Jo is the name of the round stick which is made of oak and measuring 128 cm with a diameter of 26 mm. The word do means the way (Chinese tao) and is the same word as in judo, kendo and other martial species from Japan. Jodo can thus be translated as "the way of stick", where training is with the rod is a method to develop concentration, speed, mental and physical strength, confidence and a healthy harmony between body and soul.
As a weapon the jo can be used on a number of ways. You can thrust it like a lance, you can sweep it as a halberd and parry and cut with it as with a sword.
You train your body to the feeling that the jo is a part of yourself, so you can act naturally with good reflex, parry and counter enemy attacks.
Most of the training is in the form of kata, a predetermined pattern of movement to be practiced to perfection. A kata is practiced repeatedly, and when you learn to master the techniques you are undergoing a development that never ends. When the techniques are mastered fully there are yet always something more to learn and explore. Each form has a name that is sometimes merely descriptive in Japanese and sometimes is more poetically.