Kama (weapon)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Please expand this article.
Further information might be found in a section of the talk page or at Requests for expansion.

Kama (鎌, Kama^?) are Okinawan and Chinese weapons that resemble traditional farming devices similar to a sickle. It was originally a farming implement, used for reaping crops. During the annexation of Okinawa, all traditional weapons were outlawed. This led to the development of the kama and other Kobudo weapons.

1 Design
2 History
3 Popular fiction
4 Similar weapons

[edit] Design

pair of kamas The sickle, implemented as a redesigned weapon form, was called a natagama. The kama traditionally consists of an inwardly curved blade mounted perpendicularly on the end of a wooden handle, although metal variants are not unheard of. The handle itself is typically the same length as its user's forearm. It is a slashing and stabbing weapon that is effective for melee combat. Because its curved blade, it is effective deflecting an opponent's weapon. Additionally, because of its relatively short length, it can be quickly maneuvered in many ways that longer weapons, such as katana and bo cannot.

[edit] History

The world's most renowned master of this kobudo style is Tadashi Yamashita, seen using these weapons in the film "The Octagon" and "American Ninja".

The 'freestyle' forms popular today have little or nothing to do with the original weapon or its historical techniques.

[edit] Popular fiction

Recently, the kama was popularized by the Japanese cult film Battle Royale, in which Mitsuko Souma utilizes the kama in a killing spree.

[edit] Similar weapons

The kama resembles another weapon familiar to the Japanese koryu; the Kusari-Gama, which had a sickle with a weighted chain connected to the end of the handle.

Okinawan weapons
of Kobudo, the "old martial way of Okinawa" (Japan).