Origins of Okinawan Weapons, Chapter 3, Nunchaku

[sirdarksol]

There are as many theories regarding the origin of the nunchaku as there are of the sai. The most commonly listed theory is that the nunchaku was a rice flail. This makes a certain amount of sense. There were European weapons based on the same type of deal.
However, there are also historians who say that they can find no record of the nunchaku being used as a flail.
Another one that makes sense is that it was used in harvesting rice. You could loop the rope around a bundle of rice stalks, pull them over the boat you were in, and then strip the rice seeds.
Again, though, this is pure conjecture, with no support for either claim.
The final one, and the only one that has even the slightest bit of support, is that it was, pure and simple, something imported from China. Nunchaku are relatively easy to make, and the flexible nature allows for extremely high speeds (and thus inertia) to be generated.