Playing and having fun

When I get a little "slumped" with motivation to train I revert to the things I love to do.  For me that's my nunchucks. When I pick those up and feel them in my hand I instantly feel better. I have pairs of them (I own many chucks lol) spread around my house in secluded spots.  I do this not for self defense but just feeling them in my hands is sometimes what I need to get into the training mindset. 

Tonight I started playing with my new pair of chucks. They feel so solid and good in my hands.  The weight is perfect, the angled sides of the chuck feel solid in my hand.  The way they fold together and lay flat against their sides allow me to use them like a set of esrima sticks (hint to what I'm adding to my form).  I started to spin them and when I finished I was able to figure out the balance point and get them to spin from side to across the top of my hand.  The difference between this style and the chain version is that the chain version would wrap around my hand.  The chain length is about four inches where the rope on my new set is only one inch and can't wrap around my hand.  I had to move my hand down to the bottom of the chuck and get the angle of my spin flatter.  There is no room for error without the chain but when you get it right, they feel much more stable and powerful.  The advantage to being able to move my hand to the bottom of the chuck is the range I gained.  The striking area for chucks is the tip and no more than one inch down from the tip.  If you hit with more of the chuck it will come back at you and trust me, that's not what you want to have happen.  

I started to play with a adaptation of sticky hands with my chucks.  I started to envision my chucks closed in my hands like escrima sticks.  I used one chuck to sweep across as a block and the other hand to wrap around my head with a strike to the temple in a helix stance.  Next it was a double low strike to the knees with a double crossing strike to the head.  It all flows really nicely with a lot of circular movement.  Now I just need to figure out where to slot this into my form?

I'm a huge proponent of striking something solid with your weapon.  How else are you going to feel what it's like to use the weapon the way it was designed?  I use my heavy bag to practice actual striking. I start out light and work up the power and speed as I start to understand the weapon.  It's a great way to see and feel the proper vectors of my weapon.  It allows me to find my range for different strikes.  I like to use a downward and upward strike across my body that delivers the most power with my target being the temple or the jaw.  I also like to snap it out from under my shoulder aiming for the bridge of a nose or knuckles of my opponents who may be holding a knife, sword etc. 

So many different ways to play!   

Mr. Repay