Hatsumi Masaaki - Stick fighting

All martial arts can be both creative and destructive. Used as a means
of aggression. they will eventually destroy the person who thus misuses
them. Used correctly. they can provide a stimulating and pract1cal train­
Ing. and at the same time they can be a means of education and discipline.
All these th1ngs we must bear 1n mmd when we come to choose a
weapon to defend ourselves with. It must be one that is incorporated mto
comprehensive technique w1th trammg exerc1ses. It must allow us Lo disarm
and control an assailant and. 1f the circumstances require it. to 1nfl1ct pain
on h1m. without runnmg the risk of permanently injuring or killing him.
In addition it is preferable that the weapon be commonly available or that
objects similar to 1t are often at hand.
The stick fulfills all these requirements. and while in the West there are
no f1ghting systems based on il still extant. in the Far East we find a comprehensive
select1on of techniques. for there the stick has held an honored
place 1n f1ghting systems for many centuries. In fact. Japan's most famous
swordsman. Miyamoto Musashi suffered his only defeat at the hands of
Muso Gonnosuke. a master of the art of st1ck fighting.
The techn 1ques descnbed 1n this book. which might be described as a
basic manual of self-defense stick f1ghting. belong to the ryu("system")
called Kukishin ryO. Masaaki Hatsumi. the Master of the ryD, has adapted
the techn1ques so that they may be of practical value today.
In Japan there are bas1cally three types of fighting stick: the b6 which
IS 5 feet 11 1/2 1nches long and 1 1/16 inches in diameter. for which
there are about 360 fighting styles: the ;6. wh 1ch is 4 feet 2 3/1 6 inches
long and 7/8 inches in diameter. for which there are more than 70 f1ghting
styles: and the hanb6. which is very often included among the }6 and is
2 feet 11 3;4 1nches long. or "walking-stick" length The ways of us1ng
these three lengths of stick are of course different. This book is mainly
concerned with how to fight with a st1ck of walking-stick length Included
here. however. are some techniques us1ng a very short stick about one
foot long. The origm of this weapon and the techn1ques that are suitable
to its length is the tessen. a tan of wh1ch the outer sides and the folding
leaves were made of 1ron. S1nce the techniques have been class1f1ed
according to method of attack. you will f1nd techniques of the very short
st1ck Interspersed arbitrarily throughout the book This does not mean that
that technique can only be used with tl1at length of stick. since often
e1ther length can be employed. However. because leverage is tmportant.
Tsuke iri is very difficult with a stick much less than 15 mches in length.
as ts Gyaku ude garami S1milarly Eda kopp6 and Hiki taoshi become
rather clumsy with the longer weapon
We must think of a stick as anyth1ng that can be used as such. but it
IS extremely Important to choose a technique to suit the weapon If you try
Kyokotsu kudaki with an umbrella. all you will do is end up with a ben1
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