Nunchaku

The nunchaku (双節棍) (of nun , even, and shaku , unit of length) is a weapon of the Kobudo of Okinawa. His origin precisely is not known: according to the sources it can be a question of a plague (the nunchaku is sometimes called “Japanese plague”) being used to peel rice, or of a bit of horse, of which the use was diverted of its vocation first by the inhabitants of the island of Okinawa following the prohibition made to the peasants use weapons.

The latter, invaded by the China then the Japan and prohibited Arme S, reflect at the point of the martial techniques based on their tools to rebel, but it is only the one legend because there does not exist any legal text of medieval Japan indicating such a intediction. more especially as the nunchaku makes its appearance as a weapon under the domination of the TOKUGAWA which had the mania to publish legal texts for even for the behavior of the samurai, if such a prohibition had existed one can wonder consequently or of it are the evidence and in fact the origin of the kobudo of OKINAWA remains quite obscure. It is revealed in Occident as a Arme of predilection of Bruce Lee in films of Kung fu.

Nunchaku is an extremely effective weapon if it is correctly handled. On the other hand, for a beginner, the weapon is as dangerous for him even as for its adversary. The power of the nunchaku lies in its design, acting on the same principle as the whip. Nunchaku has a design which reproduces a " onde" who will increase the swiftness of the attack. Each blow is of a very great speed as well as great force.

The nunchaku has two principal vulnerabilities:

  1. After contact of the nunchaku with a surface (of flesh or other), the practitioner must take again his control before being able to attack again because its movement is not foreseeable any more (for example by deadening its movement on its thighs and by starting again it). That is mainly a handicap if the blow did not touch the adversary but the environment or if there are several adversaries.
  2. the flexible joint (cord, chain) is at the base of the movement. The Australian police force would have given up the use of the nunchaku after having noted that a possible defense against this one was to slip a stick on the level of the joint. The nunchaku is rolled up then around this point of impromptu pivot and, while raising the stick, the adversary could in theory tear off the nunchaku hands of its user.

In France, the nunchaku is regarded as a weapon of 6th category (including the knives), on sale free without declaration. The port of Nunchaku on the public highway is prohibited in France because of dangerosity of this weapon. According to the law, during legitimate transport (between residence and place of drive or competition), the nunchaku should not be immediately usable (for example at the bottom of a bag). The nunchaku is on the other hand interdict with the sale in the American States of New York, California and the Massachusetts, like with the Canada.

In Belgium, the nunchaku is a prohibited weapon. The law Onkelinx or law on the weapons defines it as follows: " formed plague of two short and rigid stems whose ends are connected by a chain or another moyen". It results from it that a simple skipping rope small of two handles became, in Belgium, a prohibited weapon.

Forms and styles

Formed of two or three pieces out of wood or out of metal, of form round or octagonal, widened and connected by chain (replacing the cord which could be crossed), the nunchaku is practiced in many schools of martial arts in Asia. It recently became a Martial art with whole share and it is declined in several sporting disciplines:

  • the nunchaku of combat: two helmeted adversaries clash with foam nunchakus.

  • the nunchaku of kata: the practitioner learn a succession from movements asking for a great technique and a great detail, then it carries out these sequences as if it fought against an imaginary adversary.

  • the artistic nunchaku: this time the goal is by no means the combat, it is purely a question of esthetics. Nevertheless, this style of nunchaku request a extrème control and a very great technique. It is a question of carrying out sequences extrèmement beautiful to look at, using one or two nunchaku. One should not compare the artistic nunchaku to simple juggling, it is before a whole martial art.

  • freestyle: the goal is also artistic here. However, contrary to the artistic nunchaku, the freestyle is closer to the juggling and the handling of object that martial arts. Indeed, it is before all the creativity which imports. One employs sometimes nunchakus luminous or ignited for freestyle.

The nunchaku exists under several different names according to the country and the form:

  • Standard

    (2 sticks at 8 sides): nunchaku or hakakukei nunchaku in Japan, shao zi gun in China

  • 2 round sticks: marugata in Japan
  • 1 long stick, 1 stick half-size: so setsu kon in Japan
  • 2 sticks of half-length to long chain: han-kei nunchaku in Japan
  • 3 sticks (equivalent or 2 courts a length): san setsu kon in Japan. Difficult to control. Not to confuse with the Chinese tri-stick, much larger.
  • 4 sticks: yon setsu kon in Japan. Very rare.

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