Ideal kusarigama specs.

[Kukage]

I recently decided to start making real kusarifundo and kusarigama in an attempt to pay for my training. I am however unsure about specifications for the Kama or even how much chain to make for it.

I hand forge the blades/chain and even intend to cut down the trees I intend to use for making the haft. Needless to say I don't intend to sell them cheap, but I want to at least have the dimensions right.

 

[Kukage]

My practice has always been with the "chain" or the Kama never as a single unit. So I'm at a bit of a loss.

 

[Chris Parker]

Hmm... the "correct" specs? Would it surprise you to hear that there isn't actually any? There are no kata for Kusari-gama, and it is not formally a part of any of the traditions contained in the Bujinkan (or related), although it is certainly associated with a few of them (Gyokko Ryu, Togakure Ryu, Kukishinden Ryu), and there is no actual association for Kusari Fundo (that was imported from Masaki Ryu, which Hatsumi studied under Yumio Nawa). That said, we can look to the Masaki Ryu as templates for both, as both weapons are taught there, starting with the easier Kusari Fundo. The chain is about three feet long, ideally about the length from the base of your neck to the tips of your fingers when your arm is outstretched, with the weights being up to four inches long, hexagonal or octagonal, and tapered (so that the tops, where they join the chain, is narrower than the ends). This allows for the weight to fit in the fist easily. Other Ryu use different forms, with different weights, different lengths of chain, sometimes only one weight, sometimes with three lengths of chain joined in the center, and so on.

Kusari Gama, on the other hand, is going to depend on the usage and specific Ryu. The thing to remember with Kusari Gama is that it is not a battlefield weapon (despite pictures of over-sized weapons being labeled as such), as it's a dueling weapon. To that end, the kama should be small enough to handle with one hand... I tend to prefer a haft of about 12-16 inches, with the blade ranging from 6-12 inches. The blade used in Bujinkan methods is a curved one (Isshin Ryu, taught as part of Shindo Muso Ryu, have a very straight blade, for comparison), and the chain extends from the base of the haft, rather than from the top (as weapons found in Ryu such as Nito Shinkage Ryu, Araki Ryu, Kiraku Ryu and others do). A common length for the chain is four to five metres, with a small, often rounded weight at the end (not an elongated one as seen on the Kusari Fundo). There is no hand guard as seen in other designs.

Did that help?

 

[Cryozombie]

Did that help?

If nothing else it helped me... we were just discussing where the Kusari Fundo techniques came from last week, now I know.

 

[Aiki Lee]

If the kusari gama is associated with gyokko ryu, kukishinden ryu, and togakure ryu but there are no kata for them, how do we know they are associated with it at all?

 

[Chris Parker]

Tsk, tsk, Cryo, you'd been told that before... and Himura, they are said to be associated because, well, they're said to be associated.

Tell you what, have a read of this one: http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php/93856-Talk-to-me-about-the-Kusarigama

 

[Cryozombie]

Tsk, tsk, Cryo, you'd been told that before...

Really? Wow I must be getting old and senile, lol