The Knife Hand or Shuto strike is a powerful and highly technical hand strike that can be used to down one's foes. It is also called Tegatana.
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The Shuto or Tegatana (as it is called in some systems) is a highly technical strike, because the power of this strike depends on several factors. However, before we go further...
PLEASE NOTE: While some martial arts systems advocate striking with the side of the knuckle of the little finger, Ninja use the fleshy part of the hand that stretches from the little finger to the wrist to strike.
CREATING THE KNIFE HAND
There is a very specific way to form the shuto, or knife hand. The legendary master Masahiro described this best in his treatise...
"Form the knife hand," he advises, "Then pull the thumb back. This pulling motion should be felt right within your forearm itself. As you pull back in this way, you will find that you feel a pushing outwards, of your little finger. This creates a great tension in the muscles of the forearm. Try this, my students. Form the knife hand. Pull back the thumb, push out the little finger. Now, with your other hand, feel the muscles of your forearm. They feel like rope. It is this immense tension in the muscles that gives the knife hand its striking power."
"Once you have created the tension in the muscles, slightly curve the three middle fingers inwards. This is a perfect knife hand."
BASIC TARGETS FOR THE KNIFE HAND
In this training session, you will be striking with the shuto or knife hand to the soft spot in the side of the neck just beneath the ear. This is a reasonable striking position, and can result in extreme pain. However, to put your opponent down, a better striking point is the carotid artery in the neck. A strike to this will be taught in more detail later in this ninja training program. For now, know that you can use a shuto to the carotid artery to put your opponent on the ground.
As with all strikes, never apply just one shuto strike. Keep striking the enemy with a powerful series of powerful strikes until he can no longer function. Only an opponent who is completely down is no longer a threat to the ninja.
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And now, please read and meditate upon...
What is the empty hand in combat?
What is it? It is nothing.
The empty hand means that you were caught
Unprepared.
The hand was made to grasp.
In combat, it was meant to grasp a weapon;
And to use that weapon.
But if you are unprepared,
Or if you have allowed others to dictate
Your level of preparedness,
Then you must, under duress,
Use the empty hand in combat.
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