Yes, it’s true! Yawara-jutsu is one of the old Japanese martial arts. One of its facets includes the use of a short, six-inch plain stick to strike ‘death and terror’ into the opponent.
The ‘experts’ will claim that it is used to jab kyusho or Dim Mak points resulting in severe shock to the system. This is only partly true. One hits vulnerable areas, it is true, but these are not necessarily surface ‘vital points’. They overlie deep nerves or organs which, if hit effectively, result in shock and bodily collapse. The same effect (almost) as when a footballer is accidentally kicked in the groin.
The stick can be held as a hammer, smacking down into a surface bone like the wrist. Or it can be ‘flicked’ in a back-hand motion into say the teeth or the eye. Short and sharp somewhat like cracking a whip.
Probably its best use perhaps is holding at the middle, stabbing down like a knife into the neck or other target. Conversely it can stab upwards into the under-jaw. If then it is ripped forwards it could hopefully dislocate the jaw.
A more skilled use is in come-along holds and bone or joint breaks. But this is advanced technical studies requiring much (much!) practice and training in a martial arts club. If you expect to be successful.
There is an American version developed by Frank Matsuyama. This version has metal spikes to hamper someone trying to wrench it away. I quite like it, but while it fits easily into the pocket, it is clearly a martial arts weapon, and as such leaves you wide open to police prosecution if use for self defence. An Internet search will take you directly to it. But the plain stick is ‘safer’ and true to the Japanese yawara-jutsu origins. The Matsuyama stick is metal, heavier and very effective, but advisedly should not be carried where you feel danger lies. Far better go elsewhere and so avoid killing someone and also avoid going to jail which you assuredly will if you use it.
His manual “How To Use The Yawara Stick” can be downloaded, but as it is written specifically for police officers who already have martial arts experience and as a substitute for their truncheon, it is not at all suitable for the novice. But if you are Blue Belt or higher, you will enjoy it.
The stick is said to have arisen from the knife fighting techniques of Tanto-jutsu, a segment of the overall Yawara-jutsu wider school. In wet or sweaty conditions a knife could jam in its sheath, and techniques were – of course – developed to allow the defender to still use it in this inconvenient situation. Furthermore, yawara-jutsu was less dangerous than actually stabbing someone. [Remember that, Young Jimmie, when you’re out with the lads! Don’t carry a knife – a Yawara stick is very effective and keeps you out of a prison life sentence]
There have been several modern refinements on the basic Yawara approach. Notably in Matsuyama’s stick, mentioned above, and Tak Kubota’s little Kubotan