Читать книгу Japanese Throwing Weapons. Mastering Shuriken Throwing Techniques (Downloadable Media Included) онлайн

12 страница из 19

Any of these battlefield remnants could be used as a buki (weapon) or as me-tsubushi (blinder/distraction). As a soldier on the losing side, all you had to do to survive was get off the field of battle and run. Even if you did not manage to kill your attackers, a distraction, a chance to escape would be enough. The chances of survival are much greater for the man who decides to distract his enemy and escape than for the man who decides to engage in combat.

After the age of wars there came a time of peace known as the Edo period (1600 to 1868 AD). The Edo period is called a peaceful period because there were no more great battles and widespread warring, but that does not mean that individuals were no longer fighting and killing other individuals with regularity. Many of the existing schools of martial arts were founded during the early Edo period. Often these schools “tested” each other by dueling, sometimes to the death, for the honor of their school. The early Edo period also saw thousands and thousands of suddenly unemployed soldiers roaming the countryside who had no other means of making a living. No longer were the fighting men confined to battlefields. During this time of “peace,” the potential for violence to individuals was possibly higher than during the age of wars. Crime was everywhere and there were few police officers. During the early Edo period, the Japanese people started to rebuild their country and grew wealthy, but violence and the fear of violence never left them. The practice of carrying (and using) concealed weapons became commonplace with men and women. There is a story from this period of the famous swordsman Musashi throwing his sword at an opponent. Musashi was losing a duel and was facing death. Were it not for shuriken-jutsu, the man reputed to be “the world’s greatest swordsman” would have been killed by a master of the kusarigama (chain and sickle). He was not the first or last warrior to do this.