Nunchaku: Bruce Lee made them famous, we made them awesome.

The Nunchaku, the weapon made famous by Bruce Lee in many martial arts action movies is now made in the USA and available from American Nunchaku. We make small handmade batches of custom nunchaku. We are not a warehouse in China, or a large manufacturing factory.  USA Nunchaku Co. is a small American company making handmade nunchaku from 100% American materials in our small workshop. We make handmade nunchaku in different shapes and sizes in small batches, each featuring a selection of various hardwoods.  While they do cost a bit more than a $12 Chinese “chuck in a bag”, our nunchaku are Handmade and each one of a kind.

The idea we have been running with since 1997 was to create a martial arts nunchaku is was not some cookie cutter mass produced item.  We wanted to make something that has some character to it to complement the user whether it be a martial arts master or just a regular person who wanted to study spinning the nunchaku.
Every martial artist starts out and after bit of training starts to look for weapons. When this time happened for us, we was less then pleased with the standard issue chuck in bag, “Unstrung” nunchaku.
Human beings alone have the ability to place special value in objects. This is called personification or anthropomorphism. An example of this is a rabbits foot or a favorite shirt, a lucky cup. objects take on personality’s of their own. martial artist make connections with their weapons and we provide a weapon worthy of that notion. We like to think we provide that special quality by making handmade Chinese nunchaku 100% fashioned in the united states. Every nunchaku is one of a kind. The piece you see is the piece you get. All hand cut from natural hardwoods, never stained, never mass produced.
Every person has a story, our nunchaku’s do too. The birth of the weapon from raw wood is recorded for each batch. I fashion them much like the swordsmith has ritual and purpose as the weapon is created. It’s very pairing with a person may some day bring gifts I’m writing the words right now no one could see.

Have a look at our different batches, and select your one of a kind Chinese nunchaku. You will not regret it, but if you must, waste the $9 on the standard issue and we I’ll be happy to pair you with a weapon you will have forever.

The nunchaku (Japanese: ヌンチャク Hepburn: nunchaku, often “nunchuks“, “chainsticks“, “chuka sticks” or “karate sticks” in English) is a traditional Okinawan martial arts weapon consisting of two sticks connected at one end by a short chain or rope. While Bruce Lee did make this martial arts weapon famous from his use of the nunchaku in early 1960’s & 70’s movies, this weapon has been around for about 2000 years. Mainly thought to have been created in China then exported through Okinawa to Japan where it was given it’s proper modern name the “Nunchaku”. The two sections of the weapon are commonly made out of wood, while the link is a cord or a metal chain. The nunchaku is most widely used in martial arts such as Okinawan kobudō and karate, and is used as a training weapon, since it allows the development of quicker hand movements and improves posture. Modern-day nunchaku can be made from metal, wood, plastic or fibreglass. Toy and replica versions made of polystyrene foam or plastic are also available. Possession of this weapon is illegal in some countries, except for use in professional martial art schools.

The exact origin of nunchaku is unclear. Allegedly adapted by Okinawan farmers from a non-weapon item, it was not a historically popular weapon because it was ineffective against the most widely used weapons of that time, and few historical techniques for its use still survive.

In modern times, nunchaku (Tabak-Toyok) were popularized by actor and martial artist Bruce Lee and his martial arts student Dan Inosanto, who introduced this weapon to the actor. Another popular association in modern times is the fictional character Michelangelo of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. Organizations including the North American Nunchaku Association, World Amateur Nunchaku Organization, Fédération Internationale de Nunchaku de Combat et Artistique, World Nunchaku Association, and International Techdo Nunchaku Association teach the use of nunchaku as a contact sport.

The origin of the word nunchaku (ヌンチャク) is not known. One theory indicates it was derived from pronunciation of the Chinese characters 双截棍 (a type of traditional Chinese two section staff) in a Southern Fujian dialect of Chinese language (兩節棍 nng-chat-kun, pair(of)-linked-sticks). Another derives from the definition of “nun” as “twin”.

Another name for this weapon is “nûchiku”(ヌウチク).

In the English language, nunchaku are often referred to as “nunchuks”.