The Bo Staff

[Ryan Nune]

Hi there, I am a new user here, looks to be a great site.

Anyhow I was wondering about the bo staff. I have 2 at home, well theyre actually wooden dowels 2 inches thick. Recently I have seen some videos of a man whippin that bo staff around like nuts! I was wondering, what bo staff to get for that purpose? I want a very light, flexable and strong bo. Any advice helps!

this is neat!
artyon:

 

[Peter Steeves]

The best answer might be, "It depends" because I can personally think of a handful of Bo schools that have different preferences...and I'm sure there are plenty more than what I know.

My notes from my teacher indicate a preference for "Akagashi" wood - generally "red oak" although now that I'm in the USA again I'm seeing a lot of White Oak available. I've tried both, and like both.

I've tried other woods, some more or less dense, and still prefer the red oak, but then, that suits what I learned.

Dowels - I've broken too many (I was a college student with no $, so of course it was dowels!) Be careful. Oak is much harder to break (still happened, but much less often).

If you have martial arts friends, try theirs. You can try tapered ends, straight ends, smooth wood, octagonal wood, etc.

 

[te75uo]

Bo staffs are made out of alot of materials. I have several myself. I have some homemade ones made out of bamboo. Bamboo is not reccomended to be used for hitting other bo staffs because it can splinter. Some are made out of a root called Rattan. Rattan bo staffs are flexable, and do not splinter that much, they are also light. I use a rattan bo staff alot because it does not hurt as much as being hit by a hardwood staff. I also have a staff made out of hickory. Hickory is a very hard wood that is crush, and splinter resistant. It also hurts alot when being hit by it. Waxwood staffs, and white oak staffs are also a great woods. They are the traditional wood to be used with bo staffs. The waxwood is slightly flexable and strong. The White oak is strong but less flexable. Not american White oak, but Japanese white oak, there is a huge differance. The red oak is less strong than most of the White oak, but is also a good material.

One thing you want to look for is that the grain of the wood travels down the staff, and not across.

Here is a good site to teach you a little bit about wood hardness.
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~kataylor/bokuto.htm