I'm on your side, Joe. 'Bo Staff' is one of my pet peeves, as well. I have fun teasing all the fellow students at the dojo where I train who are happily learning the "stick stick". As we just started using Korean to try to help some of the students to actually open their minds a bit, some of the parents laughed when they were told it was time to order Bong for weapons class. And translating any language into anther language is fraught with problems. You have to understand another culture and society to even attempt and, that just doesn't happen most times. We work with rough translations that are almost the meaning ... but not quite. And work from there. Good luck!

Todd, I’m an SKA Black Belt too. Depending on your location, it would be fun to get together and share ideas. I’m on the Central Coast of CA right now, but am building a house in Texas next year and moving there. Don

Hi, I am not an expert, but I believe there are a number of reasons - firstly, it is probable that Okinawan teachers modified techniques, in the early 1900s, in order to make Karate safe for school children. This also had the (un-) intended result of hiding the true techniques. Funakoshi may have kept the real techniques hidden, partly because of the Okinawan/Japanese relationship and partly because that is how martial arts were taught. Even in systems that did not simply leave it up to the student to find out by themselves, advanced techniques were just that and were only taught to advanced and trusted students. It is also clear that Funakoshi changed his approach to Karate. In his earliest book, circa 1922, there is clear use of the hikite to grab the opponent while striking with the other hand. (By the way, this is similar to many Chinese systems, where both hands are involved in the action.) Later on, the explanation of the withdrawing of the non-striking hand is that it somehow adds force to the striking limb and we no longer see a pull on the opponent. Similarly, Funakoshi actually taught a Karate throw to Jigoro Kano (founder of Judo) but the Karate he taught to the majority of students focused on striking and kicking and not grappling or throwing. I think this was partly due to the introduction of Japanese style dojo training, where large groups could practice at the same time. In such a context, it is safer to have a lot of basics and even kata, but to minimise dangerous techniques. In the old days, "real" Karate was taught to individuals or to very small groups and (I think) kata would be learned alongside technique application, but in Okinawan schools and in Japan, there are these large groups. In addition, the techniques themselves seem to have changed - despite Kendo having no real lunge equivalent to western fencing, Karate developed deeper stances and even lunge punches - the fighting distance was much more akin to Kendo than to Judo, for instance. So, there is a change in presentation and in technique over time. There is also the fact that Funakoshi wanted to present Karate as a budo - Karate-Do, similar to Judo and Kendo, rather than a purely practical bujutsu. This is also around the time that the "Kara" character in "Kara-te" was changed: originally it referred to a name for China, but was replaced by one that sounded the same, but now meant "empty". So, from "China Hand" to "Empty Hand". This fitted with a climate of Japanese hostility to anything Chinese, but it also fitted in with Funakoshi's emphasis on personal development and away from fighting. This is reflected in the fact that Shotokan doesn't seem to have much of a weapons curriculum - although I have seen standard Shotokan kata performed with Sai or Bo, which is not necessarily the same thing as a proper Bo kata. Although he did not deny Karate's fighting effectiveness, Funakoshi deplored seeing his students' injuries from street fighting. He is reputed to have lost in a contest with Choki Motobu and this may have influenced him away from emphasising the fighting aspect and more towards self-cultivation. Despite Motobu having royal blood and being quite literate, Funakoshi apparently thought him to be uncultured, even a thug. Motobu, at age 52, beat a Western style boxer and won by knockout. He can't have been pleased that newspaper illustrations show someone who looks almost exactly like Funakoshi! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motobu_Ch%C5%8Dki#/media/File:Motobu_king1925.jpg) In addition, the Japanese government perceived Karate solely as a means of developing physical fitness - as they had seen it used in Okinawan schools. They were trying to make young men fit enough for the army. There was no intent to make them unarmed killers anymore than 20th century sport Kendo was intended to develop battlefield ready swordsmen. However, there are anecdotal accounts that suggest that, during World War II, one of Funakoshi's sons was involved in quite nasty research into the effectiveness of karate blows and pressure point strikes. As I can no longer trace the source of this, I don't want to give details from memory which may prove inaccurate. I do not know, either, of any account of what Funakoshi thought of Japanese militarism in the 1930s and 1940s or what he thought of the war. Certainly, he was very accepting of Japanese political and cultural influence in Okinawa, but that was already part of his life and upbringing decades before the war. Certainly, his post war attitude really emphasises the "Do" aspect, although Funakoshi tells* us that he occasionally broke his own rules: Around the age of 80, he was accosted as he was walking home. The attacker took Funakoshi's umbrella and Funakoshi grabbed him by the "testacles" (sic - spelling as in the original) and then handed him over to a passing policeman. *"Karate-do: My Way of Life". Written sometime before his death, aged 90, in 1957, but not published until 1975, I think. Although this is quite long, I am aware that it doesn't completely solve the puzzle, but it might point to some answers.