Wen Hsiu Quan

If you can't hear me so well in the video- I was telling you about my new shurikens and how shuriken-jutsu (or in my case " shuriken-do" ) ties in with my Wenhsiuquan training. I don't actually practice much with shurikens. Biggest reason for it is most likely that shuriken throwing does not make me tired, sweaty and out of breath and also does not make my muscles ache (I mean ache in that way that tells you that you are on your way to getting more buff). What shuriken throwing does, however, is calm your mind. The actual technique requires focus that leaves no room for thought, worry or doubt. There is only room for technique. In other words- to me it's a form of meditation. Ninjas had to be able to deploy these projectiles on the run, during a fight or in any other situation that left little time for taking aim and calming yourself. In actual fighting a thrown shuriken is often deployed as a distraction to allow the shinobi...

Projectile weapons may include weapons such as bows and slingshots, but this article focusses mainly on sharp weapons which are thrown by hand. To outline the differences in technique I will differentiate between straight projectile weapons, which include the Chinese throwing knife, needles, quills, the Japanese kunai and the bo shuriken on the one hand- and on the other- spinning weapons, which mainly consist of the Japanese shaken or throwing star, but it van also include playing cards and coins. Straight throwing weapons: Incidentally, many of these weapons make good stabbing weapons as well. Because the sharp tip is the only point of contact the aim of the throwing technique is to have the tip penetrate into the target.  The most effective way to accomplish that is to keep the grip on the weapon very loose during the throwing movement and to guide the weapon by supporting it with the thumb or index finger of the throwing hand.  The weapon is then propelled by ...