Kusari-Dō: On the Warrior's Path of the Chain

"Approaching the multifaceted world of traditional Japanese martial arts, one can experience moments of profound mystery. It can happen when you receive a lesson from a true Master while visiting the places of origin of those Arts, or the first time you hold a forged sword, a sublime but sanguinary work of art.

It can happen when you are weighing a simple, old, rusty, weighted chain in the palms of your hands."


The Kusari - also known as Kusarifundō or Manrikigusari, is a traditional minor weapon used by the warriors and police officers in the Japanese feudal period. Tracing its historical, philosophical and technical traits, Christian Russo, practitioner and teacher of Japanese Martial Arts, accompanies us through an evanesced time and place, where this small weapon has been secretly guarded for centuries.
History, legend, anthropology, philosophy, martial arts, folklore and mysticism alternate in Kusari-Dō.

Christian Russo was born and lives in Turin, Italy. He began practising Jūtaijutsu at the Yōshin Ryū School of Martial Arts in 1993. Among the other armed specializations of the School are: Hojōjutsu - the Art of the Rope, and Kusarijutsu - the Art of the Chain which fascinated him at first sight. He is a passionate scholar of martial arts history and collector of Kakushi-Buki, the hidden weapons of Japanese warriors.