Longstave Hand Made Hardwood Bo Staff | 72 Inch Length | Steel Capped Ends and Twin Cord Grips with an Engraved Knotwork Band | Training Gift | RK-1884

The Longstave is a full length bo staff turned from close grained hardwood, finished in a warm brown that lets the figure of the wood show through. Both ends are capped with polished steel ferrules. Two black cord grips are whipped onto the staff either side of the centre, spaced for a two hand hold, and between them a band of Norse knotwork is burned and cut into the wood. It comes with a canvas carry sleeve.

The bo did not begin as a fighting staff. The Okinawan kobudo tools almost all started as farm and fishing equipment, and the bo comes from the tenbin, the carrying pole a farmer balanced across his shoulders with a basket or a bucket hanging from each end. When bans left Okinawan villages without swords, the tools people were already carrying became the arsenal, and formal systems grew up around them. The same thing happened independently in England, where the quarterstaff was so effective that Elizabethan fencing masters rated a good staff man above a swordsman at equal skill. A long stick is a very old idea that keeps proving itself. This one is made and finished in the Czech Republic.

Specifications

Why the ends of a staff move faster than the middle

The reason a six foot stick is serious in trained hands is simple rotational mechanics, and it is worth understanding because it explains how the thing is meant to be used. When a staff spins about a point near its centre, every part of it turns through the same angle in the same time, but the parts furthest from the pivot travel the longest distance to do it. That means the tips move fastest. Double the distance from the pivot and you double the speed at that point, and since kinetic energy rises with the square of speed, the last few inches of the staff carry a wildly disproportionate share of the energy in the strike.

Everything about bo technique falls out of that. You hold near the middle, you pivot rather than swing from the shoulder, and you strike with the last quarter of the staff rather than the middle. The two cord grips on this staff are placed where the hands want to be for exactly that, spaced so the leading hand and the rear hand have a lever between them. The gentle taper toward each end is traditional and it is not just for looks: taking wood out of the tips reduces the mass at the fastest moving point, which makes the staff quicker to reverse without losing reach.

The wood and the fittings

Long straight grained hardwood is the whole game with a staff. What matters is not the species so much as the run of the grain: a length of wood with grain running straight and parallel down its whole length will flex and return, while one where the grain runs out at an angle has a built in break point. We select for straight grain rather than for figure, so a plainer looking staff is usually the better one.

The steel ferrules on the ends are a modern addition rather than a traditional Okinawan feature, and we would rather say so. What they do is protect the end grain, which is the part of a staff that splits and mushrooms first when it is set down hard on stone or struck end on. The cord grips are whipped on and finished at each end so they cannot creep, and they give a positive hold in exactly the two places the hands want to find without looking.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel, the leather or the wood. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On this staff the centre band is where the knotwork sits, so a rune line ordered for that spot takes its place. The steel end caps will also take a short engraved line if you want to keep the knotwork. See the engraving page.

Handling and balance

A staff of this length balances at its centre and should feel neutral in the hands, which is what lets you switch ends without rebalancing. Start with the hands roughly shoulder width apart on the two cord grips and the centre of the staff at your midline. Almost every basic bo movement is a rotation about one hand or the other, so the useful thing to practise first is turning the staff without moving your feet.

Six feet is longer than most rooms are forgiving of. Work outdoors or somewhere with real clearance, and be aware of what is above you as well as beside you. This is a solid hardwood staff with steel capped ends and it will do damage to furniture, walls and people. We sell it as a display, collection and solo practice piece, and we do not certify it for partner sparring or contact drilling.

Care

Wipe the staff down after use and oil the wood once or twice a year with a hardwood or boiled linseed oil, worked in with a cloth and wiped back. That keeps the timber from drying out, which is what makes a staff brittle. Store it flat or hanging, not leaning in a corner under its own weight for years, because a long piece of wood will slowly take a set. Keep it out of direct sun, which fades the finish unevenly, and out of a damp garage. Wipe the steel ferrules and put a smear of oil on them if they start to dull. Inspect the whole length for cracks before any hard use and retire it if you find one running with the grain.

Made in the Czech Republic

The work behind this piece happens in a Czech Republic workshop that has kept to the old methods. Steel is forged and heat treated by hand, the grind is taken down by eye rather than by machine, and the handle, fittings and sheath are cut and finished one at a time. Because of that, every piece carries small marks of the hand that made it.

Ransack Viking is a United States company. We import direct, check each piece when it reaches us, and ship from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse. Engraving is added here in the United States after arrival, so the piece you receive is finished to your order.

A note on handmade variation

This is hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Wood is a natural material and no two lengths are the same: grain, figure and the way the finish sits on them all vary, and one staff may run noticeably darker or lighter than another. The burned knotwork band takes slightly differently on different grain. The cord whipping is done by hand, so the number of turns varies. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

How long is it exactly

Approximately 72 inches, which is the standard six foot length. If you want it cut shorter for your height or for a smaller training space, tell us in the order notes before you order and we will cut and refinish the end.

Is it heavy

It has real weight for a piece of wood, because it is solid hardwood and six feet long with steel on both ends. It is heavier than a light rattan practice bo and lighter than a hardwood jo of the same diameter would feel, because the taper takes mass out of the ends.

Can I use it for partner training

No. Solid hardwood with steel capped ends is not partner training equipment. Use padded or purpose built training staves for that. This is for display, collection and solo work.

Is the carry sleeve included

Yes, a canvas sleeve comes with the staff. It protects the finish in transit and in storage, and it makes carrying a six foot staff in public considerably less awkward.

Will the knotwork wear off the middle

It is burned and cut into the wood rather than printed on the surface, so handling will not remove it. Over many years the high points around it may lighten with wear, which most owners like.

How long until it arrives

One to two weeks of processing, then free shipping in the US. It travels in a long box because of its length. Tell us in the order notes if you have a date to hit.

What is in the box

• Longstave hardwood bo staff with steel capped ends and twin cord grips
• Canvas carry sleeve
• Care card for finished hardwood and bare steel
• Lifetime warranty against defects in the build and the fittings
• Made and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

See more in Norse arms, axe handles and hafts and engraved and personalised pieces, or read the guides on choosing and caring for hardwood.