Tetsubo

From Cunnan

The tetsubÅ? or kanabÅ? (metallic staff) is an iron or steel staff used in feudal Japan as a weapon. It was constructed out of heavy oak wood, and covered with some form of metal from the end to the middle, with metal studs along the metal-shod end. It was usually a very heavy weapon.

Because of its sheer weight, only a few soldiers carried it. It was more of a mythical weapon, often used in tales by the great Japanese demons "oni" since the oni were extremely strong and could carry these mammoth weapons and so were feared by many superstitious people.

When used, the purpose of the kanabÅ? was to smash enemies' armor and break their warhorses' legs. The art of using this cumbersome weapon, kanabÅ?-jutsu, consisted of a mastery of both balance and strength; it required great skill to recover from a miss with the heavy club, which could leave a warrior open to a counter-attack. It was a favorite of the sÅ?hei and the yamabushi, whose Buddhist vows forbade them from killing, as it could be used to cripple and defeat an opponent.

This article was originally based on the content of Wikipedia.