TMNTPedia
Advertisement

A kanabō is a spiked or studded two-handed war club used in feudal Japan by samurai.

Kanabō and other related club-like weapons were constructed out of heavy wood or made entirely from iron, with iron spikes or studs on one end. For wooden kanabō, one or both ends could be covered with iron caps. Kanabō-type weapons came in all manner of shapes and sizes, with the largest ones being two-handed and as tall as a man, while smaller ones were primarily one-handed and the length of a forearm.

Their shape could be similar to that of a baseball bat, with a thicker outer end tapering towards a slender handle with a pommel, or they could be straight all the way from the handle to the end.

The kanabō used by Chikara-Shisho in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 5th/ Lost Season is of the two-handed variety. It is as tall as Chikara herself, and much larger than a typical kanabō. Larger kanabō in Japanese myth, specifically ones too large and heavy to lift by humans, were the signature weapons of oni.

Advertisement