That is the bounty I’m putting on vintage nunchaku like these.
Keep in mind vintage “knock offs” exist but there are ways to tell. If you have something like this in your closet from 30+ years ago it’s worth at least (2) Pmags. Nunchaku made with the more exotic woods such as rosewood or cocobolo are worth more.
I’m particularly interested in the 14" length models.
Also interested in vintage “speedchucks” sold by Asian World of Martial Arts.
And I’d be interested in vintage tonfa, sai and three sectional staff weapons made by either company.
Damn, should have caught me a few years back. I had a pair of the cocobolo and maple as well as a set of sai complete with imitation imitation vinyl case. … and I think they came from that very place.
You could oil them from the top of the cap, not that they ever needed it. I have some from 1979 that are still spinning like new. Think of ball bearing skateboard wheels from the late 70s, similar setup.
Are your caps pinned on with a roll pin or similar.
I tipped a wooden pallet up on it’s side and wound up, swung that cocobolo set at the skid and cracked that sucker in half. It broke that skid but didn’t hurt the sticks at all. It did however make the cap a little loose.
That pair was heavy. The maple ones were quite light, although I suppose you already know that.
I think I had a three section staff too. I couldn’t figure that one so it was just nice to look at. Had a Bo staff that spent a lot of time getting looked at as well.
I used to really like the nunchucks though and as I recall I never hit myself.
Got a hole in my uniform one night where I almost stabbed myself with the sai… they lived in their case a lot after that.
Thanks for the effort but those are very late model rattan sticks with Chinese quality ball bearing swivels. Basically junk. Sadly there is lots of junk out there, that’s all they’ve made for awhile now.
In the late 70s and early 80s, imports were made in Japan rather than China and the quality was much higher. Dolan’s were actually made “in house” in the US and they made some of the best martial arts weapons on the market until they closed up shop around 1987.
Ouch! that second picture looks painful. Yes, I’m sure mine came from AWMA… Black Belt magazine maybe? I guess this would have been back in '73 - '74 or so… It hasn’t been all that many years since I got rid of them though. I think I gave it all to Goodwill
In your second rack there. In the very center. the ones with the grooves cut half way from end to center. That’s what my cocobolo ones were like. I can’t for the life of me remember if the maple ones were smooth or had those two grooves. I never had any of the edged ones.
It’s funny I was thinking about that stuff just a few weeks ago. I used to have a nice leather Everlast double-end bag and want to set up another one.
Yeah, you’ve got quite a collection. My sai had that tan wrap with silver like that pair you have on the right. Probably the very same ones. Jeeze it seems like yesterday and that was three decades.
I probably have something close to 50 nunchaku. I just happen to be a collector of vintage Dolan and AWMA nunchaku and I’m missing a few models and don’t mind have double or triples of certain examples.
Actually if you had pinned cap ball bearing swivel AWMA models those didn’t get introduced until December of 1978 (cocobolos ball bearing swivel seen in advertisement above).
Prior to that they were copying the Dolan’s Universal swivel and didn’t offer a cocobolo model until December of 1977.
AWMA didn’t even offer nunchaku until Jan of 1976 and here is their first advertisement.
Dolan’s entered the nunchaku market as early as May of 1975 and this is their first ad.
They didn’t start advertising their patented swivel chain model until Jan. 1976.
Their earliest nunchaku didn’t have stick caps (which didn’t get introduced until September 1976) and here is an example of what they looked like.
Evidently it was later than I thought then. Mine were definitely the caped ball bearing style. Exactly like the color ad you posted first. I thought I got into that stuff before the late 70’s but evidently not. I think it would have had to have been before '81 at the outside.
It’s funny I can see the people in my life at the time, I can see the overlaps and when they would have appeared but I can’t really tie it to anything any longer. Man, now I really feel old…
Don’t feel bad, I do it too. We’re about the same age. The color ad was from Dec. 1978 and that was when AWMA first advertised the pinned cap ball bearing nunchaku so it could have been as early as 1979 when you got your pair.
Before I did the above research I was similarly positive that I had some things a few years before they even existed. Thankfully I kept my library of Black Belt and Inside Kung Fu magazines.
They served as a valuable reference for me later to more accurately recall what I studied and when. Thankfully I can still vividly associate certain issues with certain events, even if I thought they happened earlier.
Got my first shodan grade at age 14 after 6 years of study in Okinawan Kobujutsu. A year later I got my shodan in Shotokan karate after 7 years of study.
That would actually sound about right now that I recall. I had forgotten about a job I had that lasted about 4 or 5 years. Probably right around 1980 give or take a year.
