The Bo becoming Baton Twirling

 

 

We have all seen modern Bo routines, which often use the name ‘traditional’, which are nothing like a traditional Bo form.

 

With accompanying gymnastics and attendant high kicks the forms use the format, move then stay still and fancy twirling, move again then stay still and fancy twirling, etc.

 

The stand still is nothing from traditional bo where the motion of the body was an important part of the strikes with the bo. Instead they stay still when they are twirling the bo. It really is done to allow those fancy twirls.

 

Yes, they have great gymnastic and kicking skills (also not related to any traditional karate) as well as twirling skills. But those skills have no relationship with what a bo was originally designed to do.

 

For one thing if you just have them perform their strikes striking a heavy bag they would find themselves unable to hang on to their bo.

 

Nor am I impressed with their twirling skills.

 

When I was a boy, there were 3 Berg sisters, who were national baton twirling champions for years. Back then they held a National Baton Camp in Red Lion for a week each summer. The town park would have hundreds of twirlers descend on its grounds, and there were many, many baton clinics held there, to end in a competition on Saturday.

 

There were so many there, including the instructors, with great twirling skills. So using the bo is but a variant of what baton twirling was many years ago.

Of course for those of us who do care more than providing a spectacle for a crowd, what is happening is the judges who give scores that these are traditional forms, are themselves the ones who are being judged.

 

If the referred to it as a martial inspired contemporary exercise then these activities might not be as offensive to those of us who do real Kobudo.