Thanks to John Wick

when I did a bit of kobudo some time ago , the teacher claimed everything , including the nunchuck kata he was teaching , came from Okinawa.
Unfortunately politics killed the group after about 6 months I moved on with life and never really spent any time verifying his claims.
The techniques I do remember don’t involve a lot of twirly stuff , and on the subject of locks I’ve got a recollection of using a 2 handed block against an oi Zuni, think morote uke while holding nunchucks, and then rolling 1 of the sides over the opponents wrist to entangle them with the rope/chain to apply pressure.

 

I find it annoying that Nunchacku get thought of as a traditional Chinese weapon when they are not. They are only thought of that because of Bruce Lee's using them in movies = Movie Fu. I actually ended up leaving a CLF FB group because the Sifu who ran it was so annoyed that I politely asked him to give evidence of his claim that they were a traditional Chinese weapon. He nad nothing for me except to say how dare I question him as a Sifu. I have run into this revisionist history of Nunchaku in multiple places.

It is all fine and well to make a modern adaption, but ADMIT the true origins and that it is Okinawan.

The closest equivalent I can make is that they are very similar to the Chinese weapon of the three section staff. When I learned to use them at my last level, I wasn't excited to learn them. Because I had heard stories of how everyone knocks themselves in the head and elsewhere learning to use them. What I found is that they are an extremely impractical weapon, but VERY FUN!

I have yet to see claims backed up that the three section staff, like what you all are saying about Nunchucks, really were widely used in a practical sense. And I would really need to see such evidence to believe it, because my personal experience tells me otherwise. We have a saying/ joke at my school that you aren't really a black sash until you have hit yourself in the head learning the three section staff! It is like a rite of initiation! I have yet to run into anyone, no matter how high a level of martial artist they have become, that did not bean themselves in the head and elsewhere multiple times learning to use it. I see the three section staff an nunchucks as very much the same in this regard.

That is why I think laws prohibiting both weapons are dumb and all about political perception, rather than any real danger.

To allude to another thread on MAP, it is completely ok to sometimes do something in a martial art because it is fun! Some things in my school are valuable practical self defense. Some develop other skills that are secondary, but help fighting skills. Some are just fun and that's ok. Just don't pretend it is practical for some false need to justify using them.

To anyone on this thread who argues that they are practical, I would ask if they have ever really used either a three section staff or Nunchaku for any length of time before arguing that assertion. Because, frankly, I highly doubt it.

Speaking of the fun of these weapons, I loved the movie Heroes of the East, which had lots of fight sequences pitting Chinese and Japanese weapons against each other. This was one of my favorite scenes.

 

Thanks for the link to the article El Medico! That is all have asked for in the past, elsewhere. For people making historical claims to provide some sources. My google fu was coming up short. I will read it this weekend and get back to you. I am more than happy to rescind my annoyance if it turns out I am incorrect.

And, my friend and Kung Fu Brother, if you look back at my posts, you will see that I was taught that fans were a modern addition by my school. And I am pretty sure I never claimed they were otherwise. Again, modern adaptions are fine as long as no one claims they are ancient. As for what it adds in depth, that really is for another thread. And I am pretty sure we have had that discussion before? Love ya right back!

Fans are just fancy, and slightly weaker short sticks, disguised. I actually love all sticks and staffs as weapons. Thoroughly enjoy using all of them I have been introduced to so far. Even the impractical ones. But the basic plain old stick is IMO one of the most practical weapons, particularly to adapt to modern times.

Further digression. Skip this paragraph to see me get back on topic. - My GM has developed a lot of both TCC forms with a lot of traditional Chinese Martial Arts weapons, but not traditionally used for TCC. Also some not traditional weapons. I am going to learn a TCC hook swords form next level. One of the most obscure ones is in my current curriculum. It is a sword cane form. (I am actually not too crazy about it. Not one of my favorites.) But we are always taught what the core traditional forms and other aspects of training are. And we are strongly encouraged to prioritize those, keep training them even as we are off learning the exotic newer stuff.

Respectfully, I do need more details of your friends who used Nunchucks in "actual combat" effectively to give that claim much credence. As in, how often did they use them effectively? In what situation? What sort of move was effective? I don't doubt they can be used to some good effect sometimes. I just really doubt the benefit could not have been achieved with a more practical weapon that had less danger of backfiring and hurting the wielder. And am curious why you still qualify that statement with saying they are still lousy weapons.

I guess the one thing I can say to contradict myself is this. If someone is going to spend hundreds of hours practicing with them, because they are fun. While they would not spend that time with a more practical weapon that isn't as fun to them, well, maybe for them the less efficient weapon becomes the more efficient one. Just because of the hours put into it?

I do think Nunchucks and three sections staffs help develop manual dexterity. And the ability to develop control over with an unwieldly weapon. So I think they do have some value besides the fun factor.