Nunchaku

Traditional Nunchaku
The nunchaku is a traditional Okinawan martial arts weapon consisting of two sticks (of wood or metal) connected at one end by a short link (of chain or rope). The nunchaku is taught as a weapon in martial arts such as Okinawan kobudō and karate.

Nunchaku in Western Media
Nunchaku were popularized as a weapon by actor and martial artist Bruce Lee in his movies. They continued to gain popularity via children's TV characters, Panthro in Thundercats and Michaelangelo, in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and video games such as Mortal Kombat, SoulCalibur, Dynasty Warriors, Killer Instinct and Final Fantasy VIII.

Modern Nunchaku
Modern-day nunchaku can be made from metal, wood, hard plastics or fibreglass. Toy and training versions made of polystyrene foam or plastic are also available. Fire-nunchaku and glow-nunchaku are used for flow art performances.

Contact Sport
Organizations including the World Nunchaku Association (WNA), Fédération Internationale de Nunchaku de Combat et Artistique (FINCA), and the International Tech-do Nunchaku Association (ITNA) teach the use of nunchaku as a contact sport.

'Tournament' Freestyle
Some martial art bodies and sporting organisations hold freestyle display competitions, where participants perform creative and technical moves (usually to music) and are judged against pre-set criteria. Tournament freestyles are normally choreographed routines that are learned prior to the competition.

'Online' Freestyle
The rise of online video sharing allowed online communities and online resources to flourish and a new wave of freestyle nunchaku (freechaku) artists took inspiration from other flow-art props (poi and staff spinning) as well as elements of skateboarding and video-game culture, to create a distinct new approach to flow-arts. Online communities share many different kinds of videos (tutorials, jam sessions, edited compilations, etc) and also introduced online video tournaments and 'battles' to promote friendly competition.

Freestyle Techniques
There is no single source of agreed terminology for freestyle nunchaku techniques. Many moves have different names in different communities, and generic terms such as a 'wrist spin' are used by different communities to mean different things. The terminology used within this wiki is an amalgamation of different schools of thought.

Professional Flow-Art Performance
In recent years, nunchaku have also been adopted by circus and performance art collectives.

Legality
Possession of this weapon is illegal in some countries, except for use in professional martial art schools, which has hindered the growth of nunchaku as a flow-arts prop.