Okinawan Sword?
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T
TLH3rdDan
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I have been studying and collecting swords for a many years and as far as I know okinawa is the only place that has never developed a sword of some kind I believe it has to do with the fact that they have almost always been ocupied by either china or japan and were under strict rule by them. but it is a very interesting question.
Okinawa wasn't occupied by China, per se, but the Okinawans paid homage and tribute to China until the Japanese invasion. Early Okinawan culture is predominately influenced by the Chinese until (and for a bit after) the Japanese invasion.
By extension, any swords on Okinawa would most likely be versions of Chinese swords, and later, Japanese swords, as the Japanese enforced their culture onto the Okinawans.
Cthulhu
T
TLH3rdDan
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other than tool making im not sure and seeing as how many of the tools from those peirods of time have been found and are in museums it would stand to reason that they were pretty talented in metal working
They had some metal-working skills, since they had to be able to create kama and sai, as well as the brass-knuckle looking things (forgot the name).
I think it was around 1400 that one of the Okinawan kings banned weapons (particularly swords) from the peasants. I believed this stayed in effect until the Japanese invaded 200 years later.
Cthulhu
I think it was around 1400 that one of the Okinawan kings banned weapons (particularly swords) from the peasants. I believed this stayed in effect until the Japanese invaded 200 years later.
Cthulhu
It was my assumption that the sai was used <since it wasn't a farming impliment> because of its ease of production. I had read that they were made simply by drawing the shape in wet sand and pouring molten metal into it.
The Kama was used because of its availability as a farming tool.
The staff was common for farmers to carry.
Oars were common for fishermen to carry.
Tonfa was a handle for a mill
The weighted chain was a plumb line for carpenters.
Nunchaku was a threshing tool and a smaller version of the three sectional staff was a bit for a horse.
In reading the same book, whatever it was, it stated that the ban on weapons by the Japanese was so strict that the village was only allowed one knife which was chained to a post and guarded by a samurai and that the hand-to-hand skills (karate) was mostly developed to over power the guard to steal his weapons and the knife <sometimes used with the chain>...
It all made for a very good story, but I don't know how much truth was in it.
The Kama was used because of its availability as a farming tool.
The staff was common for farmers to carry.
Oars were common for fishermen to carry.
Tonfa was a handle for a mill
The weighted chain was a plumb line for carpenters.
Nunchaku was a threshing tool and a smaller version of the three sectional staff was a bit for a horse.
In reading the same book, whatever it was, it stated that the ban on weapons by the Japanese was so strict that the village was only allowed one knife which was chained to a post and guarded by a samurai and that the hand-to-hand skills (karate) was mostly developed to over power the guard to steal his weapons and the knife <sometimes used with the chain>...
It all made for a very good story, but I don't know how much truth was in it.
R
RyuShiKan
Guest
This is great “legend” but not really accurate.
The weapons ban was in place 100 years before the Japanese ever got there, and the only people allowed to carry swords at that time were a few high ranking officials.
The Japanese came and implemented a ban on those few officials but the general public had metal tools like knives and kama and so on. LetÂ’s face itÂ…no worked could have been done otherwise.
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