Numchucks

[Akhilleus]

OK so I heard the numchucks or nunchaku or whatever make for really good seminars so I dug through my closet to find the foam pair I had purchased at a seminar at least 15 years ago...

They were hard to handle and felt like they would do wonders for my coordination so I started practicing them everyday for at least 15-30 min...just doing basic moves right now, nothing too fancy...some stuff I remembered from the seminars I took as a kid and some stuff from videos...

anyway these chucks are pretty old and the chord looks like it is ready to break...so I go to my buddies school across the street but they only have glochucks...they look the right size but are a little light so I shoved some pens and junk in there (I am saving the glosticks for special occasions) and they are still a little light but I feel like they are much better than nothing...

I found the lighter glochucks a little bit easier to handle than the foam ones so I want to order a pair of rattan or octaganol wooden ones soon to make things more challenging...Also going to watch some Bruce Lee movies 'cause I feel like I am getting proficient enough at the basic moves to start trying some more fancy ones...right now I am suppose to do the seminar sometime in September so I will keep practicing them every day...

discuss...

[norther practitioner]

Chicks dig guys with numchuck skills.

[GeneChing]

"Numchuk skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills… girls only want boyfriends who have great skills." (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=599)

[@PLUGO]

I think, any seminar featuring 'chucks (http://www.martialartsmart.net/50-26.html) would benefit for the use of appropriate protective gear (http://www.martialartsmart.net/95-034.html).

[PangQuan]

nunchaku are great for arm conditioning. I was never really too hot on the whole chuck idea until one day i messed up my elbow real good.

I couldnt do push ups for about a month, was at the local budo shop when i decided I would get a foam pair and see how well they helped in rehabilitating my damaged joint.

The great thing is you can work your techs with very little force at all, just simply going through the motions. Or you can blast all your power into every strike. This is what really helped me out. I would varie the degree of power i used to the point where it was just right and my elbow could handle the pain. Gradually increasing the level.

After a month of that I bought a pair of the wooden octogon rope nunchaku. The added weight did wonders on upping the amount of strain on my joint.

Now, a year later my elbow is fine. Of course i would bruse the hell out of the inner elbows but thats all superficial, and heals just fine. I attribute chucking to a major part of the therapy that got my arm back. And now im pretty confident i could mess a mo fo up if i needed to.

I tell you of all the places ive hit myself i would have to say the knob on the outside of my right ankle was the worst. Straight dropped me to the floor. Ive hit my groin elbow head and various other places but that was the worst.

[Oso]

I love chucks.

I've got a pair of maple octagonal w/ round ends and the Speedchuck(tm) swivel.
I've got them about 1983....shortly after I busted out the picture window in the living room. :eek: :o :D

I've got another maple octagonal set w/ squared ends and rope. I bought some 2mm Kevlar rope at a climbing shop and restrung them and they are pretty sweet.


I think chucks are great for learning to stick and follow a moving object so is good for developing chin na skills.


I just did a class with some of my students teaching them basic movements and passes...I've also got 6 pair of foam chuck

so, chinese or japanese, they are much fun.

[Akhilleus]

Yeah I love the 'chucks...hopefully I can get those wooden ones soon...

I don't practice in the living room anymore coz onetime I lost them and they hit the big screen...luckily no damage was done but I learned my lesson...

Thanks for the article Gene...I'm hoping that my chucks can help me out with that area of my life too (chicks dig chucks)...

[BM2]

[QUOTE=Oso]I love chucks.

I've got a pair of maple octagonal w/ round ends and the Speedchuck(tm) swivel.
I've got them about 1983....shortly after I busted out the picture window in the living room. :eek: :o :D

Ok, I sent my chucks flying in '82 and knocked over a lamp. Anyone else would have known to forge ahead with caution....instead I made an excuse, they slipped, I am really starting to get good :rolleyes: .
I really thought that I was a bad mo fo with them untill about 5 minutes later, again going as fast as I could, when I dropped myself to my knees from cracking them into my skull. Yup, they were the octagon shaped ones.

[Kristoffer]

I accidently smashed a porsline/glass lamp in my bedroom. So I bought a new one, exactly like the first. I smashed that one too. So I got another one. That one lasted about a year. So now I don't bother to buy a new lamp so there's just a lightbulb hanging from the roof. It's been like that for 2 years I think.

[GeneChing]

seinfield's got skillz (http://www.brandonbird.com/sein_chucks.jpg)

get your numchucks here (http://www.martialartsmart.net/Nunchakus.html).

[Lucas]

that totally just became my desktop background at work.

excellent find sir!

[BoulderDawg]

I think Chucks are good to learn hand/eye cordination and they look good spinning around (Poi is also nice) however as a weapon I don't care for them. Seems like they're illegal to even carry in your car in most parts of the country.

A more practical weapon is a staff or walking cane. Easier to use, not illegal to carry a cane anywhere....even in an airplane.

[Lucas]

i personally love em. i always have to re rope them for the right length when i buy em.

ive gravitated far away from doing flashy techniques though. i like to keep it simple, effecient, and powerful. fortunately for myself ive stopped accidentally hitting myself about a year ago.

ive noticed most people that do nunchaku, have a similar approach that modern contemp wushu guys have in comparison to combat relations.

most nunchaku is just crap.

they are illegal to carry, but i could imagine someones suprise to face someone who has a profeciency with them.

hell i would pay to see some nunchaku in a real life situation. i just dont want to pay THE MAN, myself.

[Lokhopkuen]

Funny the timing of this since I just posted this on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVUDXq6Kb8

[GeneChing]

****! We don't have the rawhide models (http://www.martialartsmart.net/Nunchakus.html)!!!


Did Somebody Say "Nunchucks"? (http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/92807)
by Mike Krumboltz
44 hours ago

It's not every day that you get to hear U.S. Senators and a Supreme Court nominee talk about nunchucks. Today was one such day.

In one of the more unintentionally light exchanges of the second day of confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah questioned Sotomayor on Maloney v. Rice. The case involved the banning of nunchucks, a martial arts weapon made from two sticks of wood and connected by a chain or, as Sen. Hatch suggested, "rawhide."

The mention of nunchucks, which Sotomayor judged to be a deadly weapon and thus subject to a ban in New York, sparked off a huge flurry of searches. Lookups on "nunchucks" and the alternate spelling "nunchaku" both chopped up the Search box.

Likely to surge as the day wears on: "origin of nunchucks." Where do these things come from and who, aside from Napoleon Dynamite, actually finds them to be an effective weapon? Well, Bruce Lee used them in various films. Oh, and let us not forget Michelangelo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 'Nuff said.

You can watch Sen. Hatch and Judge Sotomayor talk nunchucks below...
Click the link for the clip.

Viva Sotomayor!

[Lokhopkuen]

seinfield's got skillz (http://www.brandonbird.com/sein_chucks.jpg)

get your numchucks here (http://www.martialartsmart.net/Nunchakus.html).

You don't have the ones that light up? That's how I made my kids learn the set (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVUDXq6Kb8).

[David Jamieson]

they're too short. cane or staff wins.
:p

[Lokhopkuen]

they're too short. cane or staff wins.
:p

We practice it against the spear:rolleyes:

[Lucas]

i like that set, its realistic. i wish i had someone around me to teach me some more about the nunchaku.

ive been practicing with them for about 5 years now. im past the point of hitting myself, thankfully, but all ive got to go with is video, and my heavy bag. all my influence is japanese driven as well. im pretty confident that i could really mess someone up if i pulled them.

i dont do any fancy tricks though. all my technique is driven by my martial mind with a firm grip at all times. ive been developing a set, for myself, just to string together everything ive become somewhat profecient in. ive tried very hard to infuse my shaolin methods into the training to keep it more familiar. ive found some pretty devious approaches, one of my favorites involving an upward strike, from passing behind the back followed with a sidekick and an downward strike then defense retreating back to empty ready.

any pointers or references would be lovely

:D;)

[David Jamieson]

We practice it against the spear:rolleyes:

unchoreographed?

[Chief_Suicide]

****! We don't have the rawhide models (http://www.martialartsmart.net/Nunchakus.html)!!!


Click the link for the clip.

Viva Sotomayor!

By the same standard a rock is dangerous. Windows are dangerous; buildings higher than one floor are dangerous, sticks are dangerous, strings of any type are dangerous. Let's ban stringed instruments because we take the strings off and strangle people. This logic is beyond my comprehension.

And Lucas is right, it seems a lot of people tend to be wushu-ish (<--- my own word) with there nunchuck styles. I even practice the twirls even though they have no real world fighting use.

[SPJ]

all in time

usually we start with single long staff practice.

them medium length staff.

then 3 sections staff/as if a long staff.

then 2 section staff/as if a medium staff.

---

have fun.

:cool:

[SPJ]

I meant only if we are good at a fixed staff first

then we practice the flexible staff with chains.

:D;)

[sanjuro_ronin]

Saw a few nunchaku VS stick fights in the DBMA gatherings, nunchaku guy always got his clock cleaned.

[Lucas]

ya i would much rather have a stick than nunchaku in a weapon fight. and id rather have a blade than a stick.

nunchaku are definately antiquated. you would seriously have to dedicate your training to their use, like full time, if you want them to be of real value vs pretty much any other weapon, except maybe a halberd, whip chain or ropedart. :D

[David Jamieson]

well, they weren't made as weapons to begin with. THey are farm implements and really they are for removing the chaff from rice.

so, in a pinch, yeah, you could use em as a weapon, but against a real weapon like a staff or even a sword, I would say you would need a lot a lot of training, and good training too before you would have much of a chance against someone equally versed in a long weapon.

[Lucas]

well....the plain stick started out as a tool as well...look at what we did with that.

[Lucas]

actually i recently read a story about that.

you know those apes that use sticks to get at termites and the like. there is this tribe of apes that have been being followed for study, and recently they have begun to use the sticks as weapons

now if only i could find the link to the story....

not the story i was thinking of, i think the one i red dealt with smaller primates than gorillas.

check it out (http://monkeydaynews.blogspot.com/2007/11/gorillas-fight-human-invaders-using.html)

[Lokhopkuen]

unchoreographed?

I wasn't taught a practice set:D

[Lokhopkuen]

well, they weren't made as weapons to begin with. THey are farm implements and really they are for removing the chaff from rice.

so, in a pinch, yeah, you could use em as a weapon, but against a real weapon like a staff or even a sword, I would say you would need a lot a lot of training, and good training too before you would have much of a chance against someone equally versed in a long weapon.

Anything in the hands of a determined person is a weapon.

The Shaolin practice 18.

Long, short, flexible, blunt, sharp, edged, double edge, practiced single and in double.

The idea is practicing 18 categories of extending your manifest energy through various objects into opponents turns any object into a weapon but you knew that didn't you?:D

[SIFU RON]

funny the timing of this since i just posted this on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kvudxq6kb8

good form , thanks

[GeneChing]

Numchuk sticks at the supreme court!

this is our new ad (http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/sotomayor-nunchucks-071409/1135564?dst=nbc|widget|NBC%20Video&__source=nbc|widget|NBC%20Video)...

...for these (http://www.martialartsmart.net/Nunchakus.html)

Who'd a thunk Sotomayor would be our new spokesperson?

[SIFU RON]

haha lol - Good one Gene -Think she earned a 10 ? ;)

[Lokhopkuen]

Bruce Skywalker? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h63T9RANnhc)

[GeneChing]

http://comics.com/get_fuzzy/2009-10-19/

We'll see if Conley runs with this like he did with his MMA series (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54724).

[GeneChing]

When Nunchuk Skills Get You Busted: Nunchaku and the Law (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1135) by Greg Lynch Jr

[Syn7]

You can make them pretty easily. Especially if you have a lathe. I have made a few pairs, each time coming closer to perfect for me. Always wood, never chain. I have used nylon, which works well but can be cut easily. I have used aviation cable, which is relatively cut resistant, but not as smooth as the nylon. I'm still looking for something better. I think next time around I may try some braided steel I saw at a hardware store nearby. Not sure what it's called. I'll post a pic of how I string them. I even carved out a small trench from hole to hole on both sides. Anyways, having both strands come out the center makes for nice balance. After using my own, I try ones that friends bought, and they are just sad. Especially with that ridiculous chain. None of mine have broken yet, and I beat the living hell out of em on hard targets. Trees, metal poles etc etc. They get dinged up, but never rendered inoperable. I gave all of them away eventually, except one pair that are at my fathers. Next time I'm up there I'll try to remember to take a pic so folks can see exactly what I've done. Nothing revolutionary, just solid well built rugged as **** chucks. Nice enough for the mantle, but not so much after you start hitting stuff with em, lol.


Ok, here's a pic that describes how I string em. Make sure you don't drill the holes any thicker than you have to, and round off the upper inner edges for a smooth swing. Also, choose your wood wisely. Maybe some folks in here can make some suggestions as to what wood they have used, why, and how well they have worked. There's a balance to be struck here. If so inclined, you can get really artistic with the inlays and such. Like pool cues. Not the kinda thing you wanna hit anything with tho.

7943

[Lucas]

I always replace mine with some hardore bootlace or parachute cord. By far one of the more fun weapons to work with.

[GeneChing]

An article from Merriam-Webster (https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/nunchucks-word-origin-history).


Word History
Of 'Nunchucks' And Nuns (https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/nunchucks-word-origin-history)
Sometimes a word really, really does not equal the sum of its parts

One of the common misconceptions occasionally held by amateur etymologists is the idea that one might sit down and stare at a word for a good long while, and by dint of thoughtfulness and a certain amount of daring, come up with a reasonable explanation for its origin. That’s not how etymology usually works.

https://assets.merriam-webster.com/mw/images/article/art-wap-article-main/alt-59305693293ca-3753-d29665ff7786eb79a7922eb5d0368ff3@1x.jpg
Photo: hatipoglu
Nunchucks in repose

For an example of why this sort of approach is not the most efficacious, we may look to the recent introduction into English of the word nunchuck. This word, which is defined as “a weapon that consists of two usually hardwood sticks joined at their ends by a short length of rawhide, cord, or chain,” came into our language in the late 1960s, and has very little to do with chucking and even less to do with nuns.

Nunchuck is a variant of a word from the Japanese dialect of Okinawa, nunchaku, which itself may come from a Taiwanese word for a kind of farming tool, neng-cak. Nunchaku began to be used in English in the early 1960s, initially applied to a style of martial arts, and shortly after to the particular weapon employed in that style.


Join our new class on Okinawan Karate and Martial Arts – Bow, Tun-Fa, Sai, Nunchaku.
—The Honolulu Advertiser (advt), 22 Nov. 1961

Traditional Ryukyuan arts of self defense (left to right)—Sai, Nunchaku, and Boo, three different forms of karate — originated in Okinawa 400 years ago.
—Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 1965

Hanke introduced him to the nunchaku, a fighting stick which Okinawans devised from a much longer rice-threshing tool.
—Don Lenhausen, Detroit Free Press, 2 Feb. 1969

Protect Yourself From Assault. For women of all ages, especially if living alone. The incredible “nunchaku” is the best non-lethal handweapon that even very old and very young can use. Works for you when fears are aroused.
—The Los Angeles Times (advt.), 7 Dec. 1969

It did not take long before English speakers began coming up with variant ways of saying nunchaku; by the end of the decade, both nun chuck and nunchuck could be found. Oddly enough, the earliest citations for these two spellings (that we've found) come from reports on the Jewish Defense League (although it should be noted that is not sufficient evidence to claim that the JDL is responsible for the current spelling of nunchuck).


The JDL patrols don’t wear uniforms; their only badge of identification is a blue beret. And their weaponry consists of a motley collection of bats, two-handed flails called nunchucks and a varying mastery of karate.
—Wade Greene, Journal Gazette (Mattoon, IL), 28 Feb. 1970

Boston’s Jewish Defense League carries (in addition to Mace, nightsticks, and Alsatians) a weapon they call a “nun chuck”—two sixteen-inch-long oak sticks connected by a short length of nylon cord.
—Gary T. Marx and Dane Archer, The American Behavioral Scientist (Princeton, NJ), 1 Sept. 1971

Many of the early printed mentions of nunchucks tended to characterize them as potentially deadly weapons, although in subsequent decades there have not been any reports of significant fatalities from their use.


Nun-chucks consist of two 10-inch-long sticks about an inch each in diameter which are connected by one end by a pair of cord thongs. Wielded by an individual schooled in their use they are capable of inflicting death with a single blow.
—Delaware County Daily Times (Chester, PA), 9 Mar. 1973

Consider this your reminder that even though butterfly does indeed come from joining butter and flies, this does not mean that you can then apply the same principles of scholarship to other words which appear to have been formed by combining words. If you're a fiction writer, however, connecting the origin of nunchucks to nuns could lead to an intriguing story.

Nunchucks, numchucks, nunchaku - get 'em here (http://www.martialartsmart.com/weapons-nunchakus.html).