PDA

View Full Version : Nunchakus - hope thats spelt right



rebelfilms
21st January 2003, 16:45
Well i have a question. I am making a chambara movie at film school (purly to infuriate my tutor who says i should stick to something sensible like "i burnt the pizza" for my graduation - i think not!) and i have a question. On Friday I have a guy coming to audition for the film and his main weapon is nunchakus - i hope thats spelt right. I always thought they were from China, until i did more research and found that they are an Okinawan weapon. He says (and i have no way until Friday when i can put him to the test) that they could have been used against a sword. How would that work? Is there anything to indicate that ninjas used nunchakus and if so in what capacity? - I am just trying to make sure my film has a degree of believability in it!
Any thoughts would be most deeply welcomed.
Laura Jury from england
www.angelfire.com/film/zenscrolls

Chuck.Gordon
21st January 2003, 19:03
... nunchakus - i hope thats spelt right.

No 's' ... Nunchaku is both singular and plural.


I always thought they were from China, until i did more research and found that they are an Okinawan weapon.

More or less. I'd say MAINLY Okinawan.


He says (and i have no way until Friday when i can put him to the test) that they could have been used against a sword.

Hoo boy. Sigh. Probably. Sometime, somewhere. By a dead guy.

There is a peristent and widely accepted myth that Okinawan peasants fought samurai with primitive weapons (successfully, too) and their bare hands. In fact, this is probably not EXACTLY true.

The peasants in Okinawa were forbidden weapons, largely by their own ruling class (much like most peasants anywhere in the world). Ther WERE revolts, and in these grass-roots movements, yes, farming tool were probably used to some effect. But no, I don't believe the peasantry studied formalized martial arts and fought ofravening samurai with their hands, feet and simple weapons.

Peasants, by definition, are pretty much the bottom of th epecking order. They haven't TIME or MEANS to study organized martial arts. They're too busy getting the harvest in, pulling oxen out of the muck, putting the next year's crop in the paddy, paying taxes, raising more kids to take on some of the work, you know the deal. It's been the same story in any society in the world.

Until recent times, only the elite and the wealthy had time, chance or privilege to study formalized fighting arts. Yeah, they wrestled and probably boxed in some form, but it wasn't as organized or codified as some would have us believe.

And from what I can ascertain, many of the 'invasion' tales are likely just that ... tales. Okinawa was a crossroads, and many cultures were found there for many reasons, some invited BY the ruling class ... it's all about profit, you see ...

Anyhow, all that anting aside ...

If you want to do Chambara, study Kurosawa. I reccommend 'Yojimbo', 'Sanjuro', 'Seven Samurai' and 'Hidden Fortress'. Also, the 'Samurai' trilogy based on Yoshikawa's book 'Musashi' ...

And, if possible, get your hands on 'Samurai Fiction' ... hilarious and educational.

Other resources for making good chambara:

'Tampopo' (No chambara, really, but a great shrimp scene -- no, really, it's chambara in modern clothes with cooking instead of swords)

'Yakuza' with Robert Mitchum.

Good luck!

Chuck



How would that work? Is there anything to indicate that ninjas used nunchakus and if so in what capacity? - I am just trying to make sure my film has a degree of believability in it!
Any thoughts would be most deeply welcomed.
Laura Jury from england
www.angelfire.com/film/zenscrolls [/B][/QUOTE]