Quesition on Samurai weapon? Helmet crusher??

[Jumper]

Hey folks,

recently picked up a few swords and pieces from relative of a Japanese Samurai collector.

It came with some rough armor.

Ive dug around the net trying to find out what the spike weapon is called.

I think I figured out what the shoulder and forearm piece is called.

•Sode, large rectangular shoulder protection made from iron and or leather plates.
•Kote, armoured glove like sleeves which extended to the shoulder or han kote

(kote gauntlets) which covered the forearms. Kote were made from cloth covered with iron plates of various size and shape, connected by chain armor (kusari).


Any info on it would be great.

[Jumper]

1

[Jumper]

2

[rbminis]

They are called Hachiwara, and they are helmet breakers.
Ralph.

[Brian Robinson]

More commonly used by Edo and later policemen etc as a type of baton..the hook was used as a defensive block against a blade. Lots of repros of these around too. Probably ok though based on patina.

Brian

[GHP]

Hachiwari

The hachiwari 鉢割 [crown/brainpan splitter] is also known as kabutowari 兜割 [helmet splitter], and is related to the jutte 十手 ("10 hands" ... meaning it multiplies the power of the hand by a factor of 10).

One technique is to parry a cut (while moving your body out of the line of attack), and allowing opponent's blade to ride down the edge of the hachiwari to lock into the "bottle opener" at the base. The police official would then twist the hachiwari to disarm the opponent. It is also used as a truncheon.

Jutte/jitte:


English wiki for hachiwara (note the misspelled romaji for hachiwari).
Here's the Japanese wiki for kabutowari.

And English for jute

Here's Donn Draeger and Kaminoda sensei doing a formal jutte kata.
Donn Draeger stood 6'2" and was a long-time martial artist. He was a US Marine major and as a 2LT signals officer he fought on Iwo Jima. He was a highly respected martial artist and is a "legend" in the martial arts community.
Kaminoda Tsunemori sensei was a police official and martial arts trainer to the Tokyo Municipal Police. He was extremely efficient in all sorts of weaponry. The formalized choreographed forms look like dance steps, but when executed with skill and intent, are quite effective. Today jutte/hachiwari techniques are used as modified baton techniques by the Japanese police.

--Guy