Lesson times will be announced shortly! However we are teaching at the Kaizen Expo 2018 on the 16th of June on the 2nd floor mezzanine:
The Mushin Shurikenjutsu Renshu Kai is a martial arts system focused specifically on the art of Shurikenjutsu 手裏剣術.
Shurikenjutsu is a general term for the traditional Japanese martial art of throwing Shuriken, which are small projectile weapons thrown from the hand primarily used by the Samurai of feudal Japan but more popularly associated with the Ninja.
Their are a huge variety of different Shuriken available such as Bo Shuriken (large spikes or needles), Hira Shuriken (The notorious Ninja star) and Tantogata, Throwing knives and blades.
Different Shuriken designs with different geometries are attributed to different historical Ryu 流 (Style/type/manner/system/school) or Ryuha 流派 (School of thought) such as the ones outlined below:
Koga Ryu Juji Hira Shuriken – Ninja Stars
Meifu Shinkage Ryu Bo Shuriken – Spikes
Tantogata – Throwing Knives
The difference with the Mushin Shurikenjutsu Renshu Kai is that we practice with a huge variety of Shuriken and Tantogata using a combination of several different throwing techniques so we are not restricted to the usage of any particular Ryuha’s Shuriken or style.
A basic outline of what we cover is half spin, full spin and no spin knife throwing techniques in a similar manner to the Knife And Tomahawk Throwing Association (K.A.T.T.A) based in the United Kingdom but the Mushin Shurikenjutsu Renshu Kai is based on traditional Japanese Shurikenjutsu throwing styles and techniques.
When we are hosting seminars and competitions everyone is welcome as long as you have a legitimate throwing technique and conform to our safe throwing guidelines.
Mushin is not a political organisation! We are a Gendai (New) Shurikenjutsu organisation that is a diversification of the Bujinkan Rugby Dojo, Warwickshire to provide all Budoka (Students) with a platform to practice and perfect theirs Shurikenjutsu techniques. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at but any request for Koryu lineage or requests for Densho will be met with a simple response of “We are a Gendai Shurikenjutsu organisation, this is the Densho!”.
As for the legitimacy of the technique actions speak far louder than words, We are happy to demonstrate. The Mushin Shurikenjutsu Renshu Kai is a combination between Shurikenjutsu from Japanese Martial Arts, Western throwing techniques and no spin Instinctive Knife Throwing so its all of the commonly accepted throwing techniques rolled into one class (Renshu Kai/Keiko).
This is why the Mushin Shurikenjutsu Renshu Kai is an inclusive organisation, if your a student from the Bujinkan, Genbukan, Jinenekan, K.A.T.T.A or I.K.T your welcome to train in our style of Shurkenjutsu and exchange ideas and techniques with us.
Their are rules and regulations that you must conform to for competitions however to ensure continuity of technique and maintain competition standards.
The term Mushin is shortened from Mushin No Shin, A Zen expression meaning the mind without mind and it’s also referred to as a state of “No Mindedness” or a mind not fixed or occupied by thought or emotion and thus open to everything.
The reason for us naming the organisation the Mushin Shurikenjutsu Renshu Kai is because as in Kyudo (Japanese Archery), The concept of Mushin plays an important part in successfully practising Shurikenjutsu. It’s a delicate balance between throwing with too much force and causing the knife to rebound off of the target or throwing with too little force and the knife not reaching the target with enough force to penetrate the target and stick in.
In Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu we call it “Ken Tai Ichi Jo” or “using the body and weapon as one” but in terms of Shurikenjutsu it would perhaps be more accurately described as using the body and weapon as one in unified harmonious movement to control the trajectory of the Shuriken between yourself and the target.
You can’t just simply throw a Shuriken and hope for the best, you have to control the trajectory of the Shuriken from the moment it leaves your hand.
Mushin is the mental state required to be consistent when throwing, there is nothing but singular split seconds of focus to make the required bodily movements for it to stick. This applies regardless of whether your throwing with a spin or no spin you have to control how much momentum you utilise to throw.
I often outline it in this manner, imagine your playing a computer game like golf or archery and when you go to take your shot, a little bar appears at the bottom of the screen with a moving bar which starts in the red zone and moves into the yellow zone, then the green zone where you will make the perfect shot and win the game if you time it correctly.
That is Shurikenjutsu, finding the green bar to throw the Shuriken perfectly.
Find the green zone, That’s Mushin – perfect timing, focus and technique.
In conclusion Mushin is that point when your not focused on whether the knife is going to stick in the target or not, or how your going to throw it, its a point where after training extensively in the technique its a natural reaction to throw from any position using any technique throwing just about anything that has a point and can be held in the hand.
Developing technical proficiency is not easy, it takes hours upon hours of unsuccessful practice to learn to judge all of the factors necessary for a successful throw.
Three key factors should be present in your technique which are outlined below:
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Kotsu – Essence
Take what your doing seriously and respect the art, focus and be safe! -
Ritsudo – Rhythm
When you throw Shuriken or Tantogata you will find a natural rhythm to your technique, don’t force this as it’s your body mechanics working properly, simply trying to speed up throwing wont work if your fighting against your muscular skeletal structure and body mechanics. -
Nagare – Flow
This is the flow, how you move when performing techniques. As Bruce Lee once said “Be like water” in terms of Shurikenjutsu it would perhaps be more accurate to say “Be like a wave crashing down on the target”.
You will get frustrated with training and feel like your hitting a brick a wall with you development and this is when the concept of Mushin plays its most key role, clear your mind and focus on your body movement, posture and technique rather than throwing the Shuriken at the target, The Shuriken isn’t the weapon, you are as the member of the Mushin Shurikenjutsu Renshu Kai.
To become proficient in Shurikenjutsu you need to change your relationship with failure, every time you fail when you throw a Shuriken don’t think “I can’t do this its far too difficult!” but learn from the experience, watch the Suriken or Tantogata, what end hit the target? Where did you go wrong? Where are your feet pointing?
Observation is key and there is no room for your ego when your training, you’ll keep failing until one day you don’t and you have forced yourself to evolve, This is particularly relevant with no spin throwing as theirs no way of sugar coating it, mastering the no spin throwing technique is HARD!
You will fail to consecutively stick two Shuriken or Tantogata into the target for about two weeks until finally you learn how to compensate for distance, how to control the trajectory and understand what Shuriken and Tantogata can be thrown using the no spin technique and what can’t.
Not all Shuriken or Tantogata (Knives) are the same but this is rarely considered as practitioners tend to assume throwing knives are just throwing knives, nothing more nothing less, but when it comes to no spin throwing size matters.