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Old 07-20-2010, 01:50 PM   #13
OwlMatt
 
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Dojo: Milwaukee Aikikai
Location: Wisconsin
Join Date: Dec 2009
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Re: Can't find colored jos, so...........

Quote:
Mary Malmros wrote: View Post
Tradition aside, the problem that I see with this is that the two ends of a jo are identical. The only distinctions between them are fleeting, situational, and relative to your body: thus, it's "my rear hand does this" or "slide the front hand out to the end" and like that. If you try to change this to "take the jo by the red end", sooner than later the ends will be reversed and the red end will be the wrong one to grab.
One of my senseis says that, since O Sensei's staff techniques were base more on yarijutsu (spear fighting) than on any staff art, using color to designate one end of the jo as the "spearhead" might aid our understanding of some jo kata. I have never seen him (or anyone else, for that matter) attempt this, but I am inclined to believe him.
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