Starting With a BO Staff

[ace_spades21]

Hello, I am interested in practicing with a BO Staff. What is the size of BO Staff should I get (I'm 5' 7.5")? What type of grade or type of wood should I start out with? What weight should I start off with? What are some other basic tips and training exercises that I should start working on? One last question, Where should I purchase a BO Staff? Your input would be very useful to me. Thank you.

 

Ryan Lotich

 

S.D.Y. Tae-Kwon-Do

 

1st Dan

 

AIM: sdy1dan

 

E-mail: ace_spades21@hotmail.com

[SaiFightsMS]

Basic s foot bo to start. Just get the same model eveyone else in the dojo has to start. And if you like working with the bo you can always upgrade later.

[tommarker]

if the Bo becomes "your" weapon, you'll end up experimenting and accumulating 8-9 different kids of staffs anyways

 

might as well get the one that everyone else has. we usually tell people to cut the staff down to about forehead level at first.

[battousai16]

as for weight, i'd get one heavier than you would ever possibly use. thatway, the muscles in your arms will get stronger and you'll get a little bit better control.

[Treebranch]

Shouldn't the Bo be atleast a foot taller than your height? I was told that a traditional Bo staff length is 6ft. But you are tall the Bo should be taller to compensate for your height.

[Aamorn KSW]

For our regular staffs (not long or short) we say between chin and eye brow for length, but if you can't find one just right, go shorter instead of longer (makes some of our spins easier).

 

As for weight, I'd agree that learning with a heavy staff is great for building up arm muscles.

[Treebranch]

Aamorn KSW

For our regular staffs (not long or short) we say between chin and eye brow for length, but if you can't find one just right, go shorter instead of longer (makes some of our spins easier).

 

Isn't that considered a quarter staff?

[SBN Doug]

as for weight, i'd get one heavier than you would ever possibly use. thatway, the muscles in your arms will get stronger and you'll get a little bit better control.

 

That's sometimes a matter of opinion. And, unfortunately, it's not mine.

 

IMHO, as I was told by my master, you should start with a lighter staff, to build your technique and speed. Once you've got that down, then go to a heavier staff. Besides, you spin a staff a few hundred times in each position, every day, and you'll have rock hard forearms anyway.

 

As for the length, about your own height. Type of material, I prefer rattan, but you should come to your own conclusion there. Where to buy, wherever you get a good deal. You'll own a few, as already stated, if you stick with it.

[Treebranch]

As we all know hardwoods like Oak, Hickory, Walnut, and such make slightly heavy and extremely strong Bo staffs. I'm a heavy guy so I can wield a pretty heavy Bo. Lighter people should stick to lighter Bo's unless they like heavy ones. I do think though that the length of the Bo is susposed to be proportional to one's height. Traditional Bo staff lengths are usually based on the stature of Asian people from long ago. Western people are usually taller and the Traditional Bo Staffs will seem a little short. For example the average height of an American is about 5'9'' and the average height of a Japanese person in Pre-War Japanese was about 5'4" maybe. So the 6 ft. Bo staff was aleast 6 inches taller than they were. So I would think that based on your own structure and height the Bo Staff should be about 6 inches to a foot taller than you. I can find out with my teacher whom is very knowledgealbe about such things.

[SaiFightsMS]

The traditional way to fit a bo in the Okinwan traditon is for the bo to be about 6 inches longer than the height of the person.