Does a Naginata Really Save Effort?

The Naginata is a kind of long-handled weapon used by the ancient Japanese military generals, which is a heavy weapon and the shape is like the Chinese Kwan Tao, and is used in battlefield to combat and kill the enemy. And all the women of the later Samurai family were required to learn the method of Naginata, so the Naginata was modified to be a lightweight weapon so that women can also fully control it, and it increased the speed and maneuverability of Naginata skills at the same time.

According to legend, the Naginata was introduced during the Nara period (From 710 to 794), because of the close communication between Japan and the Song Dynasty at that time, dispatched monks of the Tang Dynasty brought the broadsword used in martial arts in Chinese Zen monastery to Japan, and gradually developed a lightweight broadsword suitable for the Japanese body type, that is, the Japanese Naginata and Nagamaki, and became one of the common weapons used by monk soldiers in the Nara period.

However, the shape of the Naginata blade is mainly divided into two types, both are taken from famous female names recorded in historical books. They are the Shizugata with the thinner blade and the smaller bending amplitude at the tail end, and the Tomoegata with the wider blade and the larger bending amplitude at the tail end. But whether it's the Shizugata or the Tomoegata, both of them have slender blades of limited width, which are usually little wider than the wooden handle. Therefore, when the Naginata was gradually withdrawn from the battlefield, in addition to becoming folk martial arts weapons, some Naginata were even converted into samurai swords and passed down in another form.

1. How many kinds of Naginata are there?

Many friends would probably answer: Generally speaking, there are several categories of large Naginata, small Naginata and Nagamaki. In fact, that is not the case. Next, I will list the specific types of Naginata, but I will not introduce them one by one due to the space limitation. Naginata can be divided into large Naginata, small Naginata, Bisento (There are two kinds of Bisento, one is similar to a small Naginata but with a smaller curved blade; the other one is similar to the Chinese Crescent blade, which is a very heavy weapon), Nagamaki (There are also many different types of Nagamaki, generally because the ratio of the handle and the blade is different. And using Nagamaki needs to have a very good grasp of the center of gravity), Kissuki Naginata, Fukuro Naginata, Tsukushi Naginata (This is a special kind of Naginata), and some very special Naginata that are hard to be categorized, such as Naginata made of paddles and Naginata attached to a stick (Both the two types of Naginata have straight blades that are easy be hidden). If you want to buy Japanese katana, then COOLKATANA would be a great choice for you!

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2. Is the Naginata for women using only?

The so-called "Naginata is for women using" is actually a misconception derived from reality. We know that the Naginata was first appeared in the time of Nara · Heian period, this weapon was also written as "Nagiki Nidal" because of the pronunciation Naginata in the early times, this is also the reason that many people don't see the "Naginata", "long knife", "Bisento" when they turn over ancient books.

In fact, Japanese naginata ninja sword is a weapon with a long history, which has been the main weapon in the battlefield since the Heian period to the Muromachi period. In addition, from the Edo period to modern times, due to some historical and objective reasons, nowadays, it is more spread in the world and existed in all kinds of film and television works by the image of Naginata way and women's budo, which makes many friends mistake the Naginata is for women special using or is woman's preference.

But in fact, no matter the structure, shape or technology, there has been no logical relationships between the Naginata and women, and the inheritance of Naginata skills has never been interrupted in history.