocks that you can learn about how they relate. And this is the point where the Kata opens up to you and tells you its secrets of distance and timing as well as how to control the other person’s movements.

Tori is initiating the Kata and does movements 3 – 5 – 7 and 9. Presuming Tori knows the correct blocks, if we take a moment to look at what’s going on we will see that each strike sets up the next …. The trust to the midsection when blocked exposed the Left side of the body …..  the block used to protect the left side by Uke leaves the head exposed…….. the block to protect the head leaves the under wrist exposed for a weapon disarm up from underneath.

Doing the wrong blocks that don’t create the correct opening for the next strike are almost a waste of time because not only is the Kata teaching you Bo staff movements and sword blocking but also what the weaknesses are of certain positions when blocking and how to position your opponent by using a strategy that’s ends in your favour.

Lets look at the first block, if instead of moving slightly left and blocking to the right you do the opposite , then the strike to the Left ribs is now a waste of time, because it’s not exposed, you just hit the sword without placing any pressure on your opponent to move at all.


So instead of keeping them under pressure and responding to your attack you actually create a moment in time where he can stand in one place and think for a second, and that’s probably not a good thing is he’s got a sword ……..

If you know someone that might also like to read this please forward it on or share it via Facebook. If you would like to try out our training for feee then please call the Dojo on 9495 1929 and we will be happy to give you a 3 lesson trial so you can see if you like Ninjutsu for yourself.

Craig Guest

www.ninjutsumelbourne.com.au