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Mary Malmros wrote:
You can call it a purple platypus if you want, but it's irrelevant to the matter under discussion, i.e., whether there is a functional reason to paint the ends of a jo so that you can tell one end from the other.
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On the contrary, what I said was very relevant and made a very real distinction. You can refute it if you want- in fact, please do; this is what good discussion is all about- but to carelessly dismiss it as meaningless semantics doesn't get anyone anywhere.
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Can you name a kata where the ends of the jo are differentiated, such that only one end can be used for a given technique? No? Then there's no need to mark a "this end" and a "that end", no matter what the antecedents may be.
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A kata, in and of itself, differentiates nothing. It is a sequence of movements with no mind of its own. Move here, tsuki, block, yokomen, etc. To find out whether or not a kata favors one end of the jo in a certain way, one would either have to study it extensively or try doing it with a marked jo. I have already admitted that I have attempted neither, so I have no concrete evidence to prove anything to you. But I think it would be interesting to look into, and my sensei indicates that it might be quite revealing.