December 2005 Sad News! www.buyubooks.com is closing its online books sales site.
This is indeed a terrible loss to the martial arts community, as they provided some amazing books on the martial arts. Our library sources will be the poorer for them closing.

December 2005 - New video acquisition "Kashima Shin Ryu Budo No Engen - Shuriken"
Finally got myself a copy of this video, and a chance to see the Shuriken of Kashima Shin Ryu. For a review, check out some details from the Schools page, and some more info about the video at Resources

December 2005 - New Dart game developed, based on shuriken
Steve Massman has developed a new dart board game, called Stilleto Darts. Similar to standard darts but uses a bo shuriken-like dart, without flights. Check it out here http://www.stilettodarts.com/index.html

August 2005 - Shuriken in Korea!!!
Some footage of shuriken being thrown, in a promotional interview about president Kim-Jeong Il's bodyguards can be glimpsed here

August 2005 - making Negishi Ryu shuriken on a lathe
Found a website which describes the process of making a Negishi Ryu shuriken with a metal lathe, including dimensions. These blades appear to be identical to the ones Morihiro Saito Sensei had personally made for him, and for students of the Iwama Dojo.
< Japanese> <English Translation>

August 2005 - New book on Shuriken published
Hozan Suzuki, of Mumyou Ryu has just published a book, in Japanese, on his method of throwing shuriken. He is a self-taught practitioner of shuriken, and his ability is very impressive. He also makes awesome blades, of a variety of designs, intended purely for practical use rather than aesthetics. Book Review Shuriken Photos See his website HERE

Some more historical information on schools has been added to the Schools page.
Some more historical information on the Origins page has been added.

June, 2005 - Information on Flechettes
Thanks to Ann MacMillan of Brisbane, holidaying in Europe, and Martin Garnett, head of the Department of Exhibits and Firearms at the Imperial War Museum in London, I have come across some more detailed information on "flechettes", getting a step closer to discovering their true connection with Japanese shuriken. HERE

June, 2005 - Shuriken Museum Fundraising Construction project
Otsuka Sensei of Meifu Shinkage Ryu Shurikenjutsu has initiated a fundraising program to begin construction of a shuriken museum in Tokyo, Japan. He has been left with the care of his teacher, Someya Sensei's shuriken collection, which contains literally hundreds of blades. The fundraising at this stage takes the form of auctioning sets of blades with an instructional video produced by Otsuka Sensei. Blades are authentic pieces, made by Someya Sensei, and come with a certificate of authenticity, signed by Otsuka Sensei. Grab a part of history! HERE

February 2005
Found some info and pics on a couple of modern day hand held weapons, the World War 2 OSS "Sleeve Dagger", and the more recent Cold Steel Projects' "Delta Dart". Interesting weapons with possible application as a thrower. Read more...

Cold Steel "Torpedo" thrower http://www.coldsteel.com/fixed-blades-throwers.html looks suspiciously like the Ikku Ryu blade that I haven't finished making...

Happy New Year for 2005!

Old news archive page 1 June 2002 - December 2004