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Isshin Ryu Kusarigama
So many moving parts. All of them deadly... Isshin Ruu Kusarigama is said to have been invented by the monk Gion some 600 years ago. The same Gion credited with founding Nen Ryu kenjutsu, the physical heart of Isshin Ryu Kusarigama lies in Nagano prefecture, near where Gion was said to have retired to a contemplative life after the collapse of Southern Court forces he had fought with.
The kusarigama is an extremely challenging weapon to master. All of its parts are weapons in their own right. The chain (rope in the practice weapon) can bind or choke. The fundo (weight at the end--deer skin in the practice weapon) would have been an iron weight that could break or crush when thrown at speed. The haft could be used to club or pin. The blade itself was a forged, folded blade sharpened on both top and bottom sides as well as at the tip; it can be used in reaping, slicing and push cuts. Kaminoda Sensei has emphasized teaching this weapon in recent years, causing a wider interest in it in the Japanese budo world and reviving an art that seemed to be all but lost.
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