Jo Suburi (Saito Style)

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These 20 suburi jo were created by Saito Sensei from various kumijo and jo kata as learned from Morihei Ueshiba. It is generally understood that O'Sensei tended to not teach weapons work at the Hombu dojo, but reserved this for his visits to Iwama dojo. Since Saito Sensei was the head instructor at Iwama dojo, it was natural for him to design a system for systematically teaching weapons.

Weapons work is a natural part of aikido and can improve and/or provide insight into your empty-handed technique. The jo should become and extension of the power of the body. The different suburi can be studied on different levels both physically (hips, legs, and breath) and mentally (kiai and zanshin). All thrusts and strikes should be accompanied by a kiai.

Each of the suburi should be practised carefully and with feeling. Breathing is important and you should inhale before you start the movements, allowing your breath to pass out of your lungs as you perform the suburi, and exhaling sharply as you finish the final thrust or strike of the suburi. Always check your posture at the beginning and end of each suburi to ensure that you have started and finished correctly. Good posture before and after performance goes a long way towards correct posture during the suburi.

Pay attention to the line-of-attack formed between yourself and your attacker. Nearly all weapons techniques are very specific about which side of the line-of-attack your feet should be located.

The videos of jo suburi were taken of Art Ward who studied with Saito Sensei at Iwama dojo for two years. He had the opportunity to practice weapons for an hour every morning.

Tsuki

Uchikomi

Katate

Hasso Gaeshi

Nagare

Saito Jo Suburi

Tsuki Series
1
2
3
4
5

Uchikomi Series
6
7
8
9
10

Katate Series
11
12
13

Hasso Gaeshi Series
14
15
16
17
18

Nagare Series
19
20