Kaze Uta Budo Kai Forum Archive

I am fairly new around the dojo and have enjoyed every minute of Judo and Aikido. I attend the 6:30AM classes a few days a week and the noon hour class less consistently so I have not had the opportunity to meet many of the other students and teachers. I am only a couple of classes away from testing Yonkyu in Judo and I am looking forward to starting Jyodo. As a part of that I have been looking at websites to equip myself.

My sister gave me a bokken for Christmas last year when I mentioned I was interested in taking Aikido (http://bugei.com/product_1077_detailed.htm) Someone suggested I find a hand guard for it since Jyodo has the potential to be hard on knuckles. If anyone knows a good option for that I am all ears.

The question I have asked several people lately is about the jo itself. What are the correct dimensions of the jo? I have looked at a few different websites and have found minor difference and wanted to make sure I get the best one for me. So, I will list the three jos I have in mind and ask some questions after that.

http://bugei.com/product_1040_detailed.htm
http://www.e-bogu.com/Top_Quality_50_White_Oak_Jo50_p/yut-wea-jo-tqjo-white-50.htm
http://kingfisherwoodworks.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=kf&Product_Code=020&Category_Code=stst

What is the correct length? These three go from 50 to 50.25 inches (and longer options at Kingfisher) I know that is not much of a difference, but I want to do it right.
What is the correct diameter? One is 1 inch, another 15/16 of an inch, and the last one is 2.4cm (in between the two)
Does the kind of wood matter? Two of them are Japanese White Oak (same as my bokken) and the other is Hickory.

Several people told me to look for the Shinto Muso-ryu jos but none of the places clearly labeled their jos as such, which is why I am here. Thanks in advance and I look forward to meeting more of you in the future.

DC

I like Japanese white oak for jo & bokken. Tough for long life, resilient enough to flex a little.

Jo dimensions tend to vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and between styles. I don't believe there's a single, hard, set in stone standard. I've played with everything from 48 to 52 inches over the years. Next time you're at the dojo, bring a tape measure & check out the lengths of the various jo hanging in the rack. The diameter also varies a little bit, so you may want to check that as well. I have one at home which is noticeably larger than my jo at the dojo, and it is noticeably different when I play.

I would definitely recommend a tsuba for your bokken. Ones made of rawhide are virtually indestructible, yet hard to find and usually expensive. I don't know of a place selling just the tsuba, but I haven't looked either. Hopefully some of the other guys will chime in. I know Roger Wenzel (the Monday evening & Saturday morning main guy) has one made of leather instead of rawhide. There has to be a place that sells them, simply because the little rubber holders lose strength after a while, and plastic ones can be broken.

I like playing with a bokken without the tsuba, but on one or two strikes you'll really prefer to have one. The main one is hiki-otoshi.

http://budogu.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/page14.html

You can find a hide tsuba there for $30. Definitely not cheap but definitely worth it.

What I did was order the package deal, which was a white oak Jo, white oak bokken, white oak kodachi, hide tsuba, and a case to carry it all and it was $120 plus tax and shipping.

http://budogu.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/page10.html look for WSET2 Training Buki Set.

e-bogu also has tsuba. Hide, single layer leather, double layer leather, as well as plastic. All fairly reasonable.

I have to say Cristian's jo is one of the nicest I've seen in a while. The grain is very straight throughout. Of course, your mileage may vary.

Will the leather tsuba fit on any bokken? Mine seems to have a thicker "blade" than some of the ones I've seen at the dojo. If not thicker, then at least more consistent - it is the same width the entire length. I'll bring my bokken in before I order a tsuba and get some advice.

$30 doesn't seem that bad of a price for the tsuba. I think the Kingfisher website could make a custom one for $95. I would love to explain that one to my wife.

As far as the Jo, thanks for that website Cristian. That looks like the one I will go for. Thanks for the advice everyone.

Does Nick still have a catalog from the Kiyota Co. somewhere? That's where we used to order ours. Unfortunately, they don't have a website (just a Japanese dude running a store in Baltimore) but they have quality stuff. You have to order by phone (get ready to decipher a Japanese accent), but the product is very good.

The Kiyota Company
2326 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
PHONE: 1-800-783-2232
FAX: 1-410-366-3540

lately i've switched to mugendo -- see christian's reply above-- great quality-- good price -- fine service-- just tell em you need the jo for "shindo muso ryu" and he'll get you the right length