# Nunchucks are for "trapping"???



## BrothersMA (May 12, 2016)

"As the sword or staff came at them they would wrap it in the chain or cord"
Maybe if you staged it. But in real time there is no way. It seems like the only real defense would be to just try to hit things away. And even at that, a stick would be better


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (May 12, 2016)

BrothersMA said:


> "As the sword or staff came at them they would wrap it in the chain or cord"
> Maybe if you staged it. But in real time there is no way. It seems like the only real defense would be to just try to hit things away. And even at that, a stick would be better


Where did you get that from?
Either way, i've tried it in live-sparring multiple times and it works. Only if you know the person was going to attack though, and they aren't using stabbing motions. But a slash, it works fine.


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## Dirty Dog (May 12, 2016)

BrothersMA said:


> "As the sword or staff came at them they would wrap it in the chain or cord"
> Maybe if you staged it. But in real time there is no way. It seems like the only real defense would be to just try to hit things away. And even at that, a stick would be better



It could be done, even if it's not a high-percentage move.


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## Buka (May 12, 2016)

Nunchucks are for headaches. Wait awhile, you'll see.


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## Andrew Green (May 13, 2016)

BrothersMA said:


> "As the sword or staff came at them they would wrap it in the chain or cord"
> Maybe if you staged it. But in real time there is no way. It seems like the only real defense would be to just try to hit things away. And even at that, a stick would be better



If you are fighting someone that has a sword or even a staff using nunchucks I think running might be your better option...


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## Bill Mattocks (May 13, 2016)

Nunchaku, not nunchucks.  Thank you.  And yes, they can be used for trapping as well as striking and blocking.  Many weapons have more than one use.  It may seem amazing, but it's not all like we see in the movies.


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## Buka (May 13, 2016)

As a young under-belt belt, I used to twirl them chucks. Got pretty good at it, too. I had a smaller pair given to me by an Okinawan, hard wood, very fast. I had all the moves, even the sound of the whir through the air was impressive. One time I conked myself right behind the ear. Thin skin there, split it wide open. Bled all over the place, couldn't stem the flow. It was a serious mess. Off to the E.R. 

Nunchaku were not well known back in 72, I tried to explain them to the Doc as he stitched me up. He said, "So, let me get this straight, you hit yourself behind the ear with a stick....that's attached to another stick with a string....that used to be used to flail rice?" "Yes, sir" I said.
He called over another Doc and told him the story, he also found it amusing. Then a nurse, she found it humorous, too.
When I left he had written down how to care for the wound. Followed by...."Don't hit yourself in the head with any more sticks."


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## Bill Mattocks (May 13, 2016)

Buka said:


> As a young under-belt belt, I used to twirl them chucks. Got pretty good at it, too. I had a smaller pair given to me by an Okinawan, hard wood, very fast. I had all the moves, even the sound of the whir through the air was impressive. One time I conked myself right behind the ear. Thin skin there, split it wide open. Bled all over the place, couldn't stem the flow. It was a serious mess. Off to the E.R.
> 
> Nunchaku were not well known back in 72, I tried to explain them to the Doc as he stitched me up. He said, "So, let me get this straight, you hit yourself behind the ear with a stick....that's attached to another stick with a string....that used to be used to flail rice?" "Yes, sir" I said.
> He called over another Doc and told him the story, he also found it amusing. Then a nurse, she found it humorous, too.
> When I left he had written down how to care for the wound. Followed by...."Don't hit yourself in the head with any more sticks."



I bought a set of nunchaku at a flea market in Denver about that same timeframe.  I think that's the only correct place to buy such things, really, along with fake IDs that no doorman will accept and ninja stars.  Tried them for a few days, got bored, gave them to a friend who was a part-time boxer and had very good hand-eye coordination.  He was very good very quickly with them.  Then hit himself square in the forehead and knocked himself out cold.  I don't know what became of them after that.

Our style of martial arts doesn't use nunchaku.  We use bo, sai, and tonfa (we call them tuifa).  I am getting involved in a new kobudo system which uses more traditional Okinawan weapons, such as tichu, eku (oar), yari, sansetsukon (three-section staff) and others.  I'm not that coordinated with weapons, but they make a good counterpoint to empty-hand training, and the underlying methods of power generation and extension are similar.

One thing I am learning is that most traditional weapons are used in exactly the manner that it would appear you would used them - the obvious use of a nunchaku is to flail.  However, it is also clear that the originators of the various weapons styles spent a lot of time thinking about them and how else they could be used, and testing how effective they might be used in other capacities.  Things like using a nunchaku to trap may be non-obvious, but they can be quite effective as a control mechanism when applied to a wrist or a weapon.  Often used less for a 'fight' and more for 'control techniques' such as a law enforcement officer (or village drunk patrol) might use as non-lethal force.

Quite a few traditional weapons, it seems, were adapted later to use as non-lethal restraint and control devices in Japan and Okinawa.  In such a manner, I see no reason why the nunchaku would not be excellent as a restraint and a control.  In the USMC, we military police used to refer to such things as 'come alongs'.  For example, a police baton or nightstick is for beating people over the head with - and it will split a skull quite readily.  However, grasped in the middle and passed between the legs from behind, then turned to block forward motion of those legs, combined with a grasping of the collar and leaning the arrestee forward turns it into a very nice frog march tool.

Military Police Protection in Southeast Asia

Some might say "You can't use a nightstick like that!"  But we could, and did.  A lot more often than hitting them on the noggin, for what it's worth.

So yeah, nunchaku as a trapping weapon?  Absolutely.  Why not?


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## jks9199 (May 13, 2016)

Bill Mattocks said:


> I bought a set of nunchaku at a flea market in Denver about that same timeframe.  I think that's the only correct place to buy such things, really, along with fake IDs that no doorman will accept and ninja stars.  Tried them for a few days, got bored, gave them to a friend who was a part-time boxer and had very good hand-eye coordination.  He was very good very quickly with them.  Then hit himself square in the forehead and knocked himself out cold.  I don't know what became of them after that.


My friends and I made 'em in the mid 80s...  Yeah, they were about as safe as you'd expect.  Eyebolts, playground swing chain or maybe some clothes line for the rope...  Kind of wonder that the worst we did was clock ourselves in the noggin (or elsewhere).



> Quite a few traditional weapons, it seems, were adapted later to use as non-lethal restraint and control devices in Japan and Okinawa.  In such a manner, I see no reason why the nunchaku would not be excellent as a restraint and a control.


Nunchucks: California police use martial arts equipment - CNN.com


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## Andrew Green (May 13, 2016)

Bill Mattocks said:


> Nunchaku, not nunchucks.  Thank you.



Meh, Nunchaku might be "correct" according to Japanese pronunciation, but in English they've become "Nunchucks".  Nothing wrong with that, Japanese borrows words and modifies them too List of gairaigo and wasei-eigo terms - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Bill Mattocks (May 14, 2016)

Andrew Green said:


> Meh, Nunchaku might be "correct" according to Japanese pronunciation, but in English they've become "Nunchucks".  Nothing wrong with that, Japanese borrows words and modifies them too List of gairaigo and wasei-eigo terms - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



I try to have some respect for the language, since my style of karate came from there. Whilst I realize I massacre the language with my Western tongue, at least I try not not to.

Karate, they say, begins and ends with respect. I didn't grasp that when I started training, but I'm beginning to awaken to it.


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## Andrew Green (May 14, 2016)

Bill Mattocks said:


> I try to have some respect for the language, since my style of karate came from there. Whilst I realize I massacre the language with my Western tongue, at least I try not not to.
> 
> Karate, they say, begins and ends with respect. I didn't grasp that when I started training, but I'm beginning to awaken to it.




I don't think it is really disrespectful, depending on context.  I'd say "Nunchaku" is the Japanese word, and English borrowed it and turned it into "Nunchucks".  In a Japanese dojo that uses Japanese terms then "Nunchaku" would be appropriate, however in a English speaking forum of mixed martial arts backgrounds either should be fine  

It's not just "the west" that does this either.  "Dojang" is essentially a Koreanized version of "Dojo", but we wouldn't correct them on it.  Nunchucks is a English variation of "Nunchaku" as far as I am concerned.


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## Bill Mattocks (May 14, 2016)

Your call.


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## BrothersMA (May 16, 2016)

Andrew Green said:


> Meh, Nunchaku might be "correct" according to Japanese pronunciation, but in English they've become "Nunchucks".  Nothing wrong with that, Japanese borrows words and modifies them too List of gairaigo and wasei-eigo terms - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Just like how there is now "bo staff" anyone who goes to google these had better use the "incorrect" terms


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## BrothersMA (May 16, 2016)

Dirty Dog said:


> It could be done, even if it's not a high-percentage move.


True. I guess im saying its not a reliable blocking method. Seems like chucks have almost zero defense once you are holding 2 of them.


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## elder999 (May 16, 2016)

The nunchaku are an excellent tool for hand coordination, and developing hand speed. Additionally, the traditional exchange and striking patterns mirror empty-hand blocking patterns.......so they're a great practice tool in the dojo or at home...and fun. 

They're kinda useless as a weapon, though: except for their type of  trapping, anything they can do can be done with a simple stick of the same length, and a stick doesn't raise eyebrows nearly as much.,....


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## Bill Mattocks (May 16, 2016)

elder999 said:


> The nunchaku are an excellent tool for hand coordination, and developing hand speed. Additionally, the traditional exchange and striking patterns mirror empty-hand blocking patterns.......so they're a great practice tool in the dojo or at home...and fun.
> 
> They're kinda useless as a weapon, though: except for their type of  trapping, anything they can do can be done with a simple stick of the same length, and a stick doesn't raise eyebrows nearly as much.,....



Well, nearly anything.  A nunchaku used as a flail can wrap around a block in some cases, whereas a simple stick would not - unless the stick is really flexible, like some of those waxwood bo are.

I'm not an exponent of the nunchaku, just sayin'...


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## elder999 (May 16, 2016)

Bill Mattocks said:


> Well, nearly anything.  A nunchaku used as a flail can wrap around a block in some cases, whereas a simple stick would not - unless the stick is really flexible, like some of those waxwood bo are.
> 
> I'm not an exponent of the nunchaku, just sayin'...



Not sure what you're referring to as "wrapping around a block," but wouldn't that part of their type of trapping? Unless you mean wrap around a block executed by the nunchakuka, but most of those movements are largely superfluous, and their protection duplicable with a simple stick-though without the "wrap around?"..


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (May 16, 2016)

BrothersMA said:


> True. I guess im saying its not a reliable blocking method. Seems like chucks have almost zero defense once you are holding 2 of them.


As I stated, it's more reliable than most methods against a sword..so long as you know the person is coming in with a slash (and have trained it). A stab, or something shorter than a sword it wouldn't be. But a lot of the time you will have time to get both hands up there if you see it coming, and just getting the hands there and the sword on the positioning right is all you need to block it.
Only caveat is I do not know if nunchucks are made durable enough for the chains to withstand an actual sword; I have done this with fencing sabres, sticks, and actionflex swords at full speed, wooden and synthetic swords at not so full speed, and never with a 'real' sword.


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## Dirty Dog (May 16, 2016)

BrothersMA said:


> True. I guess im saying its not a reliable blocking method. Seems like chucks have almost zero defense once you are holding 2 of them.



I'm no expert on this weapon, nor even close. But given what little knowledge and experience I have of it, this would be among my last choices for a weapon.


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (May 16, 2016)

Dirty Dog said:


> I'm no expert on this weapon, nor even close. But given what little knowledge and experience I have of it, this would be among my last choices for a weapon.


Based on the training I have in it, the only time I would ever use it is if I was in medieval europe or japan/asia and fighting against swords, but don't have my own sword. Otherwise, I would pick almost any effective weapon (no rolled up newspaper for me) before it.


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