The naginata (薙刀) — a curved blade mounted on a long shaft — is often known as a “women’s weapon.” But look into its actual history, and the story is a little different.
Originally a Weapon of the Battlefield
The naginata has been used on the battlefield since the Heian period, wielded mainly by warrior monks and samurai in its early history. Its long reach made it effective against mounted opponents or for fighting multiple enemies at a distance. In koryu martial arts including Katori Shinto-ryu, the naginata continues to be passed down as one of the core weapons alongside the sword and spear.
How the “Women’s Martial Art” Image Came About
By the Edo period, a tradition took hold in which women of samurai households learned the naginata as a means of defending the home. Later, as the naginata became established as a school physical education subject and sport in the modern era, the proportion of female practitioners was high — which is why the “women’s martial art” image remains strong today. But this image only formed in the modern era; the history of the weapon itself has nothing to do with gender.
How It’s Handled
Because the naginata has a much longer reach than a sword, a strong sense of distance (ma-ai) is especially important. Beyond cutting and thrusting, its techniques also include sweeping away an opponent’s weapon or targeting the legs with the shaft, requiring a different sense of space and body rotation than swordsmanship.
The Naginata Within Koryu Martial Arts
In koryu schools that pass down multiple weapons together, like Katori Shinto-ryu, the naginata is trained through fixed kata just like swordsmanship and spear techniques. A student who has already learned swordsmanship and then encounters the naginata often experiences firsthand how the same principle of distance and timing applies differently depending on the weapon.
Why It Continues Today
The naginata is still widely practiced today in Japanese school physical education and community sports, and within koryu martial arts it remains an essential subject for fully understanding the classical weapons system.