We study the sword and staff – specifically, the short staff in defense of the sword. The basic techniques and advanced forms are taken from a source called Seitei Jōdō. So why study this particular discipline?
It all comes down to one thing: moving freely. And over the many years of learning and practicing and teaching the martial arts, I have come to one conclusion. Success depends on moving freely, and moving freely depends on seeing clearly. Period. But many martial arts don’t actually depend on seeing clearly. Forms are presented and practiced in a very predictable environment. That is, proficiency is usually a matter of mere repetition. But, mere repetition does not work with the sword and staff … for two reasons:
First, the singular advantage that the short staff has over the traditional sword is its length – it is about 10″ longer. To that end, an appreciation of distance is much more important than speed. In any situation pitting the sword against the staff, if speed ever becomes more important than spacing, then the encounter devolves into simple lethality … and a staff will never be more lethal than a sword.
Second,
Finally, we understand that seeing clearly is a requirement for moving freely.