Nunchaku

Nunchaku (Japanese: ヌンチャク Hepburn: nunchaku, often "nunchucks" in English) is a traditional Okinawan weapon consisting of two sticks connected at one end with a short chain or rope. In modern times the nunchaku were popularized by Bruce Lee in his movies.

Origins:

One popular belief is that nunchaku were originally a short Southeast Asian flail used to thresh rice or soybeans (that is, separate the grain from the husk). This gave rise to the theory that nunchaku were originally developed from an Okinawan horse bit (muge), or that nunchaku were adapted from a wooden clapper called hyoshiki carried by the village night watch; made of two blocks of wood joined by cord, the night watch would hit the blocks of wood together to attract people's attention and then warn them about fires and other dangers.
Nevertheless, associating nunchaku and other Okinawan weapons with rebellious peasants is probably a part of romantic imagery. Martial arts on Okinawa were practised exclusively by aristocracy (kazoku) and "serving nobles" (shizoku) but were prohibited among commoners (heimin). Furthermore, Okinawan disarmament was never total; nobles were still allowed to carry their swords and members of the royal family and princes were even allowed to have firearms for hunting. Whatever its origins were, the nunchaku were not a popular weapon, evidenced by the fact that no known traditional kata (choreographed practice movements) for nunchaku exist. This was possibly a result of its lack of efficiency against weapons such as the sword.
According to Chinese folklore, nunchaku are a variation of the two section staff.