Has anyone ever heard of the use of nunchaku being used with both hands, specifically in Okinawan Kobudo?

From what I have heard, the handles are longer when being used this way and the connection (rope, chain, etc.) is shorter.

Are you talking about the standard Nunchaku we are generally all familiar with or the So-Setsu-Kon Nunchaku?

Or are you asking about using a pair of Nunchaku, one in each hand?

2 hours ago, WalterJ said:

Are you talking about the standard Nunchaku we are generally all familiar with or the So-Setsu-Kon Nunchaku?

Or are you asking about using a pair of Nunchaku, one in each hand?

Hey sorry, I should’ve been more specific. I am referring to a standard Nunchaku, albeit with longer handles, to accommodate for both hands being used on the same side.

Can’t say I’ve ever heard of or seen something like you describe in my 6 decades on the floor.

There is a video out there on YouTube comparing the standard Nunchaku to the So-Setsu-Kon Nunchaku, in that video he does briefly use the standard Nunchaku with 2 hands. I think it is a video by "Object History" under the title of "Long Stick-Short Stick Nunchaku (so-setsu-kon).

But i have not seen it anyplace else, but then I have very little experience with the Okinawan Nunchaku. Hope to get more esperince in the future, but it doesn't help much now

On 7/25/2026 at 5:51 AM, WalterJ said:

There is a video out there on YouTube comparing the standard Nunchaku to the So-Setsu-Kon Nunchaku, in that video he does briefly use the standard Nunchaku with 2 hands. I think it is a video by "Object History" under the title of "Long Stick-Short Stick Nunchaku (so-setsu-kon).

But i have not seen it anyplace else, but then I have very little experience with the Okinawan Nunchaku. Hope to get more esperince in the future, but it doesn't help much now

Can you post a link to that video? I'd like to see it.

This is the video, he only does the 2 hand thing briefly

That looks like some kind of rice harvesting tool, and not a weapon. There are two questions I have about this thing, assuming that it's actually meant to be a weapon:

1. Using both hands on the longer end, can you generate the same or greater amount of momentum that you would with regular nunchaku using one hand?

2. Are you absolutely sure that this is the kind of weapon where you would want both hands to be occupied? For a bo, I get it. Because you can block with it. I'm not sure what kind of blocking you're gonna do with these if both of your hands are on one side.

That is, essentially, a miniature kuruma-bo (wheel staff), which WAS actually a rice flail, but they were quite a bit larger than nunchaku--think of a thick bo that is a bit shorter than normal, with an even thicker section that's about half as long as the main bo, attached with rope. We are pretty confident, these days, that regular nunchaku were improvised weapons made from horse bridles (muge nunchaku).