This book teaches the art of the jo, the simple short staff that defeated the great swordsman Musashi. Topics include history, fundamentals, combinations, the traditional 31-count form and applications against a swordsman. Lowry is a noted scholar and practitioner of Japanese weaponry. Fully illustrated.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
An Excellent Introduction to the Most Practical of Weapons:
Written shortly after Dave Lowry's second book, "Bokken", "Jo" follows closely in style with detailed explanations and good explanatory sequence photographs. Of all the training tools one might add to one's repetoire, Jo has got to be the best for a variety of reason. The Jo is balanced and relatively easy to get a feel for. Another big plus from an experienced traveller (me)--the Jo can double as a walking stick, and it isn't difficult to bring with you for training just about anywhere you go. I enjoy... more info
This is a good manual, except . . .:
This is a very well written manual of jo exercises. The descriptions are easy to understand; and in a couple of places the author also shows the wrong way to do the lesson, so that the reader doesn't do that. The quality of the photos is much better than some other manuals
This book focuses on the techniques, so all though the book tells a little bit of history, history is not the main issue. That might affect your decision to buy the book, either positively or negatively. My only complaint is... more info
Quality:
This is an excellent book by an excellent author. It is a pity though that Lowry's attention to quality did not extend to the printing of the book. The pictures look like photocopies and the paper is all too thin. The cover gets bent out of shape far too easily.
This book deserves better binding.
Good book for returning martial artist:
I am extrememly glad that I brought this book not long after returning to the martial arts after many years away. It allowed me to improve my kata and stance work at a much faster rate than I had thought possible. Practicing in front of a large mirror at my local gym also helped.
One has to remember that you really do need a good Sensei to look at and correct imperfections in your technique but this book goes a long way to moving the process along.
