Kusarigama

Kusari-gama is a traditional Japanese weapon that consists of kama (the Japanese equivalent of a sickle) on a metal chain with a heavy iron weight at the end. 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.

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

Method of Use

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.

Many fictional accounts of kusari-gama sometimes show fighters swinging the sickle with the chain, rather than the weighted end. Though entertaining, this is usually not a proper use of the weapon, as the sickle is likely to bounce off a target without causing much injury. One of the only few exceptions to this is the Houten Ryu discipline of the kusari-gama.

Historical Accounts of Kusarigama

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 Budo Taijutsu.

A notable example of the use and misuse 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, because of the terrain 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 was proficient with the kusarigama, but was killed by the legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi when he used a throwing knife to cause a non-fatal injury from outside the radius of the chain, and then moved in for the killing blow with his sword.

Kusarigama in Popular Culture

In the second Toxic Avenger movie an enemy credited as 'chain-sickle girl' attacks the hero with a kusarigama. He disarms her and uses her own sickle to tear off her clothes so that she runs away in shame.
Axl Low from Guilty Gear uses these weapons, though his version of the weapon replaces the iron weight with a second sickle.
The character of Miho in Sin City uses this weapon in the story 'Family Values'.
Earthquake from Samurai Shodown uses this as his weapon
Tsujikaze Kohei/Shishido Baiken from the manga Vagabond uses this as his weapon.
A villain in Sluggy Freelance, named Kusari, uses them as a weapon.
The character Anubis from the anime series Ronin Warriors uses kusarigama as a weapon and sometimes hurls the sickle end when he attacks.
The character Kohaku from Inuyasha also uses kusarigama.
The character Hattori Hanzo from Samurai Warriors uses a kusarigama.
The character Umanosuke from Samurai Champloo uses a modified, seemingly rocket-propelled kusarigama.
The character of Kamatari in Rurouni Kenshin is a master of a "ultra-heavy class" kusarigama.
The character Kurotsuchi Mayuri from Bleach uses a weapon similar to a kusarigama; the chain is attached to his ear, and he throws a sickle attached to the chain at his enemies with devastating effect.
The Sickle weapon discipline in Soul Calibur III resembles a kusarigama in its appearance and use.
There is a Magic: The Gathering card called Kusari-gama from the Kamigawa block.
Kusarigama are also wielded by Foot Soldiers in the various 2D Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Beat 'em up video games as well as the original Mirage Studios comics.
MirageGaogamon Burst Mode from Digimon Savers wields a Kusarigama-like weapon
In comic Usagi Yojimbo one of the four assassins collectively called "Shi" carries a kusarigama (called a "sickle and chain") (Usagi Yojimbo v2 #5)
Though barely visible, a kusarigama can be seen hanging from one the wall in Obi-Wan Kenobi's hut from Star Wars. [1]

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)

External link

An image of a kusari-gama can be seen at [2].