Aiki-jō (Kanji: 合気杖 Hiragana: あいきじょう) is the name given specifically to the set of martial art techniques practiced with a jō (a wooden staff about four feet long), according to the principles of aikido.
Much of the aiki-jō syllabus was developed by Morihei Ueshiba (植芝 盛平 Ueshiba Morihei, 1883–1969) at his dojo in Iwama, Japan, at the same time he developed aikido's sword training (called aiki-ken).
[2] Some practitioners of traditional Japanese martial arts have noted that aiki-jō techniques bear more resemblance to jukendo (bayonet fighting, which Ueshiba studied during the Russo-Japanese War) than to classical Japanese spear Sōjutsu and staff Bōjutsu systems.
Some dojo also practice jiyu-waza armed with jō (a freestyle technique without a predetermined form of attack and response).
Suburi (素振り:すぶり), a word that translates literally to something like "elementary swinging", is used to refer to the basic solo movements of aiki-jō, developed by Saito as a distillation of the forms and partnered practice.
Reverse side-of-the-head strike, rear thrust (逆横面後ろ突き, gyaku-yoko'men ushiro-tsuki) 11.
Right flowing counter thrust (右流れ返し突き, migi nagare-gaeshi-tsuki) The partnered forms practice of aiki-jō is called kumijō (組杖), meaning the crossing/meeting of staves.
In 1983, Saito was set to give a public demonstration, and so devised three more kumijō at that time.
Kata, simply meaning "forms", are typically solo, using a predetermined series of techniques practiced against an imaginary opponent.