The Kama Within Junsei Ryu

Parts Of The Kama Button

鎌
Kama, Kamma, Gama
(Sickle, Hand Scythe)

What Is A Kama?

When we say Kama perhaps the first thing that comes to mind it that famous Asian text the “Kama Sutra”, but stepping away from the realms of the exotic, the Kama is an ancient weapon with its roots deeply in the cultivation of the land.

Since his earliest times as a farmer, man has created tools to ease the burden or working the land for agriculture. One of the earliest Stone Age tools created for such a purpose was the Sickle or as the Japanese would later call it the ‘Kama’. Early example of agricultural sickles have been found worldwide with blades formed from flint, stone and even obsidian. Some middle eastern examples are recorded to have been created in the centuries predating 10.000 BC.

All sickles regardless upon which geographical region of the world they were created, share a common shape, purpose and construction. The basic design of any sickle is a hardwood billet to which is attached a curved single edged blade projecting at a right angle from one end. Again all sickles were initially used as farming and harvesting tools, but at some stage in their early history their use as a weapon became apparent.

Throughout Asia agricultural sickles have always been widely used, and even in today’s modern world almost every agricultural homestead owns at least a couple of these most utilitarian of tools. I myself own several sets of Kama, each suited to a different purpose, including one live edged set purchased specifically for use in my garden. I use my ‘Garden Kama’ in the same way as folk throughout Asia do, to cut the hedging, prune bushes, remove weeds and other such simple gardening activities.

Being such a mainstay item of Asian agriculture it stands to reason that almost every martial art in Asia would incorporate its use into their everyday teaching. In fact the Kama is a common weapon to many Japanese, Okinawan, Filipino, Malaysian and Indonesian martial arts, and although not as common it is also found in Korean, Thai and Chinese fighting systems.

The Kama As A Weapon:

Whilst the exact date Stone Age man first used a sickle in combat will never be known, the first recorded use of the Kama as a weapon in Japan is dated to the year 645 AD when the warrior Nakatomi no Kamatari 中臣鎌足 attacked and defeated one of the manipulators of the imperial throne a man by the name of Soga no Iruka 蘇我入鹿.. This legendary event claims that Nakatomi no Kamatari prayed to the gods for a success prior to going to battle. The gods answered his prayer and sent a Tenko 天狐 (Divine Messenger In The Form Of A Celestial Fox Spirit) who gave him a Kama and taught to him a number of secret techniques for its use. Following his victory in battle Kamatari went on to found his own school of Bujutsu, the Koden Ryu. Just prior to his death Kamatari was awarded the surname Fujiwara by the emperor Tenji for his services to the imperial family.

RyuKyu Kama Designs

The Kama In Okinawa:

The oral histories of the Ryu Kyu Islands (and especially Okinawa) indicate that they were largely lawless places, prone to sporadic conflict and bandit raids. Even after both the Chinese and Japanese had forced their own sovereignty upon the islands, the level of violent banditry still remained very high. In such lawless times the ability to utilise any item that came to hand as a weapon was a skill that frequently made the distinction between life and death.

Around the year 1478 AD the Okinawan King Sho Shin prohibited all of his peasant subjects possession of any form of weapon in an attempt to calm the violence of the period. As a result of these edicts the Okinawan hand-to-hand fighting arts flourished (Most notably what would eventually become known as Karate), as did the widespread use of farming implements as improvised weapons. In the following centuries Okinawa and the Ryu Kyu Islands came under Japanese administration and the laws prohibiting ownership of weaponry were enforced more harshly than ever before. Not being able to carry weaponry increased the use of faming tools as weapons in their own right and initiated their subsequent evolutions.

As a direct result of this the Okinawan Karate practitioners were amongst those who first formalised the combative use of Kama, and soon discovered that whilst the Kama was a highly effective weapon, its use became all the more devastating when used in pairs (As is the most common method within the Ryu-Kyu islands.

The Kama In Japan:

Almost as a parallel to the Okinawan development of the Kama, the Japanese were developing numerous “Sickle” type weapons all of which varied greatly in size and appearance. Although the Kama was still being used throughout Japan as an everyday agricultural tool, it is unknown as to when the warrior class first began to modify and adapt it specifically for combat. Such modifications may have been a direct result of conflict with Kama wielding peasants, or as a natural evolution in weapon design, taking into account the advantages offered by adding a hooked portion to almost any weapon.

Kama Technique:

The Kama is one of the most versatile of Asiatic weapons. It can cut, stab, slice, block and hack. It can hook an enemies weapon and with but a rotation of the wrist relieve and opponent of his hand or fingers.

Whilst the single Kama was by far more popular amongst the Japanese warrior class, throughout China and the Ryu Kyu the paired use of the weapon was the normal practice.

The paired use of the Kama had the advantage that one Kama could be used to black and capture an opponent’s weapon, whilst the other was used to attack the numerous vulnerable points on the opponents’ body.

Kama application is often thought to be brutal, in fact the Kama is generally considered to be the most Savage of Asiatic weapons. My sensei once told me that In order to make Kama technique effective one must get close enough to ones enemy as to feel his last breath upon your face.

The cutting movement of the Kama is characterised by a deep rotation of the hip, in fact its movements are often said to have no direct comparison to any other Japanese or Okinawan weapon. In fact one could even go as far as to say that Okinawan twin Kama techniques have no direct counterpart in Okinawan Karate, yet they are without a doubt an integral part of traditional Okinawan Kobudo.

Japanese Kama Designs

Design Details For Individual Styles Of Kama:

Kama 鎌 or かま (Hand Sickle)
The Kama is in essence a rather simple agricultural sickle mounted with a single edges blade at a right angle to the upper portion of a hardwood billet. All sickles regardless upon which geographical region of the world they were created, share that common shape, purpose and construction.

Kagi 鉤 or 鈎 (Hook Sickle)
The term Kagi is in essence used to describe any sort of hook or deeply curved claw (Such as a sickle). In agricultural use the deeper the curve on a sickle blade the easier it is to use, of course sharpening and large hook, such as a butchers meat hook can make a formidable improvised weapon. One should not consider the Kagi a separate weapon to the everyday Kama, but rather as an alternative blade design.

Natagama 鉈鎌 (Billhook)
The Natagama is another style of agricultural and light industrial Kama used as a general purpose chopping and shaping tool. Just like its western counterpart the Billhook the Natagama could be used to slash and cut like a sickle, but had the advantage that the base portion of its blade could be used for hacking and chopping in the same manner as an hand axe.

Kusarigama 鎖鎌 or 锁镰
(Sickle & Chain)
The exact origins of the Kusarigama are as widely debated as that of the Kama itself. One apparent claim to the creation of the Kusarigama comes from the records of the Koryu style known as Nen-Ryu. Nen-Ryu traditions claims that around the year 1400 AD the founder of the Ryu, a Sohei (Warrior Monk) known as Jion had a vision whilst meditating. In this vision he saw himself holding a Kama in one hand and a weighted chain in the other, this vision then inspired him to develop the Kusarigama.

In principal a Kusarigama is any variant of Kama to which is attached a length of weighted chain. In truth however many schools of Kusarigama use a weighted rope instead of a chain, whether this is for ease of use or some other reason is debateable.

There are a number of major differences between the Kusarigama of different Koryu. Some have a straight blade, some a curved blade and others a double-edged blade more similar in appearance to a pick. Some schools attach the chain to the base of the Kama, others to its middle and some to the back edge of the blade itself. Now add this the divergent schools that use rope instead of chain and you are left with a huge variety in application and technique.

Jingama 陣鎌 (Battle Sickle)
The term Jingama is a rather awkward one to translate accurately. The character Jin 阵 can be loosely translated as battle-camp or battle and theoretically can be applied to any Kama modified or created specifically for combat. Common designs of Jingama include normal Kama with heavier blades, Kama with metal hand-guards, and Oversized Kama designed to be used against a mounted enemy.

Larger forms of Jingama were used in the manner of scythes in order to prepare a wilderness area so that an resting army could more easily make camp.

Nagigama / Naigama 薙镰
(Reaping Kama / Mowing Down Kama)
Essentially the Nagigama is an oversized Jingama mounted on a very long pole of an average seven Shaku in length (approximately seven foot). Nagigama are because of their length often categorised as Yari. These long Kama are recorded as being in used during the Genpei Wars (1180 AD - 1185 AD ). The main use of the Nagigama was like that of the Jingama to mow down ones enemies, removing their hands, arms, heads, legs and feet in a swift slashing movement. The Nagigama may also be known by the name Funayosegama 舟寄せ镰 which loosely translates as “Ship Ending Kama” as it was used to cut the sails and rigging of passing ships.

Kamayari 鎌槍 (Sickle Spear)
The term Kamayari can be used to both describe any style of Kama mounted on a long pole as well as any style of Yari to which a Kama style blade is mounted. The most common style of Kamayari is the pair of Kama blades mounted at the socket of an ordinary spear. In application the Kamayari could be used to both slash and thrust. Various styles of Kamayari were used during peacetime by Japanese firemen to pull down the roves of burning buildings in order to slow the spread of a fire.

Kata Kama Yari 片鎌槍
(Single-Sided Sickle Spear)
The Kata Kama Yari is often thought to have been based on earlier Chinese styles of halberd, many of which were mounted with a single side-facing blade used to hook the enemies limbs and pull them from horseback to the ground.

Kagi Yari 鉤槍 (Hook Spear)
Like the Kama Yari and Nigigama the Kagi Yari is often classified as a style of spear, with the addition that it carries a deeply curved hook. Its application is the same as that of other Kama Yari.

Sogama / Morogama (双镰)
The Sogama is another variation of the Jingama or Kamayari in that its main purpose was to hook at a mounted enemy with its double Kama before dragging them to the ground and disembowelling them. In length the Sogama averages at around Five Shaku (approximately five foot in length).

Modern Kama:

The creation of same Kama, with blades formed from wood, foam or even blunt metal is a logical conclusion for safer training, as blocking an opponent’s wrist or neck with a live blades Kama during the application of technique is obviously a highly dangerous and irresponsible thing to do, albeit sometimes a rather tempting one.

As Kama can be used singularly or in pairs it has become a favourite amongst Kata and freestyle practitioners. Its savage elegance never fails to raise a few eyebrows. However the vast majority of freestyle practitioners use the Kama as no more than a prop to hold whilst performing an overly flashy empty hand routine. These Flash moves have little if anything to do with highly focused and deadly traditional Kamajutsu technique.

Many designs of modern Kama have been created over the last ten or twenty years. Some remain traditional to the weight and proportions of a traditional Kama whilst others have become little more than spiky fantasy knives attached to sticks. In my opinion such bastardisation of a classical weapon is abhorrent, but that’s just me.

Other Sickle Weapons:

Almost every country in the world has utilised sickles as an agricultural tool and at one stage or another as an improvised weapon. Just as a matter of comparative interest, the following list details some of the variant names of Sickle type weapon and tools from around the world.

Arabic: منجل‏

Chinese: Chicken Claw Sickle, Lian, 镰, Lian Dao, Ji Zhua Lian, 鷄爪鐮, 鸡爪鐮, Chicken Sickle, 鸡鐮, 鷄鐮, Ji Dao Lian, 鸡刀鐮; 鷄刀鐮, Chicken-Saber Sickle, Kun Hua Yao Zi, 捆花腰子; 綑花腰子, Binding Flower Waist Carry, 镰刀, 切割装置, 用镰刀割, 呈镰刀状

Danish: Segl

Dutch: Sikkel

French: Faucille

Gaelic: Corran

German: Sichel

Greek: δρεπάνι

Hebrew: חרמש

Hindi: Daranti, Hansiya, Daramti, Hamsiya

Indonesian: Sabit, Arit, Clurit, Celurit, Sakera Celurit,

Italian: Falce

Korean: Nat,

Malay: Arit, Sabit, Hansa

Mongolian: Rар Xадуур

Polish: Sierp

Portuguese: Foice

Russian: Cерп

Spanish: Hoz

Swedish: Skara

The information on this page was taken from a www.JunseiMagazine.com article written by Taran McCarnun