Kusarigama in Suio Ryu 水鷗流 Masaki Ryu Fukuhara Ha 正木流福原派 (Type 1)

Supposedly, the 9th sōke (of Suio Ryu) Fukuhara Shinzaemon Kagenori created Masaki-ryū Fukuhara-ha Kusarigamajutsu, in part based on the Manrikigusari of Masaki-ryū, which has been handed down ever since as a separate tradition to each headmaster of the Suiō-ryū Iai Kenpō.

I would say that the kama used was unusual given its straight blade, however, the blade of the Isshin Ryu kama is also straight - perhaps you could say this was a feature of chain & sickle types as opposed to flail types, although there is not really enough material to say much in general.

Here the kama has a hatchet-like appearance:

Kamae, weight on the ground.

Horizontal rotations.

Horizontal arc-cast & entangle.

Sword resists pulling.

Sword drops and draws short.

Block with hand, attack sickle.

Second angle - the sword holds the attempted pull in the bind, chooses to attack with short.

Vertical rotations.

Vertical arc-cast attack to head.

Missed cast hits the ground.

Blocking with the sickle.

Free hand grapples.

Kama attack from the grapple.

Kamae, weight on the ground.

No rotations, chain held reverse, body square.

Retreat, block with chain.

Netting the sword.

Following in on sword raise.

Body entanglement.

Horizontal rotations.

Arc-cast to neck entanglement.

Sword grabs chain with left.

Sword rushes.

Sickle does back foot entry.

Attacks the back.

Vertical rotations against Nito.

Arc-cast at centre.

Entanglement of crossed swords (at the crossing).

Sword rushes.

Freehand grapples.

Attack with sickle from the grapple.

Horizontal rotations against Nito.

Longsword entangled.

Sword rushes.

Block with the sickle.

Turning shoulder.

Short attacks.

Grapple short.

Attack with the sickle.

The demonstration from which the stills are taken is here:

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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