September 28, 2006

Beating Nunchaku into Submission

I was trying to make peace with nunchaku a few weeks ago. Then I gave up and figured nunchaku and I would agree to disagree. That was until a very wise new black belt made a suggestion. She said I needed to quit trying to make peace with them and instead beat them into submission. Since my "making peace" post, I’ve done a couple things.

I decided that no one, not even an Okinawan Kenpo and Kobudo master, should use the nunchaku that I initially bought for myself, back when I was a very naive white belt. They are made out of red oak. They are 14" long. They weigh 50 lbs. O.k., that last part is a lie, but they are very heavy.
I bought a new much lighter pair of nunchaku. They weigh at least half of what my original nunchaku weight. They are 12" long. Both of these things make a huge difference.
I’ve decided that there is no way you can go into "battle" assuming that you won’t obtain any battle scars. I’ve become willing to accept the fact that I will continually thump myself on the back with them for a while. I may occasionally send my hair flying when I don’t swing them right. It’s possible that I will bang myself in the face with them . . . often. I will probably continue to elicit a screaming response (ask my instructor if you don’t believe me) when I send the nunchaku flying alarmingly close to my face. This will continue until I have this kata mastered.
There’s no time like the present to learn Odo No Nunchaku.

My instructor asked me what I’d like to work on this week in my advanced class. For 2nd kyu I need to know the open hand kata Pinan Yondan. I also need two weapons kata’s: Chounokun (bo) and Odo No Nunchaku. My instructor asked what my preference was and I said that all three were equally awful so I’d let him choose.

Knowing my aversion, my instructor made a suggestion that we bang out the one I’m dreading the most . . . the dreaded nunchaku.

I picked up a nice foam pair because I am not even going to dare to pick up the wooden ones until I have the pattern completely down and virtually flawless. Only then, will I incorporate the wooden ones, once I have confidence and better skill. Thumps on the back with foam are annoying enough; I don’t even want to THINK about the bruises the wooden ones would induce. I imagine a press conference that would go something like this: "Yes, my doctors have said I need to stop kobudo right now. There have just been too many concussions from nunchaku use. (Whispers to Doctor beside me: "What was I talking about?"). Oh, yes. . . (sob, sob, sob). . . I need to see my children grow up. I want to know my grandchildren." Foam it is.

So, we went through the nunchaku kata again and again and again. We would go through about a third of it several times and then I would have to do the kata by myself. I’ve got the first third of it completely down. By the end of a good half hour, I was able to go through the entire kata by myself with only a few spots where I froze and asked for some help getting unstuck.

Without foam nunchaku of my own, I was worried I’d forget it all by next week. However, my instructor lent me his foam nunchaku and I came home tonight and made it through the kata with only three or four sticky spots. Having the kata broken down the way Mr. M did made it seem so much more manageable. Knowing the moves of the kata makes learning how to swing them correctly that much easier.

Now we just have to break me of the screaming . . .