ESLife

Nunchakus Come to Hollywood; Nunchucks and Bruce Lee

There are a lot of people out there that believe the Nunchaku was first introduced by Bruce Lee in "Enter the Dragon" This could not be farther from the truth. While Bruce made the Nunchaku popular, especially here in the west, the Nunchaku originated sometime in the 17th century.

The first mention of the Nunchaku can be found in ancient Chinese history, where two pieces of wood tied together by horse hair by mountain soldiers.

This strange twirling weapon is said to have originated in the Song Dynasty derived from farming implements primarily used for threshing rice and soy. Later the Nunchaku made its way to Okinawa where many believe was the original source. Since the nunchaku was used for farming it could not be confiscated by the authorities after King Sho Hashi declared a prohibition to carry weapons.

Another belief about the nunchaku's history is that the nunchaku was developed from the Okinawan horse bit or muge. The handles of the bit were curved and later they were changed to the straight handled Nunchaku that we know today.

Okinawan Horse Muge Nunchaku Nunchucks at ESKNIVES

The nunchaku wasn't a very popular weapon. There is some evidence for this since there are no traditional nunchaku katas. This weapon is nevertheless effective in self-defense, if the time is taken to become proficient with it. Let the practitioner Beware because this weapon has the tendency to cause many bruises. But due to Bruce Lee and the popularmartial arts movie culture the Nunchaku is one of the most popular martial arts weapon ever devised.

Another tail of the nunchaku's history is that it was once a night-watchman's rattle. And some say that the nunchaku was a Chinese weapon brought to Okinawa by Chinese immigrants. This last version makes sense since The term nunchaku derives from the southern Chinese term no-chiat kun.