Shintô Musô Ryû blev grundlagt for omkring 400 år siden, ca. år 1605. Grundlæggeren, Musô Gonnosuke Katsukichi, var en kriger som først trænede Tenshin Shôden Katori Shintô Ryû, som var grundlagt af Lizasa Choisai Lenao. Her modtog Musô Gonnosuke titlen Menkyo (lov til at undervise.)
According to legend, Musô Gonnosuke had gone to Edo early in the Keichô period (1596-1614).

I denne tid forsøgte mange berømte/berygtede krigere at overvinde ham, men han forblev ubesejret. En dag kæmpede han mod Miyamoto Musashi, nok den mest berømte kriger i Japansk historie. Gonnosuke vidste, at han havde mødt hans ligeværdige, da han erfarede, at han ikke kunne undslippe fra Musashi’s Jujidome teknik. Denne bevægelse var hemmeligheden bag Musashis Niten Ichi Ryû og involverer låsning af modstanderens våben i en X-formet blok ved hjælp af samuraiens lange og korte sværd i kombination.

Because of his defeat, Gonnosuke travelled around the country and studied many different styles of martial arts, determined to become strong enough to overcome Musashi’s Jujidome. After several years, he arrived in the province of Chikuzen and stopped at a town which is now called Dazaifu City, in Fukuoka Prefecture, on the Island of Kyûshû. There he confined himself for 37 days in the Kamado Shrine on Mount Hôman.

One night he had a dream in which a divine messenger appeared in the form of a child and told him to “know the solar plexus with a round stick”. Keeping this heaven-sent message in mind, Gonnosuke devised a new weapon. It was a simple stick approximately 30 cm longer than the average Japanese sword. Musô’s stick was 128 cm long (4 Shaku, 2 Sun, 1 Bu) and 26 mm in diameter (8 Bu). Today, we call it the Jô (or Tsue).

Gonnosuke continued and developed techniques for his stick, based on his previous experience with a variation of older weapons. He incorporated the movements of the spear (Yari or Sôjutsu), the sweeping movements of a hellebard (Naginata or Naginatajutsu), the wild movements of the staff (Bô or Bôjutsu), and the sword (Tachi or Kenjutsu). With this new weapon and its techniques, the art of Jôjutsu was born.

Legend has it that Gonnosuke traveled back to confront Musashi again and prevailed. Here he overcame the Jujidome and it is said that he was the only one who defeated the legendary Musashi. Musô Gonnosuke's growing reputation appreciated the attention of the Kuroda clan in Fukuoka and he was hired to instruct Jôjutsu to the warriors of the clan.

Over the course of his life, Gonnosuke eventually awarded teaching licenses to more than ten of these warriors. They and their successors carried on the tradition within the land of the Kuroda family, who jealously guarded the art as a secret Clan tradition.