Kama (tool)

For other uses, see Kama (disambiguation).

Kama

The kama (鎌 or かま) is a traditional Japanese farming implement similar to a sickle used for reaping crops and also employed as a weapon. It is often included in weapon training segments of martial arts. Sometimes referred to as kai or "double kai", kama made with intentionally dull blades for kata 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 and is particularly common in martial arts from Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. It is also used in Chinese martial arts but not often. From one or both of these areas, the kama was brought to Okinawa and incorporated into the martial art of te (hand) and later karate (empty hand). It also spawned the use of the kusarigama and the Kyoketsu Shoge.

Technique

The kama can be used singly or in pairs. Both the point and sharpened edge of the metal blade are called into use, Okinawan kata 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.

The kama is used today in only few martial arts. The kama can be used as a weapon in karate kata competitions but competitors often simply adapt their empty hand routine while holding kama with little actual kama technique, or employ elaborate weapon-juggling routines that differ radically from the focused Okinawan forms.

In popular culture

• Ryu Hayabusa uses a pair of kama held together by chains, called the Vigoorian Flails, in the modern Ninja Gaiden game series
• In the role-playing game Legend of the Five Rings, the Mantis Clan Champion Yoritomo was trained since birth to fight using large dual kama.
• In Battle Royale, antagonist Mitsuko Souma is assigned the kama as a weapon.
• In the Warcraft universe, Akama's weapons are a pair of kama.
• A weapon type found in the game Warframe, which comes in both a single and dual form. It is however erroneously called a hatchet.
• Kama are a special monk weapon in Dungeons and Dragons.
• Madara Uchiha, a major antagonist in the anime Naruto, makes use of a kama along with a gunbai.
• In the anime Black Butler, trainee reapers use a kama until they are full-fledged reapers and can change their death scythes to suit their tastes.
• In the Riot online game League of Legends the champion Akali uses two kama.
• In Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, Randy Cunningham uses kama to destroy robots.
• In the American animated web series RWBY , the villain Emerald Sustrai uses two kama.
• In the anime Soul Eater Black Star uses two chained kama as his most used weapons in the beginning
• In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (season 3, episode 8), Michelangelo carries a pair of kama during his vision quest.
• In the video game Battleborn, the character "Pendles" carries two kama as his primary weapons.
• In the video game SMITE, the goddess Izanami is portrayed as using a pair of kama as her primary weapons, throwing them akin to boomerangs.
• In the television series Arrow, the villain Anarky uses two kama when fighting the Green Arrow in season 5.
• In Season 5 of the animated series Samurai Jack, Ashi, a female assassin, uses a kama and chain.
• In the 1980 action film The Octagon, the main antagonist, Seikura, uses a pair of kama.

See also

• Okinawan weapons
• Kusarigama
• Kamaitachi