I know this thread has been dormant for about a year, but I just came across some good pictures and some information while researching for another thread. As far as the link between nunchaku and rice flails... I found an 18th century reference** to Chinese rice threshing tools being referred to as yunka, which was also the word in everyday Chinese for a small chain. The same reference described military flails that were also called yunka, or hangunyunkabong, which were used in combat since at least 200 AD. While researching on the nunchaku, I found three different 'traditional' methods for threshing rice. One involved walking over the rice with bare feet (eeeeew!). Here is a picture of the second method. Note that the person threshing is standing upright, using a small chain, held between two handles. Note also that the woman is NOT threshing the rice by hitting it with the stick part of the threshing tool. It appears that the link (no pun intended) between nunchaku and rice threshing was the chain, and NOT the two wooden parts on either side. The nunchaku is possibly related to a rice flail in its appearance, and in the use of the chain to join the two segments, but not related to a rice flail in its manner of being used, weight, or size (i.e., it is doubtful a farmer picked up this type of rice flail and decided to use it as a weapon). Here is one other picture I found of a traditional rice threshing. It is hard to tell from the postcard picture if the farm implement is a single piece (like a hockey stick) or more like a traditional flail, with one piece much longer than the other. The case is often made that a nunchaku couldn't be related to a rice flail because rice flails would have one side much longer than the other, so that the user could stand upright to thresh by hitting rice stalks on the ground. However, the earliest flails used in Oriental combat were extremely lop-sided. These flails, used by infantry and mounted cavalry in China and in Korea, respectively, since the Han dynasty, had one side up to 8 feet long, and a shorter segment of from 1 to 2 feet in length that was swung at an adversary. The entire instrument could be made of iron, or made of wood with metal studs or iron nails in the business end. Again, it seems doubtful that a farming instrument would be picked up 'as is' and used in this way: it seems more likely that the military flail was similar in appearance and design to a rice flail, and so picked up a similar name. I agree with the conclusion of the article in your link - the nunchaku is not originally Japanese, but Sino-Korean, by way of Okinawa. ** Reference: Muye Dobo Tongji (Korea, 1789), English translation "The Comprehensive Illustrated Manual of Martial Arts of Ancient Korea", Sang H. Kim, PhD, Turtle Press, Wethersfield, CT, 2000 Here are some excerpts from the manual on a Spanish-language website, with pictures of the two types of flails used in combat near the bottom of the web page.
Hi Charm, Well, this is just my opinion on Weapons training, if you look back at the history of Okinawan Martial Arts, in the days of past, the use of weapons were banned by the Lords of the Land, so the people were eventually forced to come up with the deadliest forms of unarmed combat known to man. But knowing how to use certain weapons can help a person gain balance and both inside and outside the body. The Mind and the body are the deadliest weapons any Man can utilize. Erwin
