DIY Jahng Bong/Bo Staff

Okay, first of all, you might be asking yourself what a jahng bong is!  Well, it's a staff my son uses at Tae Kwon Do with more and more frequency lately.  A couple of months ago, before our TKD tournament, Master K told us we should probably purchase one, so we did.  It's 5 foot long and a little less fancy than those shown below. This is the one we use for what is called 'forms' and 'creative weapons'.  This staff is not used for fighting.

Then, the week after the tournament, the kids started using some thicker jahng bongs that the studio has on hand.  These are staffs that are used for fighting, meaning their staffs will whack against their opponent's. They basically look like a thick broom stick, or dowel that has been stained brown.  Again, it was suggested that we get one of our own.  We don't have to purchase weapons often, so this came as an unpleasant surprise to my wallet!  Considering we had just spent a hefty $60 on the 'nice' one, there was no way I could afford to buy another one.  Besides, it looked so easy to make.  So, here's my version...only a pimped out version of a jahng bong!

I started by buying a 1 1/4" x 6 foot wooden dowel.  This one is made of poplar and pretty durable.  It cost $6.48 at Menards.

I then marked off a line about a foot down.  The staff is supposed to be the height of the child, or a few inches taller.  Tommy is about 4' 6", so I just made it 5 foot because he's obviously only going to get taller.

I then wrapped around some painter's tape.  This helps to stop the wood from splintering when cut.

Then I cut the excess off with a hacksaw.  I saved the 1 foot scrap for another project. Or to whack my husband with while he sleeps.  ;)

I peeled the tape off and sanded the cut end to make it as smooth as possible.

Then I sanded the whole staff to smooth it all out so my baby boy wouldn't get any slivers!

I then painted the whole staff black using a sponge brush and some leftover paint we had lying around.

While it was drying, I found a template for some flames online and cut them out with an Xacto knife.

I taped it around the base of each end of the staff.

I traced around it with a white pencil while holding the 'stencil' down. This would be a great time to have one of those fancy machines that cuts out sticky vinyl pages so I could have used the inverse and just painted away! Sigh.

So, I then gave it a coat of white acrylic paint on each end as a sort of primer.  I knew covering that black paint was going to be a chore!  I actually ended up doing two coats.

Then I gave it a coat of yellow, figuring I'd layer the colors on.  I've never done flames before, so this was a real experiment!

I then added a watered-down layer of orange.  Because the paint was drying in between coats (due to the time-consuming design and the unusual shape of my 'canvas'), I was worried how I was going to blend these layers together.  I haven't painted anything in years, so my technique is not the greatest.  I ended up using a damp paper towel to 'scrub' in between layers to smooth out the transition between colors.

I then side-loaded a brush with water and red paint and attempted to blend the red in.  Deciding the flames needed more red, I painted in a little more red at the tips of the flames.  You can see it better in the next picture.

Then I realized my black portions in between were really looking muddled because of all the layers, so I decided I had to re-paint those in with black.  What a pain.

I then moved my little artpiece outside and propped it up on a couple of plastic baskets.  Using a clear lacquer, I sprayed the staff several several several times, phew!

After letting it dry, I could finally take a picture of Tommy's new Jahng Bong!  My only worry now is that it's too nice to use for 'whacking'.  The first chip it gets on it will be painful for me, lol!  But hey, the thing cost me about $8 in all and Tommy LOVES it, so I guess I can't complain!  I'll try to get a picture of him in his uniform using his new staff tomorrow at TKD.

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