What is the Difference Between Straight Vs. Tapered Bo Staff?
One question that comes up frequently is what the difference between a Bo staff that is tapered vs. one that is straight. It's a great question. Here ya go. The illustration here shows exactly the difference. 'Straight' is pretty simple, it is the same thickness along the entire lenght, however, the word 'tapered' means that something gets thinner towards the edges.
Here you see the difference in shape from a straight vs. tapered bo staff
When to use a tapered Bo staff vs. Straight Bo Staff
Competition:
A tapered Bo staff is generally lighter and more agile than a straight Bo staff. In an exhibition or a Bo staff competition, you'll want the lightest most agile staff you can get. Using a tapered Bo staff will provide you a lighter, more manageable staff. This is what you should use if you are practicing for any sort of competition or exhibition down the road. Trying to do many of the fast moves is much more difficult with a straight Bo.
Strength Training / Practice:
You can use both tapered or straight Bo staff in your training but they both have advantages. The tapered Bo staff will be faster and more accurate and will hurt less if you hit yourself. On the other hand, a straight Bo staff will build muscle and tone arms more. If you were to practice with a straight heavy Bo staff and then grab a light tapered Bo staff, you would very likely be much faster! I have both heavy and light Bo staffs and they both are valuable, just in different ways. The straight Bo staff tires me out which is very good practice for me at home.
Combat Sparring:
Not many Bo staffs are actually designed for combat sparring. A straight Bo staff can cause quite a bit more damage than a tapered staff. A hardwood staff could actually cause broken bones. On the flip side, a tapered Bo has very small ends which can cause an entire set of other issues if someone is poked or scraped. For these reasons, you should not spar with a tapered or straight Bo necessarily, but should get a padded safety weapon. Find the link below if you're interested in a padded weapon:
A tapered Bo staff is generally lighter and more agile than a straight Bo staff. In an exhibition or a Bo staff competition, you'll want the lightest most agile staff you can get. Using a tapered Bo staff will provide you a lighter, more manageable staff. This is what you should use if you are practicing for any sort of competition or exhibition down the road. Trying to do many of the fast moves is much more difficult with a straight Bo.
Strength Training / Practice:
You can use both tapered or straight Bo staff in your training but they both have advantages. The tapered Bo staff will be faster and more accurate and will hurt less if you hit yourself. On the other hand, a straight Bo staff will build muscle and tone arms more. If you were to practice with a straight heavy Bo staff and then grab a light tapered Bo staff, you would very likely be much faster! I have both heavy and light Bo staffs and they both are valuable, just in different ways. The straight Bo staff tires me out which is very good practice for me at home.
Combat Sparring:
Not many Bo staffs are actually designed for combat sparring. A straight Bo staff can cause quite a bit more damage than a tapered staff. A hardwood staff could actually cause broken bones. On the flip side, a tapered Bo has very small ends which can cause an entire set of other issues if someone is poked or scraped. For these reasons, you should not spar with a tapered or straight Bo necessarily, but should get a padded safety weapon. Find the link below if you're interested in a padded weapon:
There you have it. Submit a question if you'd like!