nunchaku (nun chucks) Vote!, where do they come from? Options

[russ-boy]

I thought nunchaku developed from the rice flail in 17th century Okinawa, Japan (, and Brixton of course).

[jamie]

I think ive got it!
The exact history of the nunchaku is not known. However, we do have an idea how things have evolved. Most likely the nunchaku was originally used as an agricultural tool. It was used as a flail or a horsebit. During the 13th or 14th century there was an emigration wave of Chinese people to Okinawa, an island close to Japan.
These Chinese people mainly settled down in the city of Kumemura. They mastered different martial arts. One of the arts was using a weapon. They called this weapon: ìshuang chin kunî and ìshuang tseî. The Japanese people were very interested in this martial art. They moved in large numbers to Kumemura to study this fascinating art of self-defense. The adopted techniques were later adapted to their own Japanese interpretations, while also the name of the weapon was changed.

The Japanese started to call this weapon the ìNunchakuî. They also altered the shape of the weapon. The Chinese design consisted of two round sticks connected by a chain. The Japanese model consisted of two octagon sticks connected by a string. This type existed also in different versions.