Hello everyone. Thank you for reading this article. I’m Shogo from Let’s ask Shogo, the interpreter of the online lessons and owner of this website.

We often receive requests in the comments section to show the technique of the Kusarigama (chain sickle) as well. The instructor of your online lessons, Seki Sensei, is not only the 22nd headmaster of Asayama Ichiden Ryu, but he has instructor-level licenses in many other Ryuha and weapons too. One of the weapons he can handle professionally is the Kusarigama (chain sickle). We have this written on his profile in every video on Let’s ask Seki Sensei so many people ask him to show his skills.

However, Seki Sensei is prohibited from showing any of his Kusarigama skills publicly. This is the rule of the Ryuha that he belongs to, and not even his closest students, like Tsukada-sensei, Kurosawa-sensei, and I, have seen anything before. We’ve never even seen him holding his Kusarigama. 

But why does his Ryuha prohibit him from performing his skills to anyone? Actually, in our Ryuha Asayama Ichiden Ryu, we have skills that we hardly ever show in public either. It’s the Bō (long staff) technique. The reason is the same as the Kusarigama Ryuha. It’s to prevent anyone who isn’t actually a member of the Ryuha from claiming that they have the right to carry on the Ryuha style. 

Ryuha have all begun to demonstrate their techniques in videos and books for the purpose of popularizing them. However, when such things are done, there will be people who say, “I am a master of this Ryuha” or “I am the successor of this Ryuha,” even though they have only seen videos or books. To prevent this from happening, each Ryuha has its own techniques that must never be shown to others. Knowledge of such a technique proves that one is an official successor of that Ryuha. In other words, no matter how much you know about Asayama Ichiden Ryu’s iai and Kenjutsu techniques from watching videos, if you do not know the bō techniques, you will soon be exposed as not being an official teacher.

I understand that there is a lot of demand for the Chain Sickle technique, but unfortunately Seki Sensei will never perform them. If you are really interested, you might want to look into Okinawan kobujutsu.

Seki Sensei’s Profile:

1. Kobudo Asayama Ichiden Ryu 22nd Head Master
2. Muhi Ryu Iaijutsu 15th Instructor
3. Muso Shinsen Jushin Ryu Instructor
4. Shinto Muso Ryu Jo-jutsu Instructor
5. Isshin Ryu Kusarigama-jutsu Instructor
6. ZNKR Iaido 8th Dan, Jodo 7th Dan, Kendo 5th Dan

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