Various chain weapons were used in
feudal Japan. Recognised fighting arts with such weapons include
gekigan-jutsu (using a ball and chain),
chigiriki-jutsu (using a ball and chain on a short stick), and
kusarigama-jutsu (employing a chain-ball-sickle weapon).
Ninja were expert at handling
kusarigama, the composite sickle and chain with a ball being small enough to be easily concealed, and which was used to haul an enemy close enough to be dispatched by a thrust or slash of the razor-sharp
kama. The
shoge was a ring with a sickle-like knife on a chain that could be used to pierce armor, grapple, and to entangle the legs of man and horse. The
chigiriki was a staff with a weighted chain on the end. The
manriki-gusari was a double weighted chain. The
nunchaku was a short chain with two short wooden sticks on the ends, although it was principally a farming tool rather than a weapon, at least until much later. ==Gallery==