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Nunchaku history
Nunchaku as a weapon comes originally from Okinawa (Ryukyu) -
archipelago which is part of today's Japan.In 1429, King Sho
Hashi united the three parts of Okinawa, creating the Ryukyu
Kingdom. To decrease the possibility of a revolt, he declared
prohibition to carry weapons none but the king's army and
nobles can carry weapons. Of course, usual people became
helpless against the swords of soldiers and bandits. Okinawa
was turned into a Japanese protectorate, the population had to
pay high taxes and was discriminated in other ways. There were
created secret groups who fought against Japanese soldiers.
Only one knife for a complete village was allowed; this knife
was stored on the square of village tied to pillar and
villagers were allowed to take this knife only for a few hours
and only after confirmation of the village leader. In this
period okinawan martial arts were widely spread as last
possible means of self-defense. Of course, knowledge of
unarmed fighting techniques can't help on battlefield against
regular army. Citizens mainly practiced unarmed arts of to-te
or okinawa-te, which later became the basics for today's
karate, villagers usually trained in the use of everyday's
tools as weapons, today we know these systems as kobudo or
kobujutsu.
Nunchaku was originally used as a horse bit. Original nunchaku
sticks were curved and became only later the model which is
used today - with straight handles. The nunchaku wasn't a very
popular weapon,because none traditional nunchaku kata is known
today. But one who was skilled in nunchaku usage was able to
easily defeat a few opponents, who were unarmed or armed by
knives. So today, when swords and spears are passed to
museums, nunchaku has become one of the most popular weapons.
Last updated, January 2005
Copyright © 2005 by Nunchaku
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