http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/8546/10385233.pnggot them the other day, these badboys are 14" long with a 7/8" to 1.1/4" taper. i felt like just mounting them on the wall as a trophy,, but
i just couldn't help myself!!
i designed these with the intent of achieving 6 ideals.
1. longer reach - (indeed
)
2. total controll from holding the bottom end -, which was achieved!! i can do all of my aerials perfectly from over a foot from the top end.
3. variability,, one point of the additional length was for reach.. but the other reason i decided on 14" was increased variety of moves, I'm still adapting to it,, but the idea is that more length to work with = more variety of movements,
4. taper conscious manipulation -with these chucks i can wristroll smoothly from 1" from the top ALL the way to the bottom, and back up again! seriously,, getting the specs behind this was about 6 hours work for me!
5. Strikes exert full outwards force - with my 12" chucks i found that when i swung them full power, not all of the force was traveling outwards,, it was moving back around my body. with these chucks however, a full powered swing feels totally perfect!!! more power, faster, and further reach than my old chucks, no potential energy is wasted.
6.weight - heaver than my old set, but lighter than i thought they would be,, which is probably a good thing! my last set were heavy enough to crack bones, these are heavier and longer,, you do the math
i only have 2 gripes with these chucks,
1. the cord set up didn't feel right when i got them, they were a 2 cord set up and they felt like they "skipped" when i swung them. after about 2 hours of messing around, i managed to squeeze in a 3 cord tie, which is now functioning perfectly,, luckily colleen sent me some additional paracord like i asked, just in case of a situation like this (thanks Colleen
)
2. the shellac finish on the wood that i chose felt a bit "sticky" like the feeling of fresh varnish, my hands were already sore as hell from the previous days 6 hour session on the beach with my old chucks,, so swinging them hurt after a while,, i decided to use a waxing technique my uncle showed me, basically leaves no solid wax on the wood, it just leaves a fine film of residue that neutralises the stickiness but leaves the colour and shine intact.
so in summation, they were just what i was hoping for, i fixed the minor problems within an hour (which were my errors, not woodall's)
i fully fully recommend woodall's custom workshop, my previous pair were from there, and they carried me through for about a year, they lasted through drops, strikes, the occasional 50ft launch over garden fences, and an average of 3 hours a day practice. which is pretty damn good.
I'm hoping this new pair will help me break though to my next stage of nunchaku evolution. its going to take some getting used to, but for the plan i have in mind these chucks are the perfect tool to use.
