| |
| | ||
| The Master's Blog: | ||
| We are closed from May 29th through May 31st for the Holiday! Have a safe holiday everyone! | ||
| Awareness is the 1st step in the ultimate self defense system! | ||
|
||||||||
 The popular belief is that the nunchaku was originally a short Southeast Asian flail used to thresh rice or soybeans (that is, separate the grain from the husk). It is possible that it was developed in response to the moratorium on edged weaponry under the Satsuma daimyo after invading Okinawa in the 17th century, and that the weapon was most likely conceived and used exclusively for that end, as the configuration of actual flails and bits are unwieldy for use as a weapon. Also, peasant farmers were forbidden conventional weaponry such as arrows or blades so they improvised using only what they had available, farm tools such as the sickle. However, it seems that mythology surrounding the origins of nunchaku has little historical accuracy. Unlike Okinawan rice flail (utzu), original nunchaku had curved arms, resembling an Okinawan horse bit (muge), which gave rise to the theory that nunchaku was originally a horse bridle. Yet another theory asserts that it was adapted from an instrument carried by the village night watch, made of two blocks of wood joined by cord. The night watch would hit the blocks of wood together to attract people's attention and then warn them about fires and other dangers. On the other hand, associating nunchaku and other kobudo weapons with rebellious peasants is probably a part of romantic imagery. Martial arts on Okinawa were practiced exclusively by aristocracy (kazoku) and "serving nobles" (shizoku), and commoners (heimin) were prohibited to do so. Furthermore, Okinawan disarmement was never total; nobles were still allowed to carry their swords and members of the royal family and princes were even allowed to have rifles for hunting. Whatever its origins were, nunchaku was probably not a popular weapon, since there's no known traditional nunchaku kata. This was possibly a result of its lack of efficiency against weapons such as sword and staff. At NAAMA: All weapons are taught in 3 ranks. At the beginning rank the students are taught the warm-ups, care, and introductory level techniques for the weapon. Intermediate students are shown the techniques that have a higher level of difficulty as well as longer, more complex forms and exercises. The advanced rank encourages the student to further explore the uses of the weapon in real-world situations and exposes the most difficult techniques and exercises that NAAMA offers. Available Ranks:
|
||||||||
| |  | | ||||||
| Home | Programs | Instructors | Schedule | Other | ||||||||
| Created By: shawnpence@att.net Modified On: Dec. 29,2009 Copyright 2009 NAAMA. All rights reserved. | ||||||||