Bōjutsu

{{Short description|Japanese martial art of staff fighting using a bō}}{{refimprove|date=January 2011}}

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{{Infobox martial art

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| image = Bojutsu demo01.jpg

| imagecaption = Bōjutsu demonstration

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| name = Bōjutsu

| aka = Art of the staff

| focus =Weaponry

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| country =Ryūkyū Kingdom
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| creator = Various

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| olympic = No

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{{Lang|ja|Bōjutsu}} ({{Langx|ja|棒術|lit=staff technique}}) is the martial art of stick fighting using a bō, which is the Japanese word for staff.[http://www.koryu.com/library/dlowry11.html The Evolution of Classical Jojutsu][http://www.koryu.com/library/mskoss7.html Sticks and Stones Will Break Your Bones: A Look at Jo and Bo] Staffs have been in use for thousands of years in Asian martial arts like Silambam. Some techniques involve slashing, swinging, and stabbing with the staff. Others involve using the staff as a vaulting pole or as a prop for hand-to-hand strikes.

Today bōjutsu is usually associated either with Okinawan kobudō

or with Japanese koryū budō. Japanese bōjutsu is one of the core elements of classical martial training.

Thrusting, swinging, and striking techniques often resemble empty-hand movements, following the philosophy that the bō is merely an "extension of one’s limbs".[http://www.shotokan.net.au/weapons.html Weapons] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070828210627/http://www.shotokan.net.au/weapons.html |date=August 28, 2007 }} Consequently, bōjutsu is often incorporated into other styles of empty-hand fighting, like traditional Jū-jutsu, and karate.

In the Okinawan context, the weapon is frequently referred to as the kon (棍).