Kama

From Karate, Kungfu, Wrestling, Mixed Fighting Information Source

Kama 鎌 are Okinawan and Chinese weapons that resemble traditional farming devices similar to a small scythe or a sickle. The development of this tool as a weapon began after Japan annexed Okinawa and outlawed all traditional weapons. Before that, it was used in fields to cut down crops. The sickle, implemented as a redesigned weapon form, was called a natagama. The kama resemble another weapon familiar to the Japanese koryu, the Kusari-Gama, which had a weighted chain used to parry and club an enemy from a distance before the final Kama strike was administered. The kama itself is a stabbing and slashing weapon that is most effective for any type of hand-to-hand combat. The world's most renowned master of this kobudo style is Tadashi Yamashita, seen using these weapons in the film "The Octagon".

The 'freestyle' forms popular today have little or nothing to do with the original weapon or its historical techniques.