nunchaku

I was digging around in my brother's old junk, and I found a set of nunchaku (by a set, I mean the two sticks and the chain). When I was little, I would emulate Bruce Lee with my foam covered set, (I was pretty decent) but these are the real ones. I went out to Chinatown to buy another set, but when I asked the guy at the store, he said they were illegal.

One of my two questions is: why are these illegal (not just to kids) while at the same time, we have knives and boxcutters, which I think are more easily concealable than two 12-inch clubs and a chain.

So, I ended up buying online (it's true, you *can* get anything on the internet). I saw a set of octagonal ones. My other question is: is the octagonal shape beneficial to their use?

Thanks

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I'm ready to meet Him
'Cause where I'm livin' ain't right
Black hate white
White hate black
It's right back to the same fight...

--DMX

All i have to say is that is really cool that you know how to use 'em....
Teenage mutant ninja turtles!

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***HunnyChile***

Yeah, the thing was, I never really appreciated Michelangelo until I saw Bruce Lee whipping them around. The thing is, though, I don't get that cool crazy whipping sound he makes with his. I sorta get this baseball bat sound. It's not that I wanna have these to beat people down with, it's kinda like something to do, like a yo-yo (which I'm sorta skilled with too).


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I'm ready to meet Him
'Cause where I'm livin' ain't right
Black hate white
White hate black
It's right back to the same fight...

--DMX

Well first of all, in a few states they are illegal because once ypu get those suckers moving you can crack skulls pretty easily.

Alsy the octagonal ones are just basically a choice. The onlye benefit might be easier to grip.

One interesting fact is all ancient Japanese weapons (including Nunchaku) were once farming implements. After they were invaded by China, they weren't allowed to have any weapons so they made due with farming implements (which are also dangerous and you would think the Chinese were smarter than that, but live and learn).

Also, many of the fighting styles of japan have what are called Katas or coreographed combinations of moves performed in a specific sequence. These were often performed as dances to practice while all martial pratices and arts were outlawed.


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To deal with men by force is as impractical as to deal with nature by persuasion.

BurnMeUp - You are quite right about marshal arts weopons being adapted from farm implements. However, it isn't Japan or the Japanese that were invaded by the Chinese and hence developed these techniques, but the indiginous people of Okinawa.

Quite right, what I meant to say was, they were unable to practice their arts and had to disguise them after the invasion.

In fact one of the first karate forms from which many current forms (like Kenpo) are based, Sui-ken was created by the Okinawans.

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To deal with men by force is as impractical as to deal with nature by persuasion.

- - - Nunkachus are considered weapons in the state of Illinois. Whether you actually use them on somebody, or the police just find them on your person. I dunno what the penalties for carrying are. I think you'd have a hard time banning knives, and you can get arrested for carrying them, too. -
- - - Store-bought nunkachus aren't really meant for cracking people in the head. They tend to come apart at the cord/chain joining them, and the wood (often Cocobolo) is decorative, but not very strong - it cracks and breaks rather easily. If you think you'll ever really need to use them on someone, you need to roll your own. Use metal: electrical conduit and aircraft cable. -And don't make those silly short things. They have several disadvantages over the regular sizes, and nothing in their favor.
- - - On the other hand, if you can learn to beat people down with a yo-yo, you will be The Man. - MC

Now you have me curious.. what farm implement were these things originally? A grain flail, maybe? Hmm..

Nickrz, good guess. That's right.

Perhaps the Okinawans wrapped them around a chickens neck, pulled hard, and popped its head off. That would be fun.

Ragin' Azn:

I do not know much about the legalities, I always thought that was more of a myth than anything else.

I do own a pair myself, they are store bought and are actually quite strong, despite MC's experience.

I think the octagonal ones are probably easier to grip. Mine are round and can be hard to hold if your hand begins to sweat. My former instructors were octagonal and he preferred them to mine.

Actually he had shortened his (cut the excess length off) and then drilled the ends out and filled them with .45 cal slugs. This gave them the weight they were before but less wind resistance. Lets just say, I would not mess with him.

I think the cool sounds that you hear in movies is just a sound effect. I do not think most of Bruce Lee's blows sounded like that in real life.

I know what happened to Brandon Lee. I should have been clearer with the line "I heard that his death...". Oops

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"I had a feeling that in Hell there would be mushrooms." -The Secret of Monkey Island

According to this weeks Time Magazine, Bruce Lee "died of a brain edema, which the autopsy said was caused by a strange reaction to a prescription painkiller called Equagesic"

I on the other hand, have just about killed myself with the ole grain beaters, snapped my own ass with a bull whip, stuck a katana in the livingroom ceiling, and fractured a toe kicking the top of a eight foot door sill on a bet.. (I think the bet was, I would be stupid enought to try it)
Obviously, martial arts is NOT for everyone...

There are a thousand rumors on Bruce's death, including a blood clot due to him getting struck by nunchaku, wiped out by the Ancient Chinese martial art masters to punish him for giving martial arts to the "enemy" (translation us) and even one that said he literally exercised himself to death (look at the lats in Enter the Dragon..I have yet to see a Asian with that kind of build...awsome.)
What is known is that Bruce fell into a coma weeks before his passing during shooting of his last movie. He came out of it and his doctor told him to take it easy bt he went back to his regimen anyway and collapsed again this time for the last time. It was believed he had a huge allergic reaction to the painkillers he was taking.

But, from what I hear, he has been seen as much as Elvis. Supposedly the body in the coffin was not Bruce either.

BTW: How did Bruce Lee die? I know this is off-topic, but I can't find an answer anywhere and this seems like the appropriate thread to ask in. After Brandon Lee died, I heard that his death had something to do with the Chinese Mafia. Is this true? I have no idea if this claim is reasonable or not, because I didn't even know that Bruce Lee was dead until his son died.

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"I had a feeling that in Hell there would be mushrooms." -The Secret of Monkey Island

Diceman writes:

BTW: How did Bruce Lee die? I know this is off-topic, but I can't find an answer anywhere and this seems like the appropriate thread to ask in. After Brandon Lee died, I heard that his death had something to do with the Chinese Mafia. Is this true? I have no idea if this claim is reasonable or not, because I didn't even know that Bruce Lee was dead until his son died.
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Bruce Lee died in July 1973. There were reports at the time of many reasons for his death, one of which was the idea of hte Chinese Mafia. His seems to be much like other stars that died suddenly and at a young age (i.e. Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, etc.) People are suprised and they look for more than is really there.

BTW Brandon died from an accident not from the same Mafia that supposedly killed his father. For a better explanation of Brandon's death see www.snopes.com and search for brandon lee.

WildBill: Remind me to never, ever, ever be within 100ft. of you.

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"I had a feeling that in Hell there would be mushrooms." -The Secret of Monkey Island

- - - I haven't had lessons myself, but different people have told me that you want them longer and made of metal because there's only two good ways to use them: striking with the butt, and trapping limbs. The problem with wood ones is that there's no wood that is heavy and durable enough for butt-striking and no wood is strong enough for limb trapping. Whipping them around in an actual fight is a sign of someone who has had more lessons than experience. - MC

Ok.. what's a "katana" and why did Bill "stick one in the living room ceiling"?
(Btw.. I'd pay to see you snap your own ass with a bullwhip).

Actually MC, there are a variety of uses for them.

The swinging motion, in many cases overly theatric does serve a purpose, would you rush headlong into someone with wooden sticks flashing about his body?


The swinging strike can be an effective blow simply because of the speed and force invovled in the swing.

trapping things (limbs or other weapons) is definately a use but they do not need to be exceedingly long. Most og the time when you buy them you should check to see that the wood portion is the lenthe of your forearm wrist to elbow.




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To deal with men by force is as impractical as to deal with nature by persuasion.

Nickrz, a katana is a type of Japanese sword, with one sharp edge and a slightly curved blade. It's sometimes called a "samurai sword," because samurai carried it.
As for why it got stuck in the ceiling, my guess is that WildBill_0 was practicing sword forms for his martial art, without realizing how low his ceiling was. You need a lot of room above you to practice overhead cuts.

[mac_bolan00]

this is my first attempt at dead thread whoring so i'll be as civic-minded and factual as possible.

some of the okinawan weapons may have originated from farming implements but to be honest, i can think of only the kama (sickle.) most others: the staff, nunchaku, sai, stick, have some chinese ancestry. the claim that the nunchucks were originally rice flailing implements is one i can't verify. but shaolin weaponry definitely had nunchucks before okinawa te became popular (i.e. karate.)

that karate book (nishiyama?) featuring nunchaku and sai techniques: cover shows a karateka smashing a concrete hollow block with a nunchaku (how hard is that?) mentioned only two designs:

one features rounded sticks that swell towards the butts (the book says they must be as heavy as possible for maximum impact force.)

the second shows slightly lighter sticks with octagonal cross sections. the corners of the octagon will generate greater trauma/pain when striking, despite the lighter sticks used.

[jovan]

Wow. That's not a zombie thread. It's a ghost thread! Where's everyone?

Sorry I don't have anything more enlightening to add.

[SmellMyWort]

Originally Posted by mac_bolan00

the second shows slightly lighter sticks with octagonal cross sections. the corners of the octagon will generate greater trauma/pain when striking, despite the lighter sticks used.

(bolding mine)

I was surprised this wasn't mentioned in the original thread since it's the first thing that came to my mind when the question about octagonal shaped nunchaku was asked.

[smiling bandit]

Originally Posted by jovan

Wow. That's not a zombie thread. It's a ghost thread! Where's everyone?

IIRC, much of the data for very old threads was lost at some point (including my entire post count, etc.)

[Colibri]

Originally Posted by mac_bolan00

this is my first attempt at dead thread whoring so i'll be as civic-minded and factual as possible.

[Moderator Note]

While this resurrection actually adds some factual information (unlike the other ancient zombie you bumped on Steak Diane), I would discourage you from bumping threads that are so old that the original posters' names have been lost. If you have some great interest in discussing nunchukus, I would suggest starting a new thread in the Game Room.

I am closing this thread.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator