The is a traditional Japanese farming implement similar to a

sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting, or reaping, grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock, ei ...

billhook A billhook or bill hook, also called a pruning knife or spar hook, is a versatile cutting tool used widely in agriculture and forestry for cutting woody material such as shrubs, small trees and branches. It is distinct from the sickle. It was ...

used for reaping crops and also employed as a weapon. It is often included in weapon training segments of

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

. Sometimes referred to as ''kai'' or "double kai," kama made with intentionally dull blades for

kata ''Kata'' is a Japanese word ( 型 or 形) meaning "form". It refers to a detailed choreographed pattern of martial arts movements made to be practised alone. It can also be reviewed within groups and in unison when training. It is practised ...

demonstration purposes are referred to as ''kata kai''.

History

Before being improvised as a weapon, the kama was widely used throughout Asia to cut crops, mostly rice. It is found in many shapes and forms in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

and is particularly common in

from Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. From one or both of these areas, the kama was brought to

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

and incorporated into the martial art of te (hand) and later

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

(empty hand). It also spawned the use of the

kusarigama A is a traditional Japanese weapon that consists of a ''kama'' (the Japanese equivalent of a sickle or billhook) on a kusari-fundo – a type of metal chain (''kusari'') with a heavy iron weight (''fundo'') at the end. The ''kusarigama'' is said ...

and the

Kyoketsu Shoge The , which could be roughly translated as "long-distance lithe weapon", is a double-edged blade, with another curved blade attached near the hilt at a 45–60 degree angle. This is attached to approximately of rope, chain, or hair which then ...

Ellis Amdur Ellis Amdur (born March 27, 1952 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a writer, an American practitioner of martial arts and a crisis intervention trainer. He has published a number of books on martial arts, on crisis intervention, hostage negotiation, ...

criticizes in his book ''Old School: Essays on Japanese Martial Traditions'' the theory that the kama was derived from a farmer's sickle. Sickle-like weapons like ''kamayari'' (sickle spear) however existed since

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

Technique

The kama can be used either as a single half or in pairs. Both the point and sharpened edge of the metal blade are called into use, Okinawan

suggesting that it could also be used to block, trap and disarm an opponent's weapon. The point at which the blade and handle join in the "weapon" model normally has a nook with which a staff can be trapped. The edge of a traditional rice sickle, such as one would purchase from a Japanese hardware store, continues to the handle without a notch, as this is unneeded for its intended use. The hard edge of the blade would be kept razor-sharp to enable efficient cutting of crops, though this is sometimes a cause of training accidents by unskilled wielders, for whom blunt training versions of the weapon are created.

References

External links

{{Japanese (samurai) weapons, armour and equipment Weapons of Japan Weapons of Okinawa Samurai weapons and equipment ja:鎌#武器としての鎌

History

Technique

See also

References

External links