Naginata

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Basically, the Naginata a wooden pole with a curved blade attached to the end, similar to a glaive.

It is necessary for a Naginata praciticioner to wear protective body armor similar to that of Kendo practicioners because of the possibilties of serious injuries that can occur during practice.

The Naginata became the weapon of choice for woman of the Samurai Class. The reason being that women needed to be capable of defending their homes while their husbands were at war. The Naginata was very well suited for women to be trained with so they could defend themselves from men at a distance.

Even though the Naginata was a heavier weapon, it was still very effective for use in combat.

One weilding a naginata has longer reach than than with a sword and can produce powerful cut strikes with it.

The methods of naginata were derived from sword and bo staff fighting techniques.

In Japan today, naginata is taught as a means of physical fitness and spiritual enhancement for girls in Junior High School and up.

They have various levels of contests from the "Empress Cup" for the individual All Japan Champion down to local club and school contests. Because of this background, the vast majority of naginata participants in Japan are women. In the USA, the United States Naginata Federation has roughly 40% men.

Two types of training offered:

Atarashi Naginata, a more competitive form of training, and

Tendo Ryu Naginata-jutsu, a Sogo Ko-ryu that is over 450 years old.