Body Application Method that are Unconventional in Modern Sports (summary)
Lecturer: Yoshinori Kono
On July 16th, I paid a visit to Iga Ueno on a request from Professor YAMADA Yuji from Mie University to give a lecture and demonstration on my martial arts. Since this was an invitation for a Ninjutsu-related event, I started out with a lecture and demonstration on the Shuriken (throwing knife) method I have been studying for the past half a century. My Shuriken method is an original one I have been studying myself, after I was encouraged to do so by Mr. MAEDA Isamu (he actually told me to make the Kono School based on this), the fourth master of the Negishi School of Shuriken Method, which was founded by NEGISHI Shorei around the end of the Edo Period.
As a result of my study, I have acquired the skill to throw a knife and always hitting the target set anywhere in the range of 90 centimeters to 11 to 13 meters, under the condition that the knives used are what would be categorized as Harigata (literally, 'needle shape'), which are shaped like a missile with octagonal section and thicker towards the head with the same center of gravity, and that they are held in the same position in my palm and thrown in the method called Jikida-ho (literally, 'direct strike'), in which the knife rotates no more than a quarter turn while in the air.
With this Shuriken demonstration as the opener, the lecture continued on and I demonstrated some other technique, such as an unconventional Judo technique that can be used in the initial grappling, with which you can counterattack your opponent who tries to make you lose your balance by thrusting off your arm, making him lose his instead. Other techniques I demonstrated included special forms of hands that I named "Kakunari Hand" and "Sendan Hand", which respectively enable you to block someone who tries to push your upper arm up from the bottom, and to bring a sitting person to standing position using only one arm. These were simple enough techniques for anyone to remember, and I asked a few of the audience to actually participate and experience them.
Other demonstrations included a training method I call "Himotore (literally, 'string training')", which uses a string with a diameter of about 6 millimeters tied loosely around the naval, hips or chest areas, in order to naturally connect various parts of your body and strengthen them. As the finale, I used a real Japanese sword in a demonstration to disprove the common belief of the real sword being inferior to a bamboo sword in quick responses because of its heavier weight, by showing the audience the way I make it move faster than a bamboo sword.