Kama for competitions

D

DeerPark

Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Messages
16
Hi folks,
Has anyone used this device called a "kama". It's a Japanese sickle with a handle.

Would appreciate recommendations on where I could get a rugged kama - not a display piece.

Cheers
 
DeerPark said:
Hi folks,
Has anyone used this device called a "kama". It's a Japanese sickle with a handle.

Would appreciate recommendations on where I could get a rugged kama - not a display piece.

Cheers
Click to expand...
DeerPark,

Yeah, I have played around with them. I don't own any, but a good place to ask for info about them is the Budoseek forums. Do a google search for it and it'll turn up.

And for the record, a kama is of Korean origin.
 
FSCJedi said:
DeerPark,

Yeah, I have played around with them. I don't own any, but a good place to ask for info about them is the Budoseek forums. Do a google search for it and it'll turn up.

And for the record, a kama is of Korean origin.
Click to expand...

Roger that. Korean it is then. My bad. :)

Nope I'm not into ninjitsu. Curiousity got the better of me and I wanted to see how a robust kama is put together. The blade looks precariously fitted onto the handle.
 
Cas Iberia makes some nice, functional kamas, and the prices aren't bad at all. They are set up for right and left hand. You'd be wise to look into them!
 
THERE WAS A POST HERE (?) ABOUT A JAPANESE HATCHET/AXE AND A LINK TO A MANUFACTURES SIGHT. ON THE SIGHT THERE WAS A SET OF KAMAS. THESE WERE TOOLS NOT SOME THING FANCY. SHOULD WORK FOR YOU.

Sorry for the cap lock, not shouting.

serch this title- japanese camp axe or hatchet makers?

its 3-4 post down.
 
bugei.com has some nice hand forged kama. Are they really Korean in origin? Interesting, the Okinawan kobudo guys use them a lot
 
Jack M said:
bugei.com has some nice hand forged kama. Are they really Korean in origin? Interesting, the Okinawan kobudo guys use them a lot
Click to expand...
You know Jack, you could be right. I do believe I was incorrect and that it did originate in Okinawa. Sorry for the confusion, DeerPark.
 
There are a number of Okinawan arts that use the kama. For example, Isshin-ryu karate has a high level Kama kata. FWIW
 
I've found a few kamas in a local (U.S.) Asian-American grocery store. They're meant for real backyard use, and not for martial-arts practice. I think the store prices them at $7.99 or something. The blades are obviously carbon steel, fit & finish are not too hot, but I've had no problems with toughness or edge-retention. I'm sure they could have been more-solidly constructed, but I've had no reason to think mine were going to break, even under fairly hard use. The kama is an interesting tool. If you swing it like a hatchet, you'll find it cuts really well, but only in a remarkably-thin strip of space, since it doesn't have the C-shaped broad cutting edge of a European sickle. So, you're likelier to cut a one-or-two-inch swath through whatever vegetation you're attacking, instead of the thicker swath that you'd expect to get with, say, a European sickle, a machete, a khukuri, etc. They're very light, and thus very fast, and thus good for nasty, springy, thorny, woody plants like bougainvillea or (I'd imagine) blackberry brambles.

I've never trained with the kama for martial-arts applications, but I'm curious about what seems to me to be great potential for adapting kama techniques to tomahawk use.
 
Return of the J.D. said:
I've never trained with the kama for martial-arts applications, but I'm curious about what seems to me to be great potential for adapting kama techniques to tomahawk use.
Click to expand...
Here here! Haven't we talked about this before somewhere? I know I've thought about it. Hmm... *rubs chin*
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top