Using Wooden Nunchaku can be dangerous to you and others. It is strongly advised that you should not use the real weapons
until you have
mastered the techniques
first using the now
readily available safety training types.
Serious injuries will result from careless use. This also extends to poor maintenance
of the different types or misuse during training, that leads to a breakdown in the nunchaku.
During and after training the Nunchaku should be tested to see if the connections are good and are not about to give way.
This counts for both the speed Nunchaku with a ball race bearing connected by chain and the cord connected type.
The cord connections have a tendency to fray quickly if not maintained. Whereas the chained types bearings can wear out
leading to failure. They can also give way and fail under medium blocking practice, so cord types are better for this area
of study.
Dry your Nunchaku after use and before storage in a cool dry environment, check connections and
replace when required.
These days you can purchase replacement bearing kits or you could convert these to cord.
You can use mountain climbing cord
of your choice to replace the frayed cord types. However I would tend to
strengthen the connections by using three or four
cords instead of two, where the cord diameter is thin or more likely to wear.
With a recent purchase of some custom hand made Nunchaku, I have used 6 mm cord
looped and knotted twice in the center of the connection. The knots are quite
large and need to be dressed so that they interlock and present neatly before
tightening and finishing the ends.
Nunchaku Swivel repair kit
An alternative to cord for the Lighter foam Nunchaku is to use a
quite stiff 1-2 inch wide Nylon Ribbon,
using a two strand connection with a counter twist in each strand. There are two reasons why I like this set up, one is that
the nylon ribbon seems to shirk of fraying in the lighter foam Nunchaku, this appears to be aided by the twists. Secondly
these counter twists appear to also allow the Nunchaku to spin more readily during the swing.
I have only had one piece of ribbon to try with the light foam type. Whether this effect will
be seen when this set up is applied to a heavier wood corded type is yet to be discovered. The
strength of the ribbon will be important so the thicker and wider the
better, but the stain imparted in use has snapped half inch ribbon, I am
still trying to source some wider ribbon for trial on the wooden Nunchaku.
Nunchaku cord repair kit
When inspecting Nunchaku check
for breaks in the plastic cores of the foam types by gentle flexing, check for frays and soften exposed plastic ends
internally where the surface meets the cord with a light grade sand paper.
Wood Corded Nunchaku, check for frays, you
can sand paper the area that meets the cord if rough and lubricate with wax or a little olive oil, check shaft for
splinters or breaks.
Its important to get your knots right, even on the light
Nunchaku, as these still fly away at some speed. With safety in mind some
study on this subject would help. I will try to get some pictures of some
knots that can be used for the different set ups and for the set ups I use.
The following three images show the knot used for the double knot in the
center of the connector/bridge. The first is expanded to show the routes of
the cords.
The next two show the knot tightened and dressed, you really have
to tighten these down, and melt a large head on to each end and a finally
tighten again, check knots regularly during and before training.
With 6 mm cord used on my custom made Nunchaku, the combined knot is quite large. However, this may be useful in the application of locks and
blocks to limbs etc.
If breaks to the sticks occur and are near the halfway mark with any of the types of Nunchaku convert
to a whole and half set by cutting down and sanding broken edges to a smooth finish. Using this set of Nunchaku
(SO-SETSU-KON) opens another avenue for appraisal of your techniques.
Generally you should not be hitting objects in such a way or with such force that you damage the type of Nunchaku that you are using. You should also be training in an area adequate for those
techniques that you wish to perform.
Don't forget the third dimension, that of height.........
Make sure you're not standing just under strip lighting or other similar hazards.
Oh, and don't forget to check behind you and be aware of small children and pets, if possible train away from any such distractions or likely dangers.
Do not leave the plastic types on the floor as they will break readily when trodden on, the other round or octagonal solid types may well cause
someone to trip if they are trodden on, so store your Nunchaku away when not in use.
Make your training as safe and as productive as you can.