The researcher
Nawa Yumio believes that the
kusarigama was based on the
jingama, a tool that resembles a sickle, which was used to cut through a horse's ropes in the case of a fire. The
jingama could also be used as a weapon and according to Nawa, the tool might have been combined with a , which is a chain that contained a weighted end and a chain around the user's wrist. People would wield the weapons with both hands to protect their horses against criminals. Another theory is that the
kusarigama is based on the
tobiguchi (
:ja:鳶口), which is a type of axe that had a "stout haft and a short pick-like blade". There is no evidence of the
kusarigama being used as a battlefield weapon in mass combat. Swinging its long chain could endanger allies and it would be ineffective against armor. The weapon is at its most useful when wielded against an opponent who attacks with a sword; it is not as useful against a longer weapon such as a spear, a
naginata, or a
bō. From the 12th century, until the time of the
Tokugawa shogunate, many fighters specialized in the use of the weapon. One of these fighters was
Yamada Shinryukan, a man who defeated many swordsmen; he was trapped in a
bamboo grove by
Araki Mataemon and killed. Yamada did not have enough room in the bamboo grove to swing around the chain of his
kusarigama. The weapon has been used by
ninja. The
kusarigama has also been used as a "plaything for warriors with time on their hands, and a means of attracting rural students who wished to do something unique in their local festivals". The schools of
kenjutsu,
jūjutsu, and
naginatajutsu taught
kusarigamajutsu, the art of handling the
kusarigama. It combined the aspects of
kamajutsu,
kusarijutsu, and
fundojutsu.
Kamajutsu refers to the
kama (sickle),
kusarijutsu refers to the chain, and
fundojutsu refers to the weight.
Kusari-fundo refers to the chain combined with the iron weight.
Ellis Amdur’s book
Old School: Essays on Japanese Martial Traditions retells a myth about the origin of the
kusarigama. In the story, a farmer who used a farming sickle to cut his rice plants was attacked by a
samurai. The farmer used the sickle with a chain attachment to defeat the warrior. According to Amdur, trapping an opponent with the chain is not effective, and a farmer's sickle would be an awkward weapon. He also states that there is no evidence for peasant use of the
kusarigama or that it was derived from a farmer's tool. == Methods of use ==