Fascinations with nunchucks
Is a nunchuck just a pair of wooden sticks attached by a chain or rope and used as a weapon? No, not only that. It represents an art, a passion and a story!
Nunchucks can be quickly passed between the hands, between the legs, under the arms, and behind the head, in multiple attack / defense movements. It snaps onto the target at high speed due to the increased lever arm.
If you see Lee Barden showing the changes and rotations of the nunchucks with finesse and ease, you might be fascinated by nunchucks right away. You can really get an idea of how passionate a nunchuck can be, that Nokia has created an ad that shows a guy who looks like Bruce Lee, playing ping pong with nunchucks.
Nunchucks would have remained almost unknown to the world if few grandmasters like Bruce Lee had not shown their fascinating use in martial arts movies like Feast of Fury, Entry of the Dragon, etc. Nunchucks are widely believed to have originated in Okinawa, in farmers’ struggle to protect themselves from oppressive Japanese government officials and local robberies and robberies. Nunchucks are believed to be the modified version of the faults used to crush rice seeds to separate the rice from the husk.
I do karate myself and found nunchucks quite easy to learn and practice. As with most of the hand weapons used in martial arts, they integrate easily with the body, allowing a fluid dance that makes it more sensual.
What gives it an advantage is that the rope or chain attachment of the nunchucks makes it flexible to hit from unexpected angles, and its fast and ambiguous movement easily distracts the opponent. It is quite effective in close range fights. But it is very difficult to control. Give him a knife / sword / stick, etc. who has not touched it before, but will be able to lethally hit an unarmed person with this love. Give him nunchucks and the person is more likely to get hurt !!
There are different varieties of nunchucks like wooden nunchucks, steel nunchucks, foam nunchucks, glowing nunchucks. Foam nunchucks are intended for beginners, as during learning one can hit even the skull, joints and sensitive organs, which could prove fatal if it were wooden or steel nunchucks.
Practicing nunchaku will increase the speed of the hand, the coordination of the movement of the body with the mind and the concentration. For the enthusiasts, I am putting in some basic nunchaku steps:
-Front and reverse shoulder pass
-Straight and diagonal rear step
-Neck pass, forearm pass, leg pass
-Waist stops, leg stops and shoulder stops
-Turns, cartwheels and swings.
Some recent streams of martial arts are mixing nunchuck moves with other hitting and blocking moves. The easiest way to learn is to get a foam nunchuck and get started with free tutorial videos available on YouTube, ExpertVillage, etc. At least that’s how I learned, and I suppose it was quite easy and quick to learn and quite interesting to practice.
Due to its ease of construction and use, the nunchaku has become one of the most popular martial arts weapons in use today. But few countries have banned its possession. So simply check your local government policies before you can opt for a steel or wood nunchucks. You can always link with some nunchuck associations like the World Nunchaku Association (WNA), ITNA, etc., for more information and participation.