Avoid focusing on weapons
器だけにとらわれないこと

Masaki-ryu Nakajima-ha transmits tactics with a number of small arms including the manriki gusari (short chain) and jitte (pronged iron truncheon). Interestingly, in the initial stages of training practitioners can over focus on the weapon, such as paying attention only to how the weapon is held, or how to strike with the weapon using the power of their forearms and upper arms alone. This is a stage that everyone naturally goes through, but an outlook that one must overcome to enable fuller development.

The actual reason weapons such as the manriki gusari and jitte are taught within our school is that they act as tools for enabling the user to fully exert their entire body's power. Kata practice enables us to study not only how to apply weapons, but the use of the entire body.

One episode about our school's founder, Masaki Toshimitsu, says that when challenged to test his power with a sumo player, no matter how the sumo player tried to lift Masaki-sensei up, he was unable to. Written records of this event note that Masaki-sensei used a finely trained ability to affect his and others balance here, suggesting an attribute reached by Masaki-sensei via training and conditioning of his whole body as a martial artist.

正木流中島派では万力鎖、十手など、数々の小武器の扱い様が伝わっていますが、どうしても初心のうちは武器にとらわれることがあります。手の内は？腕の振 り方は？などと集中してしまいますが、誰もが通る過程ですが、教わる以上、こういった認識を乗り越えなければ本当の成長が難しいです。

というのは、当流では、萬力鎖、十手などはその遣い手の全身の力を最大限に発揮できるための道具なのです。武器の用法もひとつですが、体全身の運用を形を通じて習って練磨します。

流祖正木利充の逸話のひとつに、相撲取りと力比べになった際に、その力士がいくら持ち上げようとしてもできなかったそうです。文献では流祖がその際に「身体軽重自在の術」を利用したとありますが、正木先生の武術家としての全身の鍛錬を物語っています。