I've done better than I expected and learnt more than I assumed was worth knowing. In terms of Martial Arts, six months isn't a long time, but since I've been very focused and 'drill' almost daily I've moved ahead.
YouTube has primarily been my tutor and the facebook group I set up -- The Way of the Stick -- shares a lot of useful media -- I and anyone else can refer back to.
So after 6 months, where am I at?
JODO
The essential aspect is that I am smitten with the Jo staff and that remains my weapon of choice. A jō (杖:じょう) is an approximately 1.27-metre long -- more or less up to my armpit. And it is a beautiful and highly versatile length.
Much of the Asian staff tradition is engineered to counter sword attack whereas the Jo seems very much at home in the 21st century. Once you begin to understand Jo first principles then its potential in your hands is amazing.
While I started with the Jo under aegis of Aikido --where it is used as a training aid -- the real depth of Jojutsu or Jodo is much older and more complex.Shintō Musō-ryū, or Shindō Musō-ryū (神道夢想流) most commonly known by its practice of jōdō.
This is where I part company and choose not to be Nipponized. I'm not interested in the 'way of the warrior' or wearing funny pants, kata-ing in dojos or calling people 'sensei'. I'm only interested in the moves and whatever else that may find from the practice.
KALI.
This is where Kali comes in. Kali, also known as Arnis or Eskrima/Escrima, is the national martial art of the Philippines. Absolutely unpretentious and, for my money, the best self defence system you can have in your 2 hands.
While other weapons are involved I'm only interested in the short kali sticks. These are cut from rattan and measure between 60 and 80 centimetres in length. And they are friggin awesome!
If you master the kali sticks the other weapons -- even your bare hands -- are hypothetically interchangeable. No uniform. No special place. No hierarchies. Just street smarts.
Obviously the kali stick is deployed differently from the Jo staff but their length isn't so far apart. If a kali stick can be 80cm long, a Jo is 30-40 cm longer. So their range of motion -- while not similar -- has related dynamics. The longer bo (or the Tamil Silambam stick) is as tall as its wielder.
Point being: I've given up on studying the bo (& its Tamil, Korean , European and Filipino equivalent) in preference to concentrating on the Jo and the short kali sticks.
bō (棒: ぼう), bong (Korean), pang (Cantonese), bang (Mandarin),[1][2] or kun (Okinawan) is a staff weapon used in Okinawa. Bō are typically around 1.8 m (71 in) and used in Okinawan martial arts, while being adopted into Japanese arts such particular bōjutsu. Other staff-related weapons are the jō, which is 1.2 m (47 in) long, and the hanbō (half bō), which is 90 cm (35 in) long, about the length of the forearm.
I reckon I get more interchange practice that way and my preference rests so much on the fact I walk around with a Jo length stick as my everyday walking and hiking stick. The Jo and I spend a lot of time together.
But for a close in strike -- nothing beats kali, I reckon -- and like Jodo the power of the strike is all in the wrist and forearm.
DRILLS
So now that I have chosen my weapons how do I learn to use them?
While my initial aim was to learn longer katas , like a choreography or tai chi -- like the 13 Jo kata and the 31 Jo kata -- I now find that limiting your move drill to fewer strikes or moves is more useful. That way I get to study the moves with greater care and focus while exploring their potential and how they relate to one another in way of flow.
You also get quicker feedback.
While I do do the 13 jo kata i'm in no hurry to up my numbers. In that sense, my practice is primarily a series of short drills repeated.
