Kusarigama

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Image:Kusarigama.jpg Kusari-gama is a traditional Japanese weapon that consists of kama (Japanese for sickle) on a metal chain with a heavy iron weight at the end. Attacking with the weapon usually entailed swinging the weighted chain in a large circle over one's head, and then whipping it forward to entangle an opponent's spear, sword, or other weapon, or immobilizing his arms or legs. This allows the kusari-gama user to easily rush forward and strike with the sickle.

A kusari-gama wielder might also strike with the spinning weighted end of the chain directly, causing serious or deadly injury to his opponent while still outside the range of the opponent's sword or spear.

Though the kusari-gama is derived from a farmer's sickle, and though the sickle was often carried as a weapon by farmers during the feudal era of Japan, it is important to note that these farmers did not carry kusari-gama. Its purpose as a weapon was very obvious, so unlike a sickle, it could not be carried openly. The art of handling the Kusarigama is called Kusarigamajutsu.

According to some accounts, the kusari-gama was traditionally used by ninja as it is a weapon that is well-suited against swords and spears. Whether or not ninja embraced the weapon, records show that the kusari-gama was extremely popular in feudal Japan, with many schools teaching it, from about the 12th to 17th Century. Usage of the kusari fundo is taught in Bujinkan ninjutsu.

A notable example of the use and mis-use of the weapon is the story of the great 17th Century kusari-gama teacher Yamada Shinryukan. Shinryukan was known to have killed many swordsmen with his weapon, until he was lured into a bamboo grove by Araki Mataemon. There, he was unable to swing the chain and trap Mataemon's sword, and was thus killed.

Perhaps one of the most famous historical users of the kusarigama is Shishido Baiken. A swordsman of great skill, he developed great skill with the kusarigama, but was killed by the legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi.

Fictional accounts of kusari-gama sometimes show fighters swinging the sickle with the chain, rather than the weighted end. Though entertaining, this is not a proper use of the weapon, as the sickle is likely to bounce off a target without causing much injury.

Axl Low from Guilty Gear uses these weapons, though his version of the weapon replaces the iron weight with a second sickle.

The character Anubis from the anime series Ronin Warriors uses Kusarigama as a weapon, but flings the sickle end when he attacks.

The kanji for kusarigama (鎖鎌) is 鎖=kusari=chain 鎌=kama=sickle .

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References

Ellis Amdur, Old School: Essays of Japanese Martial Traditions (2002)
Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook, Secrets of the Samurai: The Martial Arts of Feudal Japan (1973)

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