# Nunchaku



## Transk53 (May 6, 2015)

From Wiki

Regardless of its origins, the nunchaku was not a popular weapon, since no known traditional kata (choreographed practice movements) for it exist, possibly as a result of its lack of efficacy against contemporary weapons such as the katana.

Picking up on the 5 year old doing his routine, I was wondering about just what type of attack someone would attempt to do. Looking at the above, I would imagine that the lower part of the body would be favoured, as apposed to trying to crack a defenders head like a melon.


I noticed when reading a bit further down on the Wiki, other arts use them. Just assumed it was a Kung Fu weapon. Guess I watched too much Bruce Lee. What do you peeps train with them. Do you actually spar with them?


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## Andrew Green (May 6, 2015)

Nunchaku is a Japanese word, not Chinese, so Okinawa / Japan when it comes to that name.  

Anyways, there is a group called Nunchaku-do that holds sparring tournaments with padded ones, if you head over to youtube you can find some videos.  I'm pretty sure there is some dog brothers footage floating around as well.  

It's a fun weapon to mess around with, but it's not that useful against other weapons when the other guy knows what he is doing.  They are portable, easy to conceal and can hit very hard, plus they look really cool when choreographed.  But for duelling in a fencing sort of sense, not the best option.


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## Blindside (May 6, 2015)

I have seen 3 Dog Brother fights in person with the nunchaku and it never really went well for the guy with the nunchaku.  Hard to control, impossible to feint with, relatively easy to grab, the list goes on.

The only advantage would be that it could be concealed more easily than a stick.  But if concealment was important I'd take a knife.

As for how to use it, a bonk on the head is probably your best option, there are some interesting pain compliance uses that it has in close, but those are going to be tough to get, and it is usually a pian technique, not a damage technique, so problematic.


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## Tez3 (May 6, 2015)

Blindside said:


> a bonk on the head is probably your best option,



In the UK bonking on the head is discouraged unless you know the person is up for it!


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## Blindside (May 6, 2015)

Tez3 said:


> In the UK bonking on the head is discouraged unless you know the person is up for it!


 
I think I stumbled into one of those tricky little differences in slang....


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## Tez3 (May 6, 2015)

Blindside said:


> I think I stumbled into one of those tricky little differences in slang....



Oh yes lol. Makes life interesting though.


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## Flying Crane (May 6, 2015)

Tez3 said:


> Oh yes lol. Makes life interesting though.


Bonk on the head...Hmmm...I'm gonna make a guess that it means something like what we here in the U.S. Might call a "facial"?


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## Tez3 (May 6, 2015)

Flying Crane said:


> Bonk on the head...Hmmm...I'm gonna make a guess that it means something like what we here in the U.S. Might call a "facial"?



Bonking is shagging which is having sex...  'How' sets up a whole load of other terms lol.


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## Transk53 (May 6, 2015)

Tez3 said:


> Bonking is shagging which is having sex...  'How' sets up a whole load of other terms lol.



Yeah but a facial is a facial  Thanks for ruining my thread with corruptible thoughts!


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## Tez3 (May 6, 2015)

Transk53 said:


> Yeah but a facial is a facial  Thanks for ruining my thread with corruptible thoughts!




This will probably dispel any thoughts of Brits being uptight lol...a friend of mine when he saw a woman in glasses always said they were wearing 'splashguards'.....
Oh and facials are good for the skin and that's official btw look it up.


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## Transk53 (May 6, 2015)

Tez3 said:


> This will probably dispel any thoughts of Brits being uptight lol...a friend of mine when he saw a woman in glasses always said they were wearing 'splashguards'.....
> Oh and facials are good for the skin and that's official btw look it up.



Yeah I saw the article about certain liquid benefits, or just human porridge. You are such a pervert


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## Flying Crane (May 6, 2015)

I always snicker a bit when I walk past the beauty/hair salons and one of their services advertised is Facials.


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## Mephisto (May 6, 2015)

I know some filipino groups use nunchucks (yes I'm gonna spell it like that) I've experimented with them and they just generally seem to be a pretty poor weapon if you're fighting against another armed person. Try using some to hit a tire or heavy bag and you'll see how a lot of the fancy stuff goes out the window. It has potential to do damage but I see it similiar to the balisong/butterfly knife the motion can intimidate and perhaps confuse the opponent but I'm of the philosophy that for combat simpler is better, less is more ect. I have seen more practical flail type weapons one called the dos palos that is similiar to the nunchuk, the main difference being that one of the lengths of the weapon is longer than the other so you can safely swing the weapon without risk of it rebounding into you.


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## MatsumuraKarate (Aug 1, 2015)

From my understanding they are an equalizer weapon. From the oral tradition passed to me they were favored as a self defense tool of the elderly. Most of the techniques I practice with them are not strikes but trapping, joint locks, and strangulations. They most definitely are more effective against an unarmed attacker, but if properly trained I believe can be used against an armed attacker


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## Transk53 (Aug 1, 2015)

MatsumuraKarate said:


> From my understanding they are an equalizer weapon. From the oral tradition passed to me they were favored as a self defense tool of the elderly. Most of the techniques I practice with them are not strikes but trapping, joint locks, and strangulations. They most definitely are more effective against an unarmed attacker, but if properly trained I believe can be used against an armed attacker



Yeah don't disagree. However, seem a bit hit and hope even in skilled hands.


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## donald1 (Aug 1, 2015)

I have sparred with them, and practiced kobudo with them for 4 years.  I remember my first pair were foam pair. About a year later I got wooden. I went home that day. And the first thing I did was accidently hit my funny bone (which was not funny). And in the past ive hit the tips of my fimgers many times (attempts to catch other end). Im better with nunchaku now and yet I still get a little nervous when I hear the whipping sound when the nunchaku passes by my head


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## Transk53 (Aug 1, 2015)

donald1 said:


> I have sparred with them, and practiced kobudo with them for 4 years.  I remember my first pair were foam pair. About a year later I got wooden. I went home that day. And the first thing I did was accidently hit my funny bone (which was not funny). And in the past ive hit the tips of my fimgers many times (attempts to catch other end). Im better with nunchaku now and yet I still get a little nervous when I hear the whipping sound when the nunchaku passes by my head



How nervous would you be when that moment cometh the blow? From my uneducated viewpoint ofc


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## donald1 (Aug 1, 2015)

Not so nervous more like in pain (if it hit me in the head) but so far that has never happened. Its definatly not my favorite weapon I prefer the bo staff


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## Winchester (Aug 9, 2016)

99% of the time the person knocking the nunchaku bought a pair & after knocking himself out a few times he realized it takes extensive training to be able to use it in a fight & now tells everyone who will listen it's "ineffective".....unless you wanna hurt yourself.

Elmore's ebook is THE most realistic thing I've read in the nunchaku.  The nunchaku is even more effective than it is simple...which is VERY!  All it is is a 2-piece club linked by a chain/rope used to beat or choke an assailant.  If it wasn't for Bruce Lee nobody would even know what the hell a "numchuck" even is.  There has never been a single shred of proof of its martial use in any art ever.  An angry disarmed Okinawan farmer used it to strangle an enemy & it's use grew from there.  If it wasn't successfully used many times it would have long since disappeared.  I'm sure there are many agricultural tools men have used to kill with that weren't dreamed into being a karotty weapon.  The nunchaku simply was used by Okinawans who also developed a very effective unarmed method of self defense & it was sucked into legend by vacuum & Hollywood marketing the right kinda movie at the right time.  The nunchaku needs to be in the Okinawan agricultural museum & not associated with martial arts in any way or form.  This fact does not negate the nunchaku's deadliness one bit IMO.    It just isn't part of karate or kung fu history in real way.

The real history of the nunchaku - Alex Levitas' NUNCHAKU and NUNCHAKU-DO site


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## Winchester (Aug 10, 2016)

They need to make a movie about a poor Okinawan farmer who goes on a vengeful murder spree using nunchaku rice flail.


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## Winchester (Aug 10, 2016)

"Nah....them chucks don't work worth a sh#="


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## Winchester (Aug 11, 2016)

A few laughs


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## Winchester (Aug 13, 2016)

More fun :


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## Gerry Seymour (Aug 13, 2016)

Tez3 said:


> Oh yes lol. Makes life interesting though.


An attendee at some communication training I delivered for a client this week shared this story. Their company was bought out a few decades ago by a more conservative company. At a meeting in London, an executive from the new parent company was sharing with 200 people some of the changes that were being instituted, including changes in dress code. "For one, women will no longer be allowed to wear pants." Silence, then, slowly, all the men started clapping.


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## Winchester (Aug 13, 2016)

Tight skirts with patent leather heels are hotter than pants.


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## Tez3 (Aug 13, 2016)

Winchester said:


> Tight skirts with patent leather heels are hotter than pants.



I think you missed the point of the post lol.


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## Winchester (Aug 13, 2016)

I got the skirts & heels part.


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## Tez3 (Aug 13, 2016)

Winchester said:


> I got the skirts & heels part.



You didn't get the 'pants' joke. The skirts and heels part is just crass.


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## Winchester (Aug 14, 2016)

It seems to me the armpit catch is the best nunchaku strike?  The bounce back is easier controlled by a downward pull.


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## Winchester (Aug 17, 2016)

I really am surprised Elmore's STREET CHUCKS is not more popular?  It's perfect.  All the nunchaku is a 2 piece club joined by a short chain used to beat, joint lock or choke an aggressor with.  I'm not aware of another weapon which was plucked from obscurity & elevated to such a mythical status all because of a Hollywood movie.  I can't believe there are actual organized sparring contests using them.  That makes about as much sense as billlyclub beat downs?


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## Tez3 (Aug 17, 2016)

Winchester said:


> I really am surprised Elmore's STREET CHUCKS is not more popular?  It's perfect.  All the nunchaku is a 2 piece club joined by a short chain used to beat, joint lock or choke an aggressor with.  I'm not aware of another weapon which was plucked from obscurity & elevated to such a mythical status all because of a Hollywood movie.  I can't believe there are actual organized sparring contests using them.  That makes about as much sense as billlyclub beat downs?



Yep that Hollywood film was Peter Seller's Pink Panther which pre dated Enter the Dragon by 9 years. Most of us of a certain age knew about the use of nunchaku long before Bruce Lee.


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## Winchester (Aug 17, 2016)

Actually you've got that backwards.  Sellers use of the was in REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER which was released in 1978, six years after FIST OF FURY which was released in 1972.

Fist of Fury - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Tez3 (Aug 17, 2016)

A Shot in the Dark 1964.


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## Winchester (Aug 17, 2016)

I think the first time the nunchaku was used in a PINK PANTHER film was THE PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN which was released in 1976 four years after FIST OF FURY.  Ed Parker was in THE REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER which as I said was, released in 1978.


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## Winchester (Aug 17, 2016)

It doesn't matter anyway the nunchaku is a crap SD weapon.  It's great to increase dexterity but not got fighting unless you're in a fantasy kung fu movie.  I've never heard of the nunchaku doing anything but joint locks.  I read yesterday Lee wasn't that great of a fighter in real life.


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## Winchester (Aug 18, 2016)

Funny how the PINK PANTHER point was dropped so quickly?


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## Winchester (Aug 18, 2016)

Winchester said:


> It doesn't matter anyway the nunchaku is a crap SD weapon.  It's great to increase dexterity but not got fighting unless you're in a fantasy kung fu movie



This not to say the nunchaku IN TRAINED HANDS can not be a deadly weapon.  It's just that in the vast majority of cases the weilder has no training & thinks all here has to do is flail-away, which is wrong.


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## senseiblackbelt (Aug 18, 2016)

Tez3 said:


> In the UK bonking on the head is discouraged unless you know the person is up for it!





wheres the laughing emoji? u rlly hve a sense of humour.


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## lklawson (Aug 18, 2016)

Winchester said:


> It doesn't matter anyway the nunchaku is a crap SD weapon.  It's great to increase dexterity but not got fighting unless you're in a fantasy kung fu movie.  I've never heard of the nunchaku doing anything but joint locks.  I read yesterday Lee wasn't that great of a fighter in real life.


"I see you're drinking 1%. Is that 'cause you think you're fat? Because you're not. You could be drinking whole if you wanted to. Well, I have all your equipment in my locker. You should probably come get it cause I can't fit my nunchucks in there anymore."


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## lklawson (Aug 18, 2016)

Winchester said:


> This not to say the nunchaku IN TRAINED HANDS can not be a deadly weapon.  It's just that in the vast majority of cases the weilder has no training & thinks all here has to do is flail-away, which is wrong.


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## Winchester (Aug 18, 2016)

What happened to the PINK PANTHER citation?


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## Tez3 (Aug 18, 2016)

Winchester said:


> What happened to the PINK PANTHER citation?



It's a Pink Panther film. Peter Sellers as Clouseau, Bert Kwouk as Kato


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