Are nunchaku Japanese ninja weapons?

[Zauriel]

I was told nunchaku are ninja weapons because I saw them in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoons and comic books and movies.

 

But Bruce Lee uses nunchaku in his movies. And he was neither Japanese nor a Ninja.

 

According to some websites, nunchakus originated from Okinawa where they were introduced by the Chinese. But I'm not sure these sources on internet are accurate. I don't know whether they have disclaimers or not.

[Shorinryu Sensei]

A general rule of thumb is...Don't believe 95% of what you see in martial arts movies as being "real" martial arts.

 

And just in case you aren't sure, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles aren't real.

[strangepair03]

I was told chucks were a horse bridle....turned into a weapon when needed..and they are from Okinawa, not Japan (there is a difference!)

[Grenadier]

Saturday morning cartoons are not necessarily telling the truth.

 

My explanation is probably full of holes as well, but at least it should hold more water than what the cartoon world asserts to be the case.

 

Nunchaku, as well as several other weapons associated with martial arts, were derived from agricultural tools, since it wasn't unusual for peasants / non-nobility to be forbidden from owning swords (or whatever weapons of war there were).

 

Nunchaku came from the agricultural flail, and were easily concealed within one's clothing.

[Taku-Shimazu]

Ninja tryed to master every weapon they came across so that they don't loose a battle, which would mean death. so yes they were Ninja weapons

[Hengest]

I'm not aware of any mainland Japanese koryu schools that taught the nunchaku, ninja or otherwise. It's a weapon that's found in several Asian styles - Okinawan kobudo, Filipino kali, various kung fu schools - but it doesn't appear to be a weapon you would've encountered in medieval Japan.

[Taku-Shimazu]

You should visit https://www.entertheninja.com

 

I hope this answers your question and any other questions about Ninja.

[Popkov]

i always thought the nunchucks were chinese, they were supposidly first made as a weapon to through to catch animal and the rope or chord between would rap around there legs or somthing along that line and it had been developed by making the rope smaller and swapping with chain, and extended the wooden parts so that they will server better as hand weapon

[Davison]

I agree a 100% with grenadier. nunchaku might have been used by the ninja but were not considered a "ninja weapon", if anything, they would be considered a okinawan weapon since they were the ones to create it . I belive that when the japanese ocupied okinawa, the japanese did not allow them to have weapons and confiscated as many weapons as they could find. The Okinawans had to come up with a way to create weapons that would not be considered a weapon. So they disguiesed them as farm tools and the practice of these weapons were taught and carried on from generation to generation .

[monkeygirl]

I'm going to move this to the Weapons forum. All Weapons discussion goes there.