Force and Power of Okinawan Nunchaku

Dai-Shihan Ben Froidevaux, 6th dan and All-Europe 
representative of Seiyo no Shorin-Ryu Karate
Kobudo Kai

With today's unrest, one might consider carrying self-defense weapons such as nunchaku. Nunchaku can generate tremendous force when handled properly. But, the weapon needs sufficient mass with a well-trained martial artist who can rapidly accelerate the tool to develop necessary kinetic energy to stop an attack. 

Our students at the Seiyo Hombu usually start with foam-rubber (or magazine) chuks during bunkai (self-defense) and kumite (sparring). But even foam-rubber and magazine chuks can generate considerable force when handled correctly. 

We had a father-daughter combo in our dojo some years ago, and I caught her (about 7 years old) creaming her dad with foam-chuks. Dad ended up hopping on one foot while massaging the other foot in his hand, after she struck his foot without warning with foam chuks. I asked permission to send the video to America's Funniest Home Videos and told him I would divide the winnings - but he refused - which is fine. I wasn't interested in the money as much as wanting to share a great video with the public.

In Shorin-Ryu Karate and Kobudo, students are taught not to use their karate or kobudo against another except in self-defense, as nunchaku can produce some impressive forces. According to one source, a nunchaku tip of 6.3 ounces, can accelerate to 88 meters/second (282 feet/second) and generate 350 joules of kinetic energy. According to the source, this would equal the energy generated by a bullet fired from a Colt M1911! But, a nunchaku will not penetrate a body, unlike aerial dynamic bullets with high specific gravity. Luckily, few can generate this kind of force with nunchaku.

Nunchaku made from two magazines and tape

Human bones are strong! A bone can survive a strike of 10,000 joules of kinetic energy (3,700 foot-pounds of force) as long at the strike is perpendicular to the surface. Most bones are padded with soft tissue to adsorb some impact. But a strike at an angle of less than 15 degrees can potentially fracture a bone with about 375 joules of kinetic energy (277 foot-pounds of force). Keep in mind that each bone in the human body, has different masses and different amounts of padding. 

The impact-force of nunchaku depends on the speed of the nunchaku and surface area of impact. The damage to a person depends on how fast that chuk travels, the mass of the chuk, and the surface area the force is applied to. In addition, if the surface is soft, such as a stomach, the flesh will absorb considerable amounts of kinetic energy. But if the surface is a hard (such as a collar bone with little surrounding flesh) the damage will be greater (Hausel, in prep).

The tip of a Colt M1911 bullet has a surface of 25 square-millimeters, thus the impact force is calculated as 350/25 = 14 joules/square-millimeter. But if a nunchaku strikes the same surface, the impact force will be notably less because of the surface area, or size of nunchaku. So, we might end up with about 350/100 = 3.5 joules/square millimeter, or essentially 4 times lower impact force than a bullet (assuming that the striking area of the nunchaku is about 1 square-centimeter (0.15 square-inch)). This is why octagonal nunchaku are more effective than round nunchaku. Because of the geometry of the octagonal chuks, the chance of hitting a target with one of the eight octagonal edges is relatively high, and such a smaller surface area will result in an increase in impact force. 

Nunchaku-jutsu, Seiyo Hombu in Mesa, Arizona

Because of small bone diameters with minimum amounts of soft flesh enclosing finger and hand bones (as well as many nerve endings), fingers and hands provide good striking surfaces. Other targets with little soft tissue include toes, ankles, shins, elbows, collar bones, and the head. But one should always avoid the head, which has areas that could lead to death if struck with nunchaku.

In the following video, Soke Hausel of Seiyo no Shorin-Ryu Karate Kobudo Kai, demonstrates one of many kata. It is important to learn to handle nunchaku, with force, speed and power, but never try this without proper instructor, as you can easily end up with a serious injury when striking yourself, or another person, or when you receive a strike from a ricochet of nunchaku. Remember, hospitals are places to avoid unless you don't mind violation of your constitutional and human rights. 

Hausel, W.D., in prep., Making of a Grandmaster: traditional Okinawan Karate & Koabudo in North America, in preparation.

Nunchaku - a weapon of self-defense from Okinawa

Soke Hasel demonstrates Nunchaku at the Seiyo no Shorin-Ryu
Karate Kobudo Kai hombu in Mesa, Arizona 

The word nunchaku
strikes up images of Okinawan masters defending against
well-armed samurai with a pair of sticks attached to horse
hair rope or chain. Chuks are used either as one pair, and
for those who are ambidextrous, two can also be employed.

Originally, a farmer's tool, nunchaku was converted to a self-defense weapon. But in the hands of an amateur, it could provide considerable entertainment. Nunchaku (also spelled nanchaku or nunchuku) is known to many Westerners as nunchuks or even 'numb-chuks'. It was originally used as (1) Okinawa threshing flail, (2) cart rail, and/or (3) horse bridle.

Even the word nunchaku rings with controversy. The word may be from the Japanese pronunciation of a two sectional staff, or it may be from the word used for horse bridle. By combining two Japanese words: 'nun' meaning ‘twin’ and 'shaku' the approximate ‘length of bamboo between two nodes, one ends up with the word 'nunshaku. The word for Okinawan horse bit or bridle is nunchiyaku, also similar to nunchaku. 

Paper Chuks - made from magazines

Some suggest nunchaku was modified from a farmer’s threshing tool. The threshing flail consisted of a long stick attached to a smaller stick by horse hair. Threshing tools were once common agricultural tools in farming communities around the world including Okinawa where it was used to separate grain from husks, or rice from stems. A threshing tool once used in the past, had a 5-foot long handle with a 3 foot striking stick. Although there are only rare references to using a threshing flail as a kobudo weapon, it is not hard to imagine farmers, who used this tool 10 to 12 hours a day during harvest, became adept in using it as a weapon. Even so, a flail could not have been used as nunchuku without modification. Thus, if the flail was the origin of nunchaku, it would have to have been modified by cutting both sticks to equal length.

Another interesting feature of nunchaku is that this martial arts weapon has no traditional kata like many traditional kobudo kata. The bo has more than a dozen traditional kata named after authors or geographical locations. It is thought that this is due to the lack of popularity of nunchaku in Asian history. In modern time, the weapon became popularized by Bruce Lee and Tadashi Yamashita.

Nunchaku techniques include blocks and strikes similar to karate with a few release strikes. Striking an object with nunchaku can be a problem, as the tool rebounds. Another problem with nunchaku is distance. A samurai sword (katana), halberd (naginata) or spear (yari) easily out-reach nunchaku.

Nunchaku-jutsu