Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Naginatajutsu is the Japanese martial art of wielding the naginata. This is a weapon resembling the medieval European glaive. Most naginatajutsu practiced today is in a modernized form, a gendai bud , Naginata , in which competitions also are held. Multiple theories concerning the weapon's exact origins are in debate. It has been suggested that it developed along the same lines as kobudo weapons as a modified farming tool. Another theory states that it is the result of the Japanese modifying a Chinese Guan Dao that bears a similar appearance. Others say that a creative samurai in need of a longer weapon attached a sword to a pole.