Saturday 2 February 2013

Three types of Nunchaku, how can you use them?

 If you've ever heard of Bruce Lee, the likelihood is you've also heard of 'Nunchaku' (Or more commonly known as Nunchucks in the west) Being one of the most popular Martial Art weapons you may be wondering how they are used (if you don't already know that is) From my usage of Nunchaku I can tell you  that there are no more than three ways of them being used as follows: (P.S. This isn't meant to be a tutorial, it's just to give you a brief idea of how they are used)

The man who brought Nunchucks to the lime light
 Combat Nunchaku:  

Initially Nunchaku were used as a weapon by peasant farmers (But no one is quite sure where this developed or if that's even its true development but it seems the most believable). 


How is it used like this? 

Nunchaku designed for combat tend to have a long connector on them (Maybe anything from around 6 inches to about 9 [Believe it or not]); the way Nunchaku would be used like this is by gripping the lower end of the Nunchaku giving you more reach and allowing you to create more velocity in your strikes creating more damage to your opponent, the Nunchaku is just like an extension of your arm. What this means is the way you swing your arm is the way the Nunchaku behave; it has to be in rhythm with yourself, the way you turn your body with the strikes will affect the effectiveness of the strikes. Along with swinging the Nunchaku to strike with them you also would learn how to pass them between hand; like passing them from under your arm or from behind yourself to the other hand which could also have been used as a strike (Well, maybe if you're Bruce Lee or some one similar, I don't know I've never been in a fight with Nunchaku). In this day and age no one really 'needs' to know how to use Nunchaku in the form of a weapon anymore (Although they still are a weapon, don't think they're not) but if anyone is to learn how to use Nunchaku like this it's most likely to be for a 'Kata', a Japanese term which refers to a set of 'patterns' (moves) being demonstrated. Many traditional (Or maybe even what you may consider modern) Jiu Jitsu, Karate and even TaeKwonDo classes will use Nunchaku for the sake of Demonstration  and tradition. 

Freestyle Nunchaku 

This is the most common way to use Nunchaku today. Nunchaku aren't used as a conventional weapon nowadays, instead the reason why Nunchaku are so popular now is due to the fact they can be utilized as a showman's tool in many ways (As in, there are lots of trick to do with them, single Nunchaku and Dual Nunchaku). There are even some Martial art schools that focus only on Nunchaku Combat to be used in Kata and sparring competitions along with freestyle (Though they're not large in number at all currently) Nunchaku that are used for freestyle tend to have much shorter connectors and usually connected by rope to make it easier on the fingers for certain moves.

How is it used like this? 

That's one heck of a broad question. Freestyle Nunchaku are held mainly nearer to the connector to give you better control of what you're doing and from there on you can do all sorts. You may switch between grip to the lower end of the Nunchaku to make some passes easier. Explaining freestyle Nunchaku like this is really all that I can do through written format, as it's a little difficult to do any justice to explain the Freestyle side of it all.

Links of interest for freestyle: 

http://nunchaku-tutorials.com/

https://www.youtube.com/user/nunchakututorialscom

http://www.prochux.com/ (Have a look at this one!) 

For more detailed information on the topic of Freestyle and the use of Nunchucks check out this article on my tumblr!: http://thoughtsofajudoka.tumblr.com/post/39482051538/nunchucks-what-are-they-how-do-you-use-them
 
And last but not least the final way of using Nunchaku: 

Idiot Nunchaku 

This is probably the most common type of Nunchaku you may come across on websites such as twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. 

How is it used like this? 

  • Buy a pair of Nunchucks (If you want to look more pathetic, make sure it's a foam pair in this case) 
  • Tell everyone you have Nunchucks now and spend ages in the Mirror posing with them. Make sure you've no idea how to use them before the third point.
  • Pose whilst trying to look 'hard' and take pictures
  • Upload pictures to your social networks that you use 
  • Wait for comments, likes, retweets and re-blogs. 
The above can be diffused of pathetic-ness by learning how to use them! (With a foam pair at first, of course) [P.S. this final 'style' was inserted for humour] 

well, this was my first blog on blogger, if you enjoyed it, like, share it or something with your friends :)

Be sure to leave some feedback! 
 



 

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