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

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Even today, training in shuriken-jutsu is tied closely to the use of the sword. Shuriken are usually thrown before or during the drawing of the sword or they are thrown during a sword fight as a surprise attack. There are even some shuriken designed to be held between the hand and the sword itself, making it easy to use both at the same time. Some martial arts schools consider the kozuka (by-knife) that is carried in the saya (scabbard) of the katana to be their only type of shuriken.

During the Warring States period and Edo periods, an incredible amount of creativity occurred with regard to weapons design and methods of concealing them. Every conceivable form of hand-held weapon found use in Japan at this time. Smaller, more concealable weapons, like the shuriken, were exploited and employed to a great extent. New schools were created and new shuriken designs and methods of hiding them on the body were developed.

Meifu Shinkage Ryu

The Meifu Shinkage Ryu is primarily a bo shuriken school. As such, we will only be discussing in depth the bo shuriken throw. There are two throwing techniques: the basic throw and the advanced throw. The basic throw will enable you to throw the shuriken and stick it in the target reliably and accurately. Compared to the advanced throw it is relatively slow and obvious, but without mastering the basic throw the advanced throw is impossible to learn. The advanced throw also contains a few secrets that Otsuka Sensei wishes to reserve only for his actual students and will not be discussed in this book. (Although there are some hints!) This is the way of many schools and is meant to encourage you to go to Japan and learn in person. Martial arts are not sterile, impersonal sets of factual information. They are living things that are passed down from teacher to student and they remain so to this day.