Shinto Muso-ryu Jodo is a 400 year old civilian/police martial art and is said to be the oldest style for using a stick (jo) in combat in Japan. Founded in the early 17th century by Muso Gonnosuke Katsuyoshi, an exponent of Tenshinsho-den Katori Shinto-ryu, the jo is a staff-like weapon which is thinner and shorter than a bo (50 1/4″ x 7/8″) which allows for more rapid manipulation and incorporates elements of the bo, ken and yari (staff, sword and spear).
There are a total of 64 techniques in Shinto Muso-ryu Jodo divided into a number of sets, each set having it’s own characteristics. Although the main area of study is the jo, also included in the curriculum are twelve techniques of swordsmanship called Shinto-ryu kenjutsu and other assimilated arts (fuzoku) – tanjo, jutte and kusarigama (short stick, truncheon, and chain & sickle).
Training is systematic and develops the exponent’s technical skills and psychological abilities, from body movement and weapons handling to the proper use of timing, targeting, and distancing to avoid harm and strike your opponent.
Students at the Renshinkan study Shinto Muso-ryu Jodo under the direct transmission of Phil Relnick sensei, Menkyo Kaiden.
