Talk:Nunchaku

Not a single source
There is not a single source for the entire giant paragraph describing the weapon and its supposed history. Furthermore, unlike real weapons (ex Katana) there is no "history" section listing the historical uses of this "weapon". The only part with actual documentation is the writeup here in the talk page about how it was a european grain threshing instrument. Taltamir (talk) 20:32, 27 October 2013 (UTC)

Well, after three years, and still no valid document-able Asian source brought forth, beyond the already known and often repeated claims and hearsay of Karate teachers, I think we can make a more than solid case for fighting flails having a European origin and latter adoption into the Asian martial arts. For those interested in documented European long flail and short flail history, see the following link. https://vertexmover.wordpress.com/2015/02/21/no-fence-against-a-flail/

AFRONINJA
The viral "Afroninja" video on YouTube could be a cultural reference, notable for its high number of views (which was also referenced in Weezer's "Pork and Beans" music video and in an episode of South Park). In the video, the titular character weilds nunchaku to humorous effect.

TMNT
As long as there exists an "In popular culture" section, someone should add Michelangelo of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I'd add it myself, but I don't know Wikipedia. Not my place to. But someone should. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.196.208.40 (talk) 08:34, 17 January 2013 (UTC)

UK legality
"However, following a case brought by Strathclyde Police and the Procurator Fiscal heard at Glasgow Sheriff Court on 10 February 2010, a Sheriff ruled that nunchaku fell into the category of a prohibited weapon as defined by the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988 Section 141 (n)."

I think that case was to do with telescopic nunchucks with the sheriff confusing them with the banned expandable batons so nunchucks aren't actually banned in the UK. Pleasetry (talk) 01:29, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

Nunchucks vs Nunchaku
As it's an english article I propose it would be better to go with nunchucks as that's they're commonly known as instead of nunchaku.Pleasetry (talk) 14:52, 24 November 2012 (UTC)

Origin clouded in Martial Arts Myth
The story of a solely Asian origin of the Okinawa Nunchaku, fails to hold up to even a cursory examination, and without historical proof, such claims and hearsay must be viewed as in all probability just another common post WWII misconception or Martial Arts Myth.

The rise of the “Nunchaku” as a weapon in Okinawa, occurred during a time of extensive trade contact with European sailors and missionaries in the Japan islands (flails were highly popular weapons among the European sailors and European religious fanatics of the time).

A European influence is as likely a source of the “Nunchaku” origin as any of the other speculated possibilities, and is a possibility that would also help explain the notable lack of depictions of “Nunchaku” in historical Japanese artwork and culture. If it had developed natively slowly over time in Okinawa, one would expect more traces of the flails to show up in the traditional artwork and culture, a skilful flail performance is a very notable event for anyone to behold, and thus one would expect to find it in the cultural art depicting daily life.

While abundant examples of flail use and depictions are common in European history and art, there is a notable lack of depictions of flails within Japanese and Okinawa archives.

European flail designs included rods of equal matching length like those of the “Nunchaku”, these matched pairs of rods commonly came in sizes ranging from large body height rods, to smaller arm length Rods, see the following links for a few examples of such European flail styles

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battage_%C3%A0_Fl%C3%A9au.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:3-piantagione,Taccuino_Sanitatis,_Casanatense_4182..jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tacuinum_Sanitatis-threshing.jpg

Threshing grain shown on Stain glass window in Chartres cathedral http://www.paradoxplace.com/Photo%20Pages/France/Chartres/Zodiac_Window/ImagesB_Cancer_to_Capricorn/800/Aug-Sept07-DE6804sAR800.jpg

http://blog.metmuseum.org/cloistersgardens/2009/08/14/threshing-it-out/06v_09r-august_top_full/

A more modern flail example is depicted in an 1899 Huber steam engine catalog http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/4834/scangg0.jpg

The main points that lead to the hypothesis of a European influence are as follows… · The name Nunchaku was borrowed from the Chinese language to describe the new weapons.

· The claimed origin of the device is undetermined and highly disputed, with claims of either a grain flail, a horse bridle, or a percussion instrument used for music and signaling.

· No known historic traditional Kata recorded for Nunchaku survive.

· Lack of any known verifiable historical Japanese illustrations depicting short equal length rod Nunchaku, or Nunchaku weapon use.

The flail was a popular symbol in European religious art, and had been used by European religious fanatics in battles as an inexpensive weapon (see for example Hussite wars 1420 to circa 1434). Flails had been popular in Europe as a quick and cost effective means to arm peasant uprisings.

Use of a flail with equal size rods by a European man perched on the prow of a boat can be seen on page 190 of the book "An Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Costume : From the First Century B.C. to C. 1760 by J. R. Planche." Under the description for flail, it says such flails were popular for use by sailors in sea fights at the time of Henery VIII.

Okinawa (Ryūkyū Kingdom) was a very important hub of maritime trade between mainland Asia and Japan. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satsuma_Domain

Flails as weapons became popularized in Okinawa after the time of the influx of European culture into Japan with the arrival of maritime merchants, sailors, and missionaries from Europe during the 17th century. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirishitan

Emergence of small concealable short flails in Okinawa, and the slow decline in use of the flail weapon in Okinawa coincided with the suppression and eventual expulsion of Western influence in Japan, during the mid 17th century. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakoku

More than a dozen historic traditional Kata for fighting with a staff are known of today in Okinawa martial arts, while no known historic traditional Kata recorded for Nunchaku survive. This lack of maintaining a Nunchaku tradition could possibly be most easily explainable as the result of a suppression and decline of a relatively new non-indigenous weapon. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.142.182.20 (talk) 01:08, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

Fetishization and Overly Specific Use of Japanese Words
Is there really a need for the fetishistic, gratuitous use of Japanese in the list of the different parts of a nunchaku (not to mention other parts of the article?) As just one example out of many possible, labeling the "kusari", as if it were a special nunchaku term, is more than just a bit ridiculous, as the word kusari is simply the Japanese word for chain. The other labeled parts are likewise nothing more than common Japanese words, and not special technical terms for "the parts of nunchaku" as this article implies. It's more than a little bit ridiculous, and reads as if it were written by a 12 year old ninja fanboy rather than as an encyclopedic article.

RyokoMocha (talk) 08:24, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

Final Fantasy VIII
It states that Selphie of FF8 uses nunchaku, but this is wrong, as the weapon she uses is a three-section staff. Can this get fixed? -70.66.90.57 (talk) 05:58, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Also, it says that the edited UK Version of Soul Blade has Lei Long using a 'three sectioned staff'. I played the game and I'm sure he uses Nunchaku 86.138.120.101 (talk) 15:56, 5 January 2018 (UTC)

Introduction is repetitive
The intro to this article includes these phrases (I have emphasised the repetitive parts in bold:

"a traditional Okinawan martial arts weapon consisting of two sticks connected at one end by a short chain or rope"

"The two sections of the weapon are commonly made out of wood, while the link is a cord or a metal chain"

"Modern-day nunchaku can be made from metal, wood, plastic or fibreglass."

I think combining these into once or two less repetitive sentences would improve the article. Marchino61 (talk) 04:05, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

Durability of Construction
I don't know if this relevant or not to this level of information discussion. I've seen nunchaku crafted in various ways. These are some general constructions; (professional-made or self-constructed) simply wood and connecting material (generally braided nylon/teflon string); (self-constructed) wood, threaded screw eyes, and connecting material of braided nylon/teflon or chain; and (professionally-made) wood with a ball-bearing assembly attached by chain or some kind of string, coated-string, or coated-cabling. Of the three types, the last is the least durable and hardest to tell when the attachment will fail. I have had direct experience and contact with other martial artist that have had numerous sets of "speed chucks" fail with no warning. With the first two types, signs of fault such as fraying or attachment areas becoming loose are obvious. I would warn anyone using chucks to always check their equipment before use and always cautious of your environment and potential property damage if you use speed-chucks. And to make it obvious, if you practice with nunchaku there is a high likelihood of you hitting yourself in the head especially when you first start training so it is highly suggested that you start out with practice nunchaku made of a soft and light material when you first start out. In general, the shorter the connecting "chain" the more control you will have. 128.172.48.37 (talk) 07:56, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

Bruce Lee - origin stories
Both this and the "Tabak-Toyok" article cite different people as introducing Bruce Lee to the Nunchaku/Tabak-Toyok - Dan Inosanto in the Tabak-Toyok article, Yasuaki Kurata in the Nunchaku article. Fumio Demura also claims to have introduced Bruce Lee to Nunchaku - this is documented in the film "The Real Miyagi". This needs to be tidied up as the articles are inconsistent.

Tongue Twister
How many nunchucks could a nun chuck if a nun could chuck nunchucks? 96.237.19.166 (talk) 16:18, 5 July 2016 (UTC)

Types
There is a 3-section nunchaku. And I don't mean 3-section staff, but nunchaku. You can see it at 11:25 in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djj6QAn-Ifw 213.149.51.126 (talk) 16:29, 16 February 2019 (UTC)


 * Mini three section staff. 89.201.184.252 (talk) 01:10, 13 January 2020 (UTC)

In Spielberg Movie?
Wasn't there a very brief scene in the classic, early Spielberg movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark" that featured nunchakus? (Not used there as a weapon, however.) I seem to recall it rather distinctly. If so, I might have expected this article to mention it in a "In Popular Culture" section or the like. Toddcs (talk) 21:24, 13 May 2021 (UTC)


 * In the film, there is a scene where Ronald Lacey's character, Arnold Toht, slowly removes an implement from a bag consisting of sticks connected by a chain. After holding it in front of him dramatically, it's then revealed to be be a folding coat hanger for his jacket which he hands to his crony.  The scene is shot in such a way, with menacing music, that it spoofs the usual trope of the villain dramatically producing a "strange" weapon.  Given the film came out in 1981, when the martial arts craze of the 1970s was just waning, it was likely intended for the audience to mistakenly think Toht had nunchucks (why a German gestapo agent would have them adds to the absurdity).
 * However, this reference is so oddball that I don't think it has any business being added to the article, especially given they were not actually nunchucks. Pop Culture sections in general are problematic.Legitimus (talk) 14:36, 14 May 2021 (UTC)

"U swivel nunchaku" listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect U swivel nunchaku and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 May 3 until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. Steel1943 (talk) 06:52, 3 May 2022 (UTC)

Origins inconsistent
The overview states that nunchaku are Chinese. Then the section titled "Origins" says that the origins are unclear, but they may originally be from southeast Asia. I understand that there are conflicting ideas, but the article should be consistent. 161.253.106.154 (talk) 22:42, 20 April 2023 (UTC)


 * It seems like there is a source for the origin being unclear, but no source for the origin being China. I reverted the article back to the way it was before April 3rd when somebody made unsourced edits claiming that they are of Chinese origin. I agree with your take that it should be consistent, so I made it consistent with the information that appears to be sourced. Alecnotalex (talk) 02:29, 21 April 2023 (UTC)