using NUNCHUCKS...

[Kill Jill]

I just started learning how to use the nunchuks about 4 months ago in my Hapkido class.

As I have limited communication with my Korean teacher, I am unable to find out his ideas about using nunchuks. I looked for some info on the web, and have a little more insight into them, but some questions still remain:

Is there a specific attack type that nunchuks are intended to defend against? It seems to me, that if your flailing nunchuks strike any surface while in high speed motion, the nunchuk holder is also going to be at risk of getting as badly hurt as the assailant, therefore making it an ineffective weapon.

Also, is there a set repertoire of 'forms' similar to TKD forms? I've seen nunchuks used in a couple of schools here, and the forms used are very different. Perhaps each instructor makes his own set of forms? Can anyone recommend a good 'form' to learn? What makes an expert nunchuck-ist?

Finally, are nunchuks just simply a tool which focuses the mind, rather than being a serious weapon? I know I need 100% concentration when using the 'chucks otherwise one slip of attention, and it's all over... Being quite 'thin on flesh', I come out black and blue each time I practice with them as it is.

So, any nunchuck tips will be appreciated...

[tufrthanu]

First off they are properly called Nunchaku. Secondly they are very dangerous to both an attacker and defender if the defender doesn't know how to use it. Flail type weapons are used in many cultures. Some of the benefits are that they have an unpredictable direction because of the flexible connector. That they can wrap around an enemies weapon. Detriments are that you have to watch for the recoil. Nunchaku can be used most effectively as an offensive weapon. Defensively they are limited to catching a weapon with the cord or chain...not a good idea if its a blade and your nunchaku have a cord. And blocking with one of the shafts. Fumia Demura has a book on Nunchaku techniques. I know there are forms for nunchaku but I dont think his book has any in it.

[orion82698]

Awesome information!

[EternalRage]

The risk of recoil is why people learn all those moves where you fold the nunchaku around parts of your body - ideally after striking something and having it fly off randomly, you can just take that momentum and direct it around your body and not have to stop and restart. Done correctly, you can chain together many different attacks fluidly even though its flying off everywhere.

Fumio Demura has a beginners and advanced Nunchaku book. The advanced has a form in it. There is no set nunchaku form that everyone practices, although I would assume that various styles/lineages of Kobudo probably have ones that are standardized to their own organizations. But you will find many many weapons forms. It's not like empty handed where you have forms like Bassai which everyone and their mothers know from here to Tokyo.

[Aodhan]

First off they are properly called Nunchaku.

This is true for Japanese arts, I believe the proper Korean term for them is ssangh jeol bangh.

Aodhan

[tufrthanu]

Well thats as may be aodhan but if you are looking for bona fide information on Numchucks you're probably not gonna get many hits.

[Aodhan]

Well thats as may be aodhan but if you are looking for bona fide information on Numchucks you're probably not gonna get many hits.

True. I was just being a bit pedantic in the morning.

Aodhan

[Shorinryu Sensei]

My opinion (like anybody asked?) is that if you can't even pronounce the weapons name correctly, then you have no business touching them until you do.

If your instructor is calling them numchuks or chuks in class, my guess would be that he hasn't a clue as to how to properly use them.

[Balrog]

My opinion (like anybody asked?) is that if you can't even pronounce the weapons name correctly, then you have no business touching them until you do.

If your instructor is calling them numchuks or chuks in class, my guess would be that he hasn't a clue as to how to properly use them.

Amen. We can thank Hollywood for that little bit of idiocy. They refer to the weapon as numchuks because they are too dumb or lazy to learn the proper pronunciation of the Japanese term. And we don't use that term in TKD training anyway; the Korean term is Song Jeol Bong.

[Kill Jill]

My opinion (like anybody asked?) is that if you can't even pronounce the weapons name correctly, then you have no business touching them until you do.

If your instructor is calling them numchuks or chuks in class, my guess would be that he hasn't a clue as to how to properly use them.

Ha, I'm laughing...

When we grow up, how many things do we put our hands on that we don't yet know the names of. It's like saying, first you have to learn all the Korean terminology before you can put on a dobok and set foot in a classroom.

You will find that some people refer to them in different ways - If I put 'Song Jeol Bong' on my title, perhaps not as many people will bother to look at the thread, and be confused as to what I'm talking about.

Also, according to web sources, the 'weapon' is not even of Korean origin. The tool was first used in a different form in Russia as a farm instrument. (Should I be then knowledgeable about it's Russian name - 'nas ne dagoniat' or something???) It then filtered its way through China, Korea and Japan, before being modified into 'nunchuku'. Many videos and manuals have been produced without the title of 'Song Jeol Bong.' Even Bruce Lee or Danny Inasanto never referred to 'Song Jeol Bong,' as far as all the reading I've done about them suggests.

As 'nunchuku' has 2 handles, what can you suggest for the plural ?form? 'Chucks"?

Anyway, at least EternalRage has some very useful info. I guess it relates to Hapkido's whole base on circular motion techniques and learning techniques to diffuse energy rather than getting hurt.