Do I have to have previous Martial Arts experience?
No. Jodo can, and is, practised by men and women of all ages and varying levels of fitness, some with previous Martial Arts training but many without.
What should I wear?
For beginners loose clothing such as tracksuit pants and T-shirt are fine. If you decide you want to continue, Jodo is normally practised wearing a hakama (baggy pleated trousers) and Keiko gi (training jacket). An obi (sword belt) is worn under the hakama.
Is there free-style sparring in Jodo?
No. Because these are “real” weapons and very dangerous if used improperly, Jodo has no competition aspect where one uses protective equipment and engages in freestyle sparring. Jodo is not a sport.
Within the structure of kata, Jodo practice consists of real training exercises with the Jo as an actual weapon.
What equipment does Jodo use?
Jodo uses primarily two weapons:
1) A wooden stick or “jo” which is 128cm in length
2) A wooden sword or “bokken”. These weapons are the focus of Jodo and cover about 90% of the forms.
There are additional weapons such as the short stick (tanjo) and sickle and chain (kusarigami) and metal short stick (jutte). These additional weapons comprise a small part of training and are only taught to senior students.