Freestyle nunchaku

Freestyle nunchaku refers to the use of the nunchaku weapon (used in martial arts and popularised by Bruce Lee and other martial artists) in a more visually stunning, rather than combative way. Nunchaku-do competitions are now held where marks are awarded based upon visual display rather than predefined kata.^[1]

There is a community of freestyle practitioners from around the world who, through collective experimentation and exploration, have compiled a comprehensive breakdown of freestyle and its parts.

Freestyle is one of the disciplines of Nunchaku-Do (a sport based upon nunchaku combat freestyle and kata organized by the Nunchaku International Academy, North American Nunchaku Association, and the Stichting Nunchaku Nederland/World Nunchaku Association) freestyle routines are generally judged on the following criteria.^[2]

• Pace and rhythm
• Consistency of speed
• Variation in techniques
• Control and movement
• Use of double nunchaku
• One risk element with one nunchaku
• One risk element with two nunchaku
• Dropping the nunchaku
• Uniqueness and creativeness in composition
• Visual aestheticity of the entire presentation
• Application on the entire competition field
• Time span of the freestyle
• Showmanship and entertainment
• Budo/Wushu spirit

The general interest in freestyle nunchaku has, concurrently with the increasing possibilities of sharing skills and techniques that online video sharing communities such provide, expanded to the point where a freestyle nunchaku movement autonomous from the World Nunchaku Association has formed.

The Freestyle Nunchaku Forum (FNF) holds tournaments that all members can participate in. These tournaments are held by participants submitting videos that adhere certain rules (which are relaxed, such as length of video and whether other weapons freestyle can be used). When all of the videos are in, members of the forum can vote on who they think is better. The annual "Chuck Off" has varied categories such as: Singles, Doubles, Fire and Glow, and Director. Similarly, the annual "World Cup" welcomes all sort of nunchaku entries, where editing is allowed and compilations are encouraged to present the highest technicality, difficulty, and visual astonishability the player can possibly bring.

The forum also hosts what are called Ladder Battles. Here participants are ranked by number. Those wanting to move up the ranks can challenge any of the three people above them to a "battle". The two people involved submit videos of their freestyle that adhere to certain rules that are agreed upon. Then, forum members have a certain length of time to vote on who they think is the best.

• freestyleforum.net Archived 2006-11-03 at the Wayback Machine - International freestyle nunchaku forum
• nunchakututorials.com - A complete free site with all the freestyle tricks and moves