Stick fighting - Boujutsu

A martial art in which one fights using a stick. It is also called Hokoore (spear-breaking), Yariore (spear-breaking), Bo-no-te (stick hand), etc. The stick usually used is a six-foot (approximately 182 cm) stick made of oak or white oak, either octagonal or hexagonal, or rounded. There are also other similar martial arts that use an eight-foot stick, a four-foot two-inch staff, or a three-foot half stick. The use of sticks as tools in battles dates back to ancient times, but it wasn't until the Genpei period that they began to be widely used as weapons. In war stories such as "Gikeiki," various sticks were made from hardwoods such as oak, chestnut, and oak, including octagonal sticks, pledged sticks, and iron sticks. Then, during the Nanboku-cho period, "Taiheiki" describes strong men who would swing around octagonal "kanasaibo" (a thick stick with iron bars inside, fastened with iron rings, and with iron warts around the edges) measuring over eight feet in length to chase and scatter targets. In the Sengoku period, when spears came into widespread use as the main weapon, it became necessary to fight with only the handle that remained in the hand when the tip of the spear was knocked off by the opponent, and techniques for breaking spears and halberds were devised. As in the Katori-ryu (Katori-ryu) stick technique, the length of the stick was devised to practice using different sticks, such as 6 shaku, 6 shaku 5 sun, and 7 shaku, depending on the distance when confronting the enemy, such as in a tachiai (tachiai), on horseback, or in a yariai (yariai), and it was the "stick user" based on practical experience who devised the technique. In the Edo period, the stick became 6 shaku in length, and the catcher. It settled down to its position as a tool for capture, and stick techniques were mainly practiced among doshin and ashigaru, and were taught as an attachment to yawara or taijutsu, or combined with the techniques of jitte, tsunago, kusarigama, and the like, or included in the techniques of spears, naginata, and half spears. In the Owari domain, for example, there were small schools called Kamitori-ryu Hokoorejutsu, Mijin-ryu, Himori-ryu (also known as Keigo and Sekishogatame Mitsugu), Shinnen-ryu (Hoko-breaking), and Toda Tenshinsho-ryu Spear-breaking. In the mid-Edo period, some of these were called Bo-te or Bo-odori, and spread to farming and fishing villages as a means of self-defense and also as a form of recreational entertainment. Notable examples include the Togun-ryu and Genji-tenryu schools near Nagoya, the Muhi-ryu school in the Hitachi region, and the Nise-gumi Bo-odori in Kagoshima.

[Ichiro Watanabe]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

棒を用いて戦う武術の一つ。矛折(ほこお)れ、槍折(やりお)れ、棒(ぼう)の手(て)などという。棒は普通、八角、六角、丸削りの樫(かし)か白樫(しろかし)の六尺棒（約182センチメートル）を用い、これに類する武術としては、八尺の棍法(こんぽう)、四尺二寸の杖(じょう)、三尺の半棒(はんぼう)などを用いる術もある。棒が闘争の道具に使われるようになったのは、古く原始の時代にさかのぼるが、これが武器として多用されるように至ったのは源平時代以降で、『義経記(ぎけいき)』など軍記物語には柏(かしわ)、樫、櫟(くぬぎ)などの堅木(かたぎ)を棒材とし、八角棒(はっかくぼう)、契木(ちぎりぎ)、鉄棒(かなぼう)など各種の棒が現れた。ついで南北朝時代のころには、長さ八尺余り、八角の「かなさいぼう」（金撮棒、鉄尖棒。鉄の筋金を入れて鉄環で締め、周囲に鉄いぼをつけた太い棒）を振り回して、的を追いかけ追い散らす強力(ごうりき)の者がいたことが、『太平記』にみえている。戦国時代に入り、槍が主要武器として盛んに使われるようになると、相手に穂先を打ち落とされたとき、手元に残った柄(え)だけで戦う必要が生まれ、槍折れ、矛折れの術がくふうされるようになった。神捕(かとり)流（香取流）棒術のように、棒の長さを太刀合(たちあい)、馬上、槍合(やりあい)と敵に対峙(たいじ)した時の間合により、六尺、六尺五寸、七尺と使い分けて習練する技法が考案されたのは、実戦的な経験に基づく「棒遣い」であった。江戸時代に入って、棒は六尺が規格となり、捕り手。捕り物の道具としての地位に落ち着き、棒術はもっぱら同心・足軽などの間で行われ、柔(やわら)や体術に付随するか、または十手、捕縄、鎖鎌(くさりがま)などの術と組み合されたり、槍、薙刀(なぎなた)または半槍の術に含まれて教授された。尾張(おわり)藩の例では、神捕流鉾折(ほこおれ)術、微塵(みじん)流、日守(ひもり)流（警固(けいご)、関所固(せきしょがため)三ツ道具とも）、心念(しんねん)流（矛折れ）、富田天信正(とだてんしんしょう)流槍折などとよぶ小流派があった。また江戸中期になると、棒の手、棒踊りなどとよばれて、自警手段さらにはレクリエーションを兼ねた地方芸能として農漁村に普及したものもある。名古屋近郊の東軍流・源氏天流、常陸(ひたち)地方の無比流、鹿児島での二歳組(にせぐみ)の棒踊りなどはその顕著な例である。

［渡邉一郎］

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