|
Weapons - Forks
叉
(cha) - continued |
| I was writing an
article about towel massage as potentially part of Danzan Ryu
Jujitsu training. One problem was the |
| teacher, Professor
Sig Kufferath, never said where he had learned it. It certainly
is not mentioned in canonical listings |
| of the founder's
(and Sig's father-in-law) curriculum. So one motivation for
publishing the article was to determine if |
| anyone knew where
the techniques might have come from. They could well have been
imported from another art |
| by Professor
Kufferath or Professor Okazaki. It was also unclear such
material was taught in Japan or perhaps in |
| other judo styles
in North America. It was never indicated that I received a full
transmission (and I never asked) or, |
| for that matter,
that Sig had either. So a draft version of the article was sent
to some Japanese experts. One wrote back |
| and asked if I was
the person who had e-published the internet survey on martial
arts forks. When informed that I was, |
| he mentioned that
police had used forks for centuries - since the very beginning
of the Edo period (started 1603) if not |
| before.
Apparently, there are at least three kinds of forks in use, and
they are taught as part of jujitsu training. |
| A sasumata -
something of an intermediate between a Fisherman's Fork and a
Southern Fork. I have seen a fewer |
| much older
versions with a central (third) spike. Antique and modern
recreations below |
