Last updated on

The Use of the Kusarigama: Demonstration

The Use of the Kusarigama: Demonstration

Presenter: Saito no Ryoichi Mitsukage
Barony: Seagirt
Contact: evan.harley21@gmail.com

Entry

A demonstration of 3 kata from Isshin Ryu Kusarigamajutsu, followed by a short bit of randori, and a discussion of the principles which drive the movements.

Kusarigama in History

The kusarigama is a Japanese composite weapon comprised of a sickle like weapon, which has a weighted chain attached to it. The weapon and related art are said to have been developed in the late Muromachi period. (Friday, 122) The weapon was used as a dueling, and police weapon during the late Muromachi period, and into the Edo period. Kata are forms used to teach the fundamental movements used by the school. The specific kata being demonstrated are from the Isshin Ryu, which is held as a “subsumed teaching” within the Shindo Muso Ryu.

Method

As the only resources regarding kata for the kusarigama are the Isshin Ryu Kusarigamajutsu Mokuroku1, and a video of the Isshin Ryu Menkyo Kaiden2 holder demonstrating a few of the kata. I watched the videos several times, each time taking notes regarding the positions each of the participants. Below I have compiled my notes into a cohesive description of the kata, in a style similar to what one would read in a densho3. Appendix A includes a full listing of the stances and targets in the forms below.

Furikomi Ichimonji Ura no Waza (振込一文字の 技)

Uke4 stands in Gedan no Kamae5, with a katana. Tori6 measures a length of chain which allows them to spin the weight7 freely, holding the remaining length and kama in their off hand. Tori begins spinning the weight towards uke, so that its arc covers the front of the body. Take three crossing steps (yoko aruki) toward uke. Cast the weight at uke’s shomen. Tori takes the kama into their dominant hand and steps toward uke, cutting at uke’s shomen. Uke steps back out of the way of the cut, and moves to Hasso no Kamae. Tori square’s himself towards uke. Uke cuts at Tori’s shomen8. Tori intercepts the cut on the spine of the kama, hooks uke’s katana with the kama, and drops to one knee, grounding uke’s katana. Tori takes a kneeling step towards uke and strikes the centre of uke’s chest with the point of the kama.

Furikomi Jumonji Ura no Waza (振込十文字の 技)

Uke9 stands in Gedan no Kamae10, with a katana. Tori11 measures a length of chain which allows them to spin the weight freely, holding the remaining length and kama in their off hand. Tori begins spinning the weight towards uke in a figure-8 pattern (Jumonji “Cross Shaped”). Take three crossing steps (yoko aruki) toward uke. Cast the weight at uke’s Shomen. Tori takes the kama into their dominant hand and steps toward uke, cutting at uke’s shomen. Uke steps back out of the way of the cut, and moves to Hasso no Kamae. Tori square’s himself towards uke. Uke cuts at Tori’s shomen12. Tori intercepts the cut on the spine of the kama, hooks uke’s katana with the kama, and flicks uke’s katana toward the ground, then closes distance and hooks the back of uke’s neck with the blade of the kama.

Ishiki Ura no Waza (居敷裏 の 技)

Uke stands in Hasso no Kamae, Tori in Shizen no kamae, with the kama in the position gyakute. Uke steps into range, then cuts at Tori targeting shomen. Tori takes one step back and off the line of the attack, and wraps the chain around uke’s katana. Uke thrusts at the centre of tori’s chest. Tori deflects the sword down with the handle of the kama. Tori then steps in and attacks uke’s eyes with the edge of the kama.

Principles found in the Kata

In this section I am going to briefly cover the structure of the kata, and go over some of the principles that the kata teach. Firstly, I will describe in a general way the way the kata are put together. Then I will briefly cover a point from each kata.
Every kata has some combination of the following steps: An opening is provided, the opening is taken, evasion, and counter-attack. For example the steps in Ishiki Ura no Waza are as follows:
Opening: Tori standing in Shizen no Kamae provides what appears to be many openings.
Uke takes the opening: Cut to Shomen from Hasso no Kamae
Evasion: Tori steps back and entangles Uke’s katana with the chain
Opening: Tori is still square with Uke
Uke takes the opening: Tsuki to chest
Evasion: Tori deflects uke’s katana down and away
Counterattack: Tori strikes to uke’s eyes with the blade of the sword.

As you can see all of the steps are present. Some kata are much simpler, having only one opening, taking of the opening, evasion, and counterattack. Other Kata are much more complicated, Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu’s kata all tend to have many repetitions of the above moments (Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu, 2:39).

Each of these forms teaches something specific about the use of the kusarigama. Ishiki ura no waza teaches among other things the manner of casting the weight to entangle a weapon, for instance. Next I will briefly discuss some of the principles which are taught by each of these forms.

In the study of Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu13 there is a staff form called “棒術振型” (Bojutsu Furi Gata), meaning something like “The spinning staff form,” (Kukishinden Ryu Bojutsu Densho, 3) in which you spin the Bo around yourself to create a wooden barrier between oneself and the opponent’s sword. Similarly two of the Isshin ryu kata Furikomi Ichimonji and Furikomi Jumonji (SMR Jodo Kata Charts), each referring to the spinning of the chain in a particular fashion14, use the spinning of the chain and weight to create a barrier between oneself and the opponent. Keeping the weight in motion also allows for the conservation of momentum to aid the wielder in using the weight to strike. Both of these kata teach the exponent of the school how to move fluidly while providing adequate defensive coverage and/or offensive threat. In addition to that it teaches how to accurately cast the weight.

In Ishiki ura no waza one finds a method for dealing with one of the weaknesses to the entangling of a weapon, namely that one only has control of the weapon in certain directions. As mentioned before the kata also teaches the other of the ryu’s methods of casting the weight. This method of casting the weight allows for the use of the weight in close quarters, and keeps it close at hand.

What I have learned in the completion of this project

This part of my submission has been the most difficult for me. I have studied pre-modern Japanese martial arts for a long time, there are a lot of things which I have learned over the years which are difficult to document in this format. Much of my understanding of the way that these kata are put together comes from the study of the Nine ryuha found in the Bujinkan. While we study the use of the kusarigama, there is apparently no documented forms for its use. I have learned a lot about the history, mythology, and conspiracy surrounding kusarigamajutsu. I have learned much about the different school’s methods, and the evolution of the weapon from camp tool, to weapon. I think that future projects will centre less around things which I will demonstrate and more around things that I would make, particularly if my project centres around the Japanese martial traditions.

Appendix A: A listing of Martial Terminology

Kamae - Stance, Posture, or Attitude
Gedan no Kamae - Stance where the point of the sword is directed toward the ground
Hasso no Kamae - Stance where the sword points backward over the shoulder of the person wielding the store
Seigan no Kamae - A stance where the point of the sword is directed towards the eyes of your opponent
Shizen no Kamae - Natural standing posture

Targets

Shomen - Top of the head
Do - Side of the body
Kote - Wrist
Miscellaneous terminology
Omote - Outside, Front, Public
Ura - Inside, Back, Private
Waza - Technique
Kata - Form
Ryu - School of thought
Ryuha - Plural of School
Mokuroku - Listing of Kata and/or Waza
Densho - Textbook like document which describes the kata and waza

Appendix B: Isshin Ryu Mokuroku
Whole_Scrol_1.tif

The image above is the Isshin ryu mokuroku. It is divided into three sections the first is a listing of the forms which are performed by the school. This list is identical to the Isshin ryu section of the SMR Jodo Kata Charts.
The second section describes the kama used by the school. The third section is a warning to the holder of the mokuroku that the document should only been shown to students of the school, and should not be allowed to fall into the hands of anyone else.

Friday, Karl F., and Fumitake Seki. Legacies of the Sword the Kashima-Shinryū and Samurai Martial Culture. Honolulu, Hawaii: U of Hawai’i, 1997. Print.
”Smr Jodo Kata Charts.” Smr Jodo Kata Charts. Shindo Muso Ryu. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.
Isshin Ryu Mokuroku (See appendix A)
Hatsumi Masaaki, and Takamatsu Toshitsugu. Kukishinden Ryu Densho. Bujinkan Dojo Brussels. E-book
”Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu - Part I | 天真正伝香取.” YouTube. YouTube. Web. 19 Sept. 2015.

Footnotes

  1. Mokuroku - A list of Techniques used in an art ↩

  2. Menkyo Kaiden - Certificate of complete transmission used to denote a person who has truly mastered a school. ↩

  3. Densho - Textbook like memory aid for instructors of a school. ↩

  4. Uke - Person Receiving a technique ↩

  5. no Kamae - refers to the name of a stance, position or attitude ↩

  6. Tori - Person applying a technique ↩

  7. The weight is called “fundo” in Japanese ↩

  8. Shomen - The name of a target, this being the midline of the top of the head. ↩

  9. Uke - Person Receiving a technique ↩

  10. no Kamae - refers to the name of a stance, position or attitude ↩

  11. Tori - Person applying a technique ↩

  12. Shomen - The name of a target, this being the midline of the top of the head. ↩

  13. A collection of Nine schools of Samurai martial art. ↩

  14. Ichimonji and Jumonji refer to the shape. Ichimonji meaning like the number 1 (一) and Jumonji meaning like the number 10 (十) ↩