The oldest source on the nunchaku so far seems to be by William Henry Furness III (1866–1920), American physician, ethnographer and author, who visited Okinawa from March 13 to 26, 1896, saying,
Non-shaku [nunchaku] is played with a stick about three feet long to which is attached a rope. The object of the game is to disarm the opponent by whipping the stick out of his hands.”
Soken Hohan wrote that Komesu Ushi who taught him bojutsu also taught him nunchaku techniques in 1908 (according to Soken’s 1961 hand-written resumee to the Okinawa Kobudo Kyokai, of which Walt Young has a copy).
Kaneshima Shinsuke learned nunchaku from Tokuyama Chōgi in Taiwan sometime between April 1918 and May 1919, or April 1928 to November 1928.
In 1939, Ishikawa Hōei (1911-2007) performed nunchaku at the Commemorative Demonstration held during the Opening Ceremony of the Okinawa District Committee of the Dai Nippon Butokukai.
The oldest photo of nunchaku or its use which I was able to verify is that of Koja Shoshin in a 1955 article “Roundtable discussion to talk about the karate (Part 3). – Weapons representing the spirit of defense.”
One year later, the Movie “Bushi Matsumora” was released in 1956. It is about the heroic tale of famed martial artist Matsumora Kōsaku. in this historical drama about Matsumora Kōsaku we see classical Kata of the Ryūkyū kingdom era performed, namely Passai, as well as choreographed fight scenes (Yakusoku kumite) unarmed as well as armed with a Nunchaku. Without doubt the actors were skilled in all of it.
It also seems that nunchaku has been featured for the first time on screen in this movie. Here, Henzan Jirā with a nunchaku fights against Bushi Matsumora Kōsaku, as some villagers look on.
One year later, the Movie “Bushi Matsumora” was released in 1956. It is about the heroic tale of famed martial artist Matsumora Kōsaku. in this historical drama about Matsumora Kōsaku we see classical Kata of the Ryūkyū kingdom era performed, namely Passai, as well as choreographed fight scenes (yakusoku kumite) unarmed as well as armed with a nunchaku. Without doubt the actors were skilled in all of it.
It also seems that nunchaku has been featured for the first time on screen in this movie. Here, Henzan Jirā with a nunchaku fights against Bushi Matsumora Kōsaku, as some villagers look on.
A nunchaku practice kata was presented in Ryuyku Kobudo Taikan by Taira Shinken in 1964.
Later, Minowa Katsuhiko mentioned that there were several weapons in Taira’s home such as tecchu and sanbon nunchaku that none of his students ever practiced. Taira admitted that he himself never learned any techniques or kata for these weapons. Therefore, some people later began to create techniques and even kata on their own. In this way, various of Taira’s students made their own contributions by creating new kobudo kata.
In Matayoshi Kobudō, nunchaku appeared as a 1st kyu content in the Teaching and Examination Subjects (Original 1972).
Regular and large nunchaku in the hands of this author in 2009.
© 2023, Andreas Quast. All rights reserved.