Kusarigama
| Kusarigama | |
|---|---|
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| Information | |
| Weapon type: | Striking weapon, sickle |
| Designations: | Kusarigama |
| Use: | weapon |
| Region of origin / author: |
Japan , samurai, armourers |
| Distribution: | Japan |
| Blade length: | about 15 cm to about 20 cm |
| Handle: | Wood, metal |
| Lists on the subject | |
The Kusarigama [ kɯsaɺi.gama ] ( Japanese 鎖 鎌 , dt. "Chain sickle ") is a Japanese Bujutsu weapon, which is also used in the Kobudō of Okinawa .
description
The Kusarigama has a curved, single-edged, sickle-shaped blade. The blade is usually straight on the cutting edge and convexly curved on the back of the blade . It is usually firmly attached to the shaft. The shaft is usually made of wood and is round. The lengths, the material and the diameter vary. At the end of the booklet a chain is attached, which is provided with a metal weight at the end. There are versions in which the blade can be folded onto the shaft like a pocket knife .
Emergence
Little verifiable facts are known about the origin of the weapon today, only legends provide information about its development. It originated from the combination of sickle and chain, which was provided with a heavy iron weight at one end. Although it was known as early as the 15th century , its peak in use was in the Muromachi period . A Sōhei - martial arts master and monk - named Jion is said to have come up with the idea of constructing this weapon around the year 1400 after a long meditation. Other sources attribute their development to his student, a samurai named Tan Isshin .
application
The combination of throwing, cutting and chain weapons makes the Kusarigama very versatile. The chain could be used with the attached weight as a throwing and balancing weapon and also used for choking and shackling.
While a pair of ordinary Kama was usually wielded, the user of a Kusarigama held the sickle in one hand to use it against the weapon or body of the opponent, and the gathered chain in the other hand, and wielded it as a balancing weapon or left it circle. This made it possible to keep the enemy at a distance at which most weapons such as swords could not be used. The weight was thrown to injure the head or the hand of the weapon and, more rarely, the ribs and soft tissues of the opponent, or to block the opponent's weapon or to disarm the opponent. The chain could also be thrown around a battered opponent and he could be tied up. By pulling in the chain, the opposing fighter could be pulled into the area of the sickle.
However, it is essential for the applicability of a kusarigama that there is sufficient space available to fight the fight made possible by the chain at a greater distance. If the space required for this is not available, the weapon cannot bring out its real advantages. It was therefore mostly used by lone fighters instead of soldiers in a larger battle.
Some depictions, especially in the entertainment industry, show the weapon in a kind of application, whereby not the weight, but the sickle is swung by means of the chain. This may seem threatening, but it is comparatively ineffective, since the sickle is not suitable for stabbing as a cutting weapon and is therefore more likely to ricochet without causing great damage. In addition, the asymmetry of the sickle makes it unstable in its trajectory and the alignment of the blade cannot be controlled as a result; so this application probably stems from the creative imagination of the authors rather than the reality in ancient Japan. The name also refers to another weapon, the Manriki Gusari , a metal chain with a weight at both ends that could be used for striking, throwing and parrying.
Kusarigama
literature
- Ellis Amdur: Old School. Essays on Japanese Martial Traditions. Edgework, Seattle WA 2002.
- Oscar Ratti, Adele Westbrook: Secrets of the Samurai. A Survey of the Martial Arts of Feudal Japan. Tuttle, Rutland VE et al. 1973, ISBN 0-8048-0917-8 .
- George Cameron Stone : A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. With an introduction by Donald J. LaRocca. Courier Dover Publications, Mineola NY 1999, ISBN 0-486-40726-8 , pp. 402, 403.