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[1] [2] Naginata were originally used by the samurai class of feudal Japan, as well as by ashigaru (foot soldiers) and sōhei (warrior monks). [3] The naginata is the iconic weapon of the onna-musha, a type of female warrior belonging to the Japanese nobility. A common misconception is that the Naginata is a type of sword, rather than a polearm.
Samurai holding a kanabō The kanabō ( 金砕棒 , kanasaibō ) (literally "metal stick" or "metal club") is a spiked or studded two-handed war club used in feudal Japan by samurai . Other related weapons of this type are the nyoibō , konsaibō , [ 1 ] [ 2 ] tetsubō ( 鉄棒 ) , and ararebō . [ 3 ]
It would appear, according to Serge Mol, that tales of samurai breaking open a kabuto (helmet) are more folklore than anything else. [6] The hachi (helmet bowl) is the central component of a kabuto; it is made of triangular plates of steel or iron riveted together at the sides and at the top to a large, thick grommet of sorts (called a tehen-no-kanamono), and at the bottom to a metal strip ...
Rōnin used a variety of other weapons as well. Some rōnin—usually those who lacked money—would carry a bō (staff around 1.5 to 1.8 m (5 to 6 ft)) or jō (smaller staff or walking stick around 0.9 to 1.5 m (3 to 5 ft)) or a yumi (bow). Most weapons would reflect the ryū (martial arts school) from which they came if they were students.
The wakizashi was one of several short swords available for use by samurai including the yoroi tōshi, and the chisa-katana. The term wakizashi did not originally specify swords of any official blade length [10] and was an abbreviation of wakizashi no katana ("sword thrust at one's side"); the term was applied to companion swords of all sizes. [11]
The first type has a weapon in the shape of a sickle that has a chain attached to the end of its shaft. The use of the first type depends on the ryū (school), with the weapon being held in either hand and its chain and weight being held in the other hand to be swung at the other person. Depending on how easy it is to see the weapon's weight ...
Benkei armed himself with seven weapons, and is often depicted carrying these on his back. In addition to his sword, he carried a broad axe ( masakari ), a rake ( kumade ), a sickle ( nagigama ), a wooden mallet ( hizuchi ), a saw ( nokogiri ), an iron staff ( tetsubō ), and a Japanese glaive ( naginata ).
The Japanese used many different weave methods to produce kusari mail, including: a square 4-in-1 pattern (so-gusari), a hexagonal 6-in-1 pattern (hana-gusari), [8] and a European 4-in-1 (nanban-gusari), [9] the kusari links could be doubled up, and some examples were tripled in a possible attempt to make the kusari bullet resistant. [10]