Nunchaku Speed

Many times, people think that the only way to use a nunchaku is with the max speed you can put into it, but that’s quite wrong!

In freestyle nunchaku, you first need to know how to do what you are trying to do, and after that, you can add speed to the nunchaku trick or move.
Like in anything you do with your body, you first need to learn what you are doing, and after you got a good foundation, you can move forward.

But why is better to first learn the basic trick and then add speed, and not learn the trick with max speed?

Why you shouldn’t try a new move with high speed:

  • You don’t know how to do the trick well enough, so it’s probably that you will fail a lot of times. But a mistake at high speed can cause a lot more damage than a mistake at low speed. You can injure yourself or others by learning at high speed.
  • There’s a high chance that you will get the trick done wrong, and your body will learn it wrong, and that will be really difficult to change.
  • You will fail a lot more times, increasing the time of learning, and you will be wasting time when you could be learning something new.

So, I should never do my tricks at high speed?

  • Of course you should do nunchaku moves with high speed if you like them, but you should know when to train with speed.
  • Remember that speed is not the only aspect of freestyle nunchaku, you should also mix with creativity, improvisation, smoothness, entertainment, fun, etc… so keep a balance.
  • Always be careful when you are using high speed. Look around the zone you are freestyling, so you don’t hit anything/anyone.
  • Check the nunchaku before using them, so there won’t be any flying nunchaku stick around.

When to train with speed:

  • Once you have a good control over the nunchaku
  • Once you feel confident with the nunchaku
  • If you don’t have confidence or you lack control, you will end dropping the nunchucks a lot and probably injury yourself or someone or breaking something, so be careful!

 

Questions About Nunchakus

I got an email with some questions about nunchakus. Here it is with the links, so if anyone has the same questions, you can find the answers easy.

Ahmed,
Here are the links for the questions you asked me. I hope you will find them useful. Any questions, let me know.

Length of the rope: http://nunchakututorials.com/nunchaku-dimensions/

Which is better rope or chain? Pros and Cons of each of them?
– CHAIN: http://nunchakututorials.com/pros-and-cons-of-chain-nunchaku/

Those post explain what you want to know, any other question you can email me or post it http://nunchakututorials.com
Take care!

Which cord use in my nunchaku?

I’ve always use nylon cords to tie my nunchakus, and today I change the cord of one of them, because I got some paracord.

Now, the difference in finger spins is a lot! I didn’t think that just changing the cord would make such a huge difference, but it does!

The nylon cord I was using was very rough, and it added more friction to my fingers while doing finger spins, but the paracord is a lot more smoother, so the friction is less, and thus it’s easier to do the finger spins!

Remember, whenever you replace the link of your nunchaku you have to use a good cord (paracord is a great option!) and always check your cord before using the chuck!

Nunchaku Planes

The planes are a flat surface on which a straight line joining any two points on it would wholly lie. Image that when your are holding the nunchaku, you are inside a cube. The walls of the cube will be the planes at where you can swing the nunchaku.

Planes:

  • Face or Front Plane
    • Cross Plane: Between the face and back planes
  • Back Plane
  • Near Wall
    • Core Plane: Between the near and far wall.
  • Far Wall
  • Roof
  • Floor

Here are some pictures, so you will get a better idea:

Face or Front Plane:


Back Plane:

Near Wall:

Far Wall:

Roof:

Floor:

(Based on the work of Kristov: http://www.freestyleforum.net/index.php?topic=4602.0)

Wristrolls vs Handrolls

This post is to point out about nunchaku wristrolls and handrolls.

There have been many arguments of what is a wristroll and what is a handroll in freestyle nunchaku, but in this site, I will call both moves as wristrolls, to avoid any misunderstanding. Of course you can call the moves whatever you want, the important thing here is that you know the move!

Keep chucking, and have fun!

Pros and Cons of Chain Nunchaku

So, you want to buy a new chuck, but you don’t know which one to buy, a nunchaku with a chain as link or with a cord as link. Now we will examine the chain nunchaku, with his good stuff and with the wrong ones (the little letter you never read when you are buying a nunchaku!).

Before you begin reading, I do not support a special kind of nunchaku, I believe that a nunchaku is like a glove, and that every person should find the one that fits them better, so I will be very critical, and that doesn’t means that I love or hate a certain nunchaku!

Pros About the Chain Nunchaku:

  • They really look like a nunchaku, not a toy.
  • They are heavier (normally) so you will have more power in the spins
  • The chain won’t break so easy…. it’s steel we are talking here!
  • It will be easier to keep the flow, because of the extra weight
  • They make a nice sound, and if it has a ring, a awesome sound!
  • You don’t need to lose your time re stringing the nunchaku
  • Chain won’t fry with the use
  • Now you can be a perfect ninja turtle! (with real chain nunchaku!)
  • They look more awesome than rope
Cons About the Chain Nunchaku:
  • More wait? no thanks!
  • I can’t see the damage it has? Cool, I can expect anytime a flying stick
  • Ballbearings? Didn’t you know they can explode anytime?
  • They do make noise, not so good, when you are spinning indoors at midnight
  • If they fall, they would make greater noise!
  • Beware of falling chain nunchaku, if you are barefoot
  • The ballbearings may damage and makes scratches to the wood if they are drop

Pros and Cons of Rope Nunchaku

So, you want to buy a new chuck, but you don’t know which one to buy, a nunchaku with a chain as link or with a cord as link. Now we will examine the cord nunchaku, with his good stuff and with the wrong ones (the little letter you never read when you are buying a nunchaku!).

Before you begin reading, I do not support a special kind of nunchaku, I believe that a nunchaku is like a glove, and that every person should find the one that fits them better, so I will be very critical, and that doesn’t means that I love or hate a certain nunchaku!

Pros About the Cord Nunchaku:

  • They don’t make too much noise, you can swing them without all your neighbors knowing you are using your nunchakus
  • They tend to be lighter (it will depend of the wood, but generally speaking, they’re lighter)
  • You will notice if they will start to break… with chain they can break with no warning.
  • They look a lot better than chain!
  • You can adjust the length of the rope, for your needs
  • They look more classic than chain nunchakus
  • It is very easy to change the rope.
  • You can tie them with different methods.
Cons About the Cord Nunchaku:
  • The rope fries very easy
  • The weight in the top is lighter than the chain nunchaku
  • The rope last a lot less than a chain
  • They can break with a high pressure trap.
  • They look more like toys rather than a real nunchaku
  • The ninja turtles used chain, how dare you use rope!
  • What is the use of having a nunchaku if they don’t look like a real one?