I highly recommend browsing the cover collections and article reprints hosted by Robert C. Gruzanski on a memorial site to his father, renowned knife thrower and author of Ninja Weapons: Chain and Shuriken, Charles Vincent Gruzanski. Charles Gruzanski trained with a who’s who of Japanese ninjutsu and exotic weapons experts decades before it was cool. Take a minute to read of his fascinating martial arts career while you’re there.
Some terrific graphic design and illustration in these book covers!
I have an early edition (1974) of Gruzanski’s 1968 book Spike and Chain: Japanese Fighting Arts. The simple Manrikigusari is such an amazing weapon, but it’s criminally under-used in ninja films. I think you could make a pretty fantastic flick with a hero who uses nothing but a 3-foot weighted chain…
Robert Gruzanski
どうもありがとうございます(doumo arigatou gozaimasu)
for the kind compliments on my web site,
Robert