Acrylic Smooth Speed Chucks 8 "

Although the certain origin of nunchaku is disputed, it is thought to have been brought to Okinawa from China^{[citation needed]}. The Japanese word nunchaku itself comes from the Hokkien (Min Nan) word nng-chiat-kun(no-chiat kun) (兩節棍). When viewed etymologically from its Okinawan roots, nun comes from the word for twin, and chaku from shaku, a unit of measurement.

The popular belief is that the nunchaku was originally a short Southeast Asian flail used to thresh rice or soybeans (that is, separate the grain from the husk). It is possible that it was developed in response to the moratorium on edged weaponry under the Satsuma daimyo after invading Okinawa in the 17th century, and that the weapon was most likely conceived and used exclusively for that end, as the configuration of actual flails and bits are unwieldy for use as a weapon. Also, peasant farmers were forbidden conventional weaponry such as arrows or blades so they improvised using only what they had available, farm tools such as the sickle The modern weapon would be an effective flail.