The Chinto Jump Without Ninjitsu

There is a move done in the kata Chinto, and twice in the kata Kusanku, that involves jumping around and landing crouched on your stomach, with one leg pulled up (see move performed by Sakamoto-Sensei in picture above). In the early days of my practice, in the early 1970s, the application for this move is that you were fighting someone at dusk when suddenly you jumped away, like a ninja, and landed on your stomach. Your opponent wouldn’t see you hidden on the dark ground (perhaps also hidden behind some battleground debris) but you could see him outlined against the fading light in the sky. While he looked around confused, you would jump up suddenly from your crouched position to finish him with a couple of well-placed punches.

This explanation while poetic is a little, uh, farfetched. Some more realistic explanations are found at the fine blog Karate by Jesse. I like especially the double-leg takedown and rear sweep. I also note that as kid I saw a tough brown belt actually  use the technique in sparring. His opponent threw a back kick and he dropped to his stomach in the Chinto position. After the kicked passed over, he sprang up and punched the surprised kicker.