What Is The Hanbo, And Why Do We Use It?

The hanbo is a staff weapon used in the martial arts of Japan. It is very popular with the members of the Bujinkan Taijutsu martial art. The hanbo is a stick about three feet long with a diameter of about an inch. The name of the weapon comes from the name of another weapon, the rokushaku-bo, the six-shaku-stick. A shaku is about twelve inches. So when we say, hanbo, which means, half-stick, we are acknowledging the existence of a larger weapon. This is truly very significant!

In feudal Japan, where the practice of hanbo-jutsu, the hanbo art, first originated, taking a stick to war as your weapon was a practice likely to get you killed. If sticks were taken to a fight, they were usually at least rokushaku-bo length, and often reinforced with metal studs or spikes. Even so, it was not considered a good idea to use a stick as a primary weapon. Instead, nearly everyone went to battle with a bow, swords, spear and halberd. So why is it that the hanbo was passed down in the teachings of martial arts in which it was not considered a battlefield weapon?

Sometimes, it was all a person had! If a warrior using a spear was in a combat situation, it was possible that the spear would be cut by an enemy warrior. A skilled opponent might seek to do this as quickly as possible, since it would render the spear-user weaponless. Unless, of course, he knew how to use the remaining small piece of his spear as a weapon! On the battlefields of feudal Japan, there were plenty of ways for a person to end up with a smaller stick. A warrior skilled with it would know how to use it to give him the best chance of success.