The city's Council Office informed Black Belt that a motion to repeal the ban on certain specific martial arts weapons passed unanimously at a meeting of the Common Council, Tuesday.
Showing how little Americans knew about Asian martial arts 50 years ago, the ordinance banning these weapons in Madison, from 1976, officially prohibited the possession of "numchucks," throwing knives or "churkins" (a.k.a. shurikens) and a wood or metal rod referred to as a "sucbai" (perhaps meaning a sai?). Local Madison radio station WORT, who initially reported on efforts to repeal the ban, noted that a former assistant city attorney, who helped craft the prohibition, can't even remember why these weapons were banned in the first place.
But now, the martial artists of Madison are once again free to (responsibly) swing their numchucks and throw their churkins.