what are the advantages and disadvantages of arnis, nunchucks?

Question

I'm planning to learn a weapon and I'm kinda having a dilemma. What are the advantages of using arnis sticks? nunchucks?

Answer 1

I prefer the nunchucks myself. I started practicing with them in 1986 and pretty much taught myself. I've now mastered one pair and have gotten really good at using two pair of nunchucks at the same time. But trust me, when you are beginning, buy the foam practice chucks until you get pretty good.

Answer 2

Arnis has the advantage to being available in almost every setting in your daily environment. You will even find that the striking patterns that you learn can be used without the sticks with great effectiveness. The issues with sticks becomes striking power. I will not say that they can not do damage. In skillfull hands sticks can be deadly. So can every other weapon.
Nunchucks are fun and great for demonstration and movie use. They are illegal in most states to be used in street defense and you will not readily find them on the street. Biggest disadvantage is that they can be hard to control. If you have not learned basic physics then remember this one thing. When you hit something with the "chucks" they will deflect off of the object. This can be hard to control and many people find that they come close to or do hit themselves on the return..
If you are going to tournaments then choose "chucks". It is a great beginner weapon and everybody uses them at one time or another. Not great for practical application except in home defense.
If you are going for pure practical application then go for the sticks.

Answer 3

Part of it depends on your reason for learning a weapon. If you are a police officer or thinking of law enforcement as a career arnis will benefit you more. If it is competition neither is good for that per say and I would select the bo staff or kama instead. Most people are only taught the fancy twirling and passing techniques of the nunchaku and a lot of kids that never studied martial arts can twirl them. Arnis on the other hand tends to teach you angles of attack and some other good and interesting concepts like the "Triangle" with regards to stick fighting that carry over into other martial arts. So I would select arnis over the nunchaku and neither if it is for competition.

Answer 4

I am bias, I love sticks. My first true influence was with Kali. That was my first martial skill that I saw real martial truth. I started training in Kali/ Escrima in 89-90 I am unable to train at a school, now days, but I still try to maintain some form of xp with the sticks. As for chucks, they have one flaw as do any flexable weapon. Once you hit something with them they tend to be uncontrolable. They look nice and are deadly but weilding them during real combat is more dificult than just swinging them around without striking anything, plus you can't carry chucks like you can a stick. For show and "play" they are nice. Over all I'd choose the stick.

Answer 5

Arnis/Escrima/Kali are easier to learn, and more readily available on the street (you can just pick up a stick and use it). Plus, you have less chance of hurting yourself while learning.

Chucks are impressive if handled correctly. These are geat weapons for demos because of that. Not particularly practical in street defense, simply because you would have to carry them around with you :)

Answer 6

The advantage is that you can really kick butt with one or two sticks. The disadvantage is that stick fighting only covers 2 ranges of fighting, most notably trapping range and weapons range. There are still 3 other critical ranges of fighting; punching, kicking, and grappling, but if you can end a confrontation with sticks alone, then that's alright. I like the idea of single stick fighting because one stick is more convenient for most people in most situations than two sticks are.