Flail Type Kusarigama

When inspecting the available material on Koryu that maintain some sort of Kusarigama tradition, it is apparent that the majority are of the Type 2 variety, being flails. Whilst the length of the chain varies somewhat, the Type 2 examples are typically used with one hand and there is no need to cast the weight - the weight is accelerated via the length of the handle. I would contend that this reality is different from the popular association, being the Type 1.

Whilst I may be interested primarily in the non-flail types, it is important to understand and differentiate the weapons - they may all be referred to as Kusarigama however they are entirely different weapons and used in very different ways.

Understanding the typology also changes how much information we can take from various anecdotes. If we pause to think about the duel between Shishido Baiken (who may or may not have existed & probably had a different name if he did) and Musashi unless we know the type of Kusarigama being used we have to consider the dual and Musashi’s tactics from the viewpoint of both types of Kusarigama.

In the coming posts, I will have a brief look at some of the existing schools maintaining a Type 2 syllabus and then try to summarise tactics on which they intersect. I have broken each one into a separate post so I can add to it later if need be (all of this originally being a single document).

Spear (Yari) in Owari Kan Ryu 尾張貫流 (Kudayari & others)

Owari Kan ryū is known for its use of the kuda-yari (tube spear). The e (shaft) is run through a kuda (metal pipe) that’s in the front hand of the practitioner. Interestingly the school’s students start training by doing shiai (competition) and only after considerable training they learn the school's kata (forms). Most classical schools that practice shiai do so after learning kata. Thrusting using the kuda. Cross-stepping. Thrusting attack with kuda. Wide stance. Shiai. Shiai using a spear with a cross piece. The original demonstration from which these stills were taken is here:

The Structure of the Tenshinshoden Katori Shinto Ryu Syllabus

It should be noted that the current head, Otake Risuke, has commented that not all of the parts of Tenshinsho-den Katori Shinto Ryu survive. I recall his comments in various documentaries that Archery was once a component, and only some of the spear survives. Through various sources, mostly Otake's book, I have put together this brief outline of their syllabus, however I have little idea of the exact stage each is taught except that I believe the students start with Omote no Tachi. I will use this as the basis for further posts and may add to it over time. I believe their are important implications when Otake says that one of the main reasons for training all the weapons is to train the swordsman against them. Note in this section in brackets are my own comments and should therefore not be relied upon, those from the written work of Otake are clearly marked. Tenshinsho-den Katori Shinto Ryu -Kenjutsu (Otake lists Tachi, Ryuto and Kodachi under Kenjustsu) --Tachi (Use of the singl

Australia’s Turning Point – Signals Intelligence leading to the Battle of the Coral Sea

Australian/American Signals cooperation was not only important in stopping the Japanese advance to Australian shores but marked the beginning of Australia embedding its forces with the United States rather than simply furnishing troops for the British. Whilst the British, in my opinion , had a long history of using Commonwealth troops to either protect their colonial interests or to take on deployments with high expected rates of attrition, when Australia faced the real possibility of invasion with the vast majority of its troops and equipment deployed overseas, it was the Americans, whose interests in the Pacific aligned with our own, that were on hand to push the Japanese back from our shores. The Battle of the Coral Sea saw the beginnings of the deployment of Australian sea power under direct American command, a joint approach that would continue to the present time – it was, however, Signals Intelligence that led the way to the embedding of US/Australian forces and played a major

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