anyone makes a custom graphite bo staff?

[Oily Dragon]

Ah ok…so perhaps either ‘bo’ or ‘staff’.

(I love the posters in this forum! So much knowledge)

Yeah, the best translation of "bo" in our context is really "wooden staff", the wood part being key because of Radical 75 (wood/tree).

Otherwise every 2m long staff would be called a bo, and I honestly don't think the name makes sense with any other material BUT...that.might not matter to people who just associate bo with a long staff weapon.

So yes I'm being pedantic about language, but I study Chinese writing so this is stuff I care about

 

[Gyakuto]

Bo as in bokuto wooden sword! I get it. Moku (wood/timber) becomes boku become bo!

 

[Oily Dragon]

Bo as in bokuto wooden sword! I get it. Moku (wood/timber) becomes boku become bo!

Sure and if we go back to China, there are typically two hanzi for this kind of wooden staff weapon, for bang (same hanzi as bo), but also gun/gwan (loosely, 'wooden older brother").

But funny enough, that makes a bang (bo) in CMA a "wooden" younger brother", and sure enough, somebody drew this and uploaded it to Wiki. Not sure this is accurate even, I've seen plenty of staff called "bang" taller than nut height, and that one in the pic is shorter than even a jo. But what's important is the relative length...gun/gwan invokes that big brother motif.

 

[Oily Dragon]

Lol just some comic relief I came across this morning. Google and YouTube teaming up and spying on me again!

No hate intended but after we chatted today I could not stop laughing at this.

"Bo staff...kung fu...taolu". In my head I hear "chop suey", if you get the joke.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Well, we all have to learn.

I’ve also heard nunchaku referred to as numb-chucks. I don’t correct them

My brother’s a GP and his non-medical wife refers to his ‘sphyg’ (sphygmomanometer) as his ‘sphinct‘(er). He has never corrected her in 30+ years of marriage and, with a derisory smile, somehow gets her to say it, when I visit. Bas**rd!

Like when people say irregardless?

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Whenever I see "bo staff" I know the poster is (hopefully) not trained in karate/kobudo.

I think it's largely a carry-over from speech. In writing you can see the difference between "bow" and "bo", but in speech they sound the same so it makes sense that some people would add "staff" to clarify the subject. Obviously not necessary when writing on a forum, but if someone has gotten in the habit of saying "bo staff" verbally then I understand why they might end up writing it.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Lol just some comic relief I came across this morning. Google and YouTube teaming up and spying on me again!

No hate intended but after we chatted today I could not stop laughing at this.

"Bo staff...kung fu...taolu". In my head I hear "chop suey", if you get the joke.

That one of the worst. Went from CMA to Kata so why not bo staff lol.

I think it's largely a carry-over from speech. In writing you can see the difference between "bow" and "bo", but in speech they sound the same so it makes sense that some people would add "staff" to clarify the subject. Obviously not necessary when writing on a forum, but if someone has gotten in the habit of saying "bo staff" verbally then I understand why they might end up writing it.

For me the bo has always been something Japanese where the weapon is tapered on both ends. A staff would be be different being that it isn't tapered on both ends. I don't use both together but if I say bo I'm referring to Japanese and if I say staff then I'm referring to non Japanese. I never heard a CMA practitioner refer to a staff as a Bo. I only hear it from Karate and "Karate like" martial arts.

If someone says Bo, do we think of Japanese staffs or Hema staffs?

The term Bo staff is hear to stay and we can probably thank Google search words and business for that. If I were write an article on staff fighting then I would throw bo in the mix just so I can get the ranking.

 

[Gyakuto]

Like when people say irregardless?

Do they?

 

[Gyakuto]

Like when people say irregardless?

(And ‘one fail swoop’, ‘it’s a doggy dog world’, ‘hunger pains’, ‘escape goat’, ‘do diligence’ and my most despised, ‘I could care less’)

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

(And ‘one fail swoop’, ‘it’s a doggy dog world’, ‘hunger pains’, ‘escape goat’, ‘do diligence’ and my most despised, ‘I could care less’)

’out in the boondogs’ ?

 

[geezer]

’out in the boondogs’ ?

Yep, Boon-dogs. And you can take that for granite. Now about sayin' bo staff. I don't see why that's a problem. Irregardless, just last weekend I drove up past Picacho Peak to Table Mesa, ate pizza pie and practiced with my bo staff. I had such a good time, I'm not over-exaggerating when I say I'd repeat it all over again. The whole experience literally blew my mind.

 

[Gyakuto]

Yep, Boon-dogs. And you can take that for granite. Now about sayin' bo staff. I don't see why that's a problem. Irregardless, just last weekend I drove up past Picacho Peak to Table Mesa, ate pizza pie and practiced with my bo staff. I had such a good time, I'm not over-exaggerating when I say I'd repeat it all over again. The whole experience literally blew my mind.

It’s not a problem just like there’s nothing wrong with saying katana-sword, numb-chuk flails, baseball-ball, scalpel-knife. But I think part of the apprenticeship of learning anything thoroughly includes learning the associated specialist language and terminology correctly. It inspires confidence in others and it shows serious scholarliness. When I was teaching anatomy, I used to tell the students to use anatomical jargon in the dissection hall and out. So I’d encourage them to say the ‘dorsum of the hand’ rather than the ‘back of the hand’ or ‘laterally’ rather than ‘to the side’ especially when in the pub or at a party! Does it matter? Well, it does sounds more professional and anatomists instantly know what you mean by the ‘mediolateral fossa of the pterygoid plate’ and being correct in the jargon is analogous to wearing a clean, well-ironed martial arts uniform or correct form in bowing to your teacher.

 

[Oily Dragon]

I watched Toy Story 4 last night for the first time.

Little Bo Peep carries a shepherd's crook (bo, in Japanese).

Where did the "bo" come in that story??

 

[Gyakuto]

I watched Toy Story 4 last night for the first time.

Little Bo Peep carries a shepherd's crook (bo, in Japanese).

Where did the "bo" come in that story??

‘Peep’ is British/Greek slang for ‘people/person’. So this character is clearly a little ‘person’ who practises with a bo. Simplez

 

[Oily Dragon]

‘Peep’ is British/Greek slang for ‘people/person’. So this character is clearly a little ‘person’ who practises with a bo. Simplez

She's a master at staff combat in the movie,.and does a scene with Keanu.

Never saw that coming!

 

[Alan0354]

Sure and if we go back to China, there are typically two hanzi for this kind of wooden staff weapon, for bang (same hanzi as bo), but also gun/gwan (loosely, 'wooden older brother").

But funny enough, that makes a bang (bo) in CMA a "wooden" younger brother", and sure enough, somebody drew this and uploaded it to Wiki. Not sure this is accurate even, I've seen plenty of staff called "bang" taller than nut height, and that one in the pic is shorter than even a jo. But what's important is the relative length...gun/gwan invokes that big brother motif.

View attachment 28963

I guess my cane is the "bang"!!!

I have no idea about graphite stuff, I definitely prefer my fiber filled Nylon cane over any wood cane because it won't crack like wood. Though I heard Hickory is very good.

 

[donald1]

Incidentally, bo means staff so ‘bo staff’ is…a bit silly...’staff staff’!

At this point its force of habit for me

I could say rokushakubo which is 6 ft staff, but I like saying bo staff.

Is the plural for bo, bos? It looks so ugly! This is why I like saying bo staffs cause bos looks weird. Is there a better plural?

 

[Hanshi]

My bo staff training was Okinawan because that's where the instructor learned all his martial arts. The bo used there were 6', made of oak and rather heavy. They were very difficult to spin as shown in the video plus I just wasn't good at spinning. My instructor told of another practitioner with the preferred (or seems to be) slender & lighter bo who boasted of how fast his bo could be used and it's superior qualities. My teacher then said to him, "okay, I'll let you strike me with your bo if you will let me strike you with mine". The fellow declined the offer and retreated. There is, of course, plenty of room for a variety of weapons and I never fault anyone's choice.

 

[isshinryuronin]

My bo staff training was Okinawan because that's where the instructor learned all his martial arts. The bo used there were 6', made of oak and rather heavy. They were very difficult to spin as shown in the video plus I just wasn't good at spinning. My instructor told of another practitioner with the preferred (or seems to be) slender & lighter bo who boasted of how fast his bo could be used and it's superior qualities. My teacher then said to him, "okay, I'll let you strike me with your bo if you will let me strike you with mine". The fellow declined the offer and retreated. There is, of course, plenty of room for a variety of weapons and I never fault anyone's choice.

You could also trade overhand blows with the other person blocking and see whose bo ends up in two pieces.

Is the plural for bo, bos? It looks so ugly! This is why I like saying bo staffs cause bos looks weird. Is there a better plural?

In Japanese, the noun is the same for singular and plural, like "sheep" in English. So, "I have 2 bo." But, since you're speaking in English, I guess saying, "I have 2 bo's" would be OK, too.