Product Description

Fumio Demura covers stances, striking, blocking, combinations, sparring, and an entire bo kata.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #72998 in Books
• Published on: 1976-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .60 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 184 pages

Customer Reviews

An excellent primer on the Okinawan quarter-staff
Demura Sensei presents a well-organized primer in the use of the rokushaku bo (six-foot Okinawan quarter-staff). The book is organized into Introduction & History, Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced techniques, and a final section devoted to a bo kata. All basic stances, blocks and counters used with the bo are covered in the first sections. Many of these are similar or identical to standard open-hand karate techniques. Descriptions of subtle differences are well-explained. Combinations and working with a partner are covered in the latter sections of the book. Overall, the photo sequences of this acknowledged bo master demonstrating his art are very good, with the exception of the final bo kata pictures, which are very dark. This is an excellent reference.

Good, but...
Although this book is a good introduction to the Bo staff, it could have been so much better. The explanations and excercised given here are all very well thought out and clearly designed to be used by a Bo staff novice. However, one area in which the book is not as good as it could have been is the lack of kata. Many people using kobudo weapons are interested in kata with these weapons and Demura hardly touches upon their use, both in this book and in his other books about traditional karate weapons. Another area in which the book could have been imporoved is the use of colour rather than black and white photographs. Colour photographs would enable the reader to see much more clearly the techniques and statnces; as it is, because of the black and white tones it is sometimes hard to make out hand positions etc. Overall, this book IS very good and a worthwhile purchase for anyone interested in using traditional karate weapons, however it is also slightly disappointing, because one or two changes to the book could have made it excellent rather than merely very good.

Great Bo Book
This book is a great place to start in the study of the Bo. Trying to learn any martial art from a book alone is very difficult, but anyone who already has a background in martial arts, especially karate, will soon pick things up.
Most of the pictures are clear, unfortunately the kata pictures at the end of the book are a little dark & this sometimes makes working out exactly what is going on a little difficult.
Get yourself a Bo and have a go.