The Shuriken (手裏剣,手離剱), alternatively known as shiriken in the Tokyo dialect, is a Japanese term that refers to various sizes and shapes of darts or throwing daggers. When written as 手裏剣, the term shuriken can be translated as a blade hidden in the hand (the first kanji means "hand"; the second is the root of the verb "to hide"; the third means "sword" or "blade").
Shuriken were thrown or held between the knuckles; unless they were poisoned, they were unlikely to kill a man, and their function was more to inflict wounds that could be a hindrance.
Types of Shuriken
Shuriken can be divided into two main categories: Bo Shuriken and Hira Shuriken. The first is the most widespread and consists of projectiles with a square section, ranging from 12 to 21 centimeters in length, weighing between 35 and 150 grams, and similar to large nails. The other includes various cross-shaped darts (jūjiken, 十字劔) or star-shaped with various numbers of points, sometimes more precisely called shaken (車劔, rotating blades), manually thrown by imparting a rotating motion to the projectile. This second category is more commonly known in Italian as "ninja stars". The martial art that passes on the techniques of use is known as Shurikenjutsu (手裏剣術).
Throwing Techniques
There are fundamentally two methods to throw a hira shuriken:
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From bottom to top: In this technique, the shuriken is held between the knuckle of the index finger and the pad of the thumb, and the throw is given by a whip-like movement of the triceps that ends with a similar movement of the wrist. The pros of this technique are that it is very fast and does not expose the chest, the cons are that the whip movement makes a precise shot difficult; also, the shaken is thrown vertically and therefore is easier to dodge. It is recommended to use this technique only if you are sure you can hit the target.
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From top to bottom: in this technique, the shuriken is held between the knuckle of the index finger and the pad of the thumb, and the throw is given by a movement that involves all the muscles of the arm. The movement starts from a situation where the arm is stretched forward, is quickly brought with the hand above the shoulder, and then using the weight of the arm and the shaken itself is stretched forward to increase power. The pros of this technique are the power that comes from this movement and the range of action that follows. The cons are that such a wide movement is more evident and exposes the part of the torso relative to the arm used to throw, which is particularly dangerous in the case of a left-handed thrower because it more easily exposes the heart. It is suggested to use it only if the target is very far away.
In both cases, it must be taken into account that the release must occur when the line traced by the path of the shaken comes to cross the one traced forward starting from the pit of the stomach. In summary, imagining that a straight line starts from the pit of the stomach that extends for a length equal to that of the arm, the shaken must be let go at the point where its center comes to coincide with this line.