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Old 08-01-2010, 11:34 AM   #24
KaliGman
Dojo: Warren Budokan
Location: Youngstown, Ohio
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 36
United_States
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Re: Police/Military Blade Tactics

Quote:
Dan Harden wrote: View Post
While Kukris are my favorite as well, I am not really sure how they fit into a modern fighting knife description. Then again to me a fighting knife seems weird. Wouldn't they want a best all around tool? How often would you use a knife....as a weapon?
I never go camping without a kukri as they are a good machete/axe/draw knife (an aspect rarely talked about) and fine knife as well when you know how to use the blade. Why there is a tendency to shy away from large weapons may be more of an "in thing" in the military than in real life. When men used all around weapons and tools- they were not usually small.
So how does that work in modern combat? I'll leave that up to the professionals..I've have no idea.
Long extended outdoor trips, I'll take certain large knifes everytime.
Hiking? I use a 3" folder. who need the extra weight.

That was a fairly decent video demonstration, minus some body placement issues. His noting the difference between the short and large knife is very true and that Kukris have tremendous potential for damage and work in a tighter cut as well as in a spiraling flurry of cuts and in stabbing. I was surprised to see something so decent.

Couple of points about his discussion of hacking, and chopping:
Kukris were not originally intended for fighting but were an all around agricultural tool. As an agricultural tool you could swing the blade in a manner that did not require that same firm grip. That grip actually reduces rather than enhances the knifes real cutting power. By keeping the knife loose in the hand, you could use the rings on the handle to pivot and snap the blade in your own hand. This allowed gravity to move the blade forward and you needed no where near the energy he is using to cut through large objects.
This method has been used for generations in domestic use to cut all day with much less fatigue...

Indigenous blades and why we should not take a cultures ignorance in their forging practices as gospel
The thick spine he shows is really a poor choice that they made as a trade-off for not hardening the spine. It is ridiculous to be mentioned as a plus.

Dan
Hello Dan,

I have to say that I agree with quite a bit of your post, but there are a couple of things to consider. You already mentioned the grip on the khukuri and how you were not worried about retention. Since I was showing combat methodologies, I was, of course, very much concerned with retention. Having been in the law enforcement field for the last 18 years and having dealt with a few violent and overall "interesting" situations, I am always concerned with the retention of any weapon or tool that could be used as a weapon which I carry, and the location of any weapon that the miscreant happens to have on his person. As for body positioning, note that, when cutting, I demonstrated our methodology and methodologies that we do not advocate in my art, and that I was not doing any footwork. As for use of the knife as a weapon, I find this to be a key skill that needs to be developed. After years of real world experience in violent situations and having been attacked with knives, firearms, bludgeons, empty hands, multiple attackers, etc., as well as teaching and training law enforcement officers and others for years, I have never seen someone who was really good defending against a knife who had not spent considerable time learning how to use a knife to fight. I am sure that there are exceptions to this "rule," but I have personally never seen one to date. I have lost count of the fencers, kendo players, wrestlers, pugilists, soldiers, police officers, and various and sundry martial artists who I have worked with who thought they knew how to defend against a committed knife attack who could not when the training knives came out and a moderate speed attack was initiated. Based on my experience in subduing and arresting criminals and in investigating criminal attacks, I believe a knife attack is something that one should be profficient in defending against, should one be concerned with personal safety and defense when practicing a martial art, rather than spiritual or other development only. This seems especially true to me, since a recent study published in the Law Enforcement Bulletin used Uniform Crime Reports data to determine that knives are the second most used weapons, following handguns, to be used in criminal homicides in the United States, and that the use of knives as a tool to commit murder outnumbered the use of all shotguns, rifles, and other shoulder fired weapons combined.

As for heavy chopping blades and thick spines, I lean more toward your view than does the "sharpened pry bar" crowd. I will say that there are advantages, for some uses, in the thick spine, regardless of forging methods. A thick spine means a heavier blade and, for many who are looking at a khukuri as a substitute for a camp axe or a fun way to cut and split wood around the house (probably the majority of the market, other than collectors, when it comes to the Himalayan Imports blades), the weight helps relatively untrained persons use their big blades to split and cut wood, and the wedge affect" of the thicker blade forces wood apart. Many who praise the HI blades see them as compact "splitting axes." Personally, I prefer the lighter, thinner, better slicing, blades, and to me they are better balanced if they are thinner. A thinner, better slicing edge is not as durable as a thicker edge in many "hard use" and outdoor tasks. I, and probably you, would rather just refresh an edge that had been dulled and have something that cuts better than a thicker edge, but some do not feel the same way. For the price, and with the replacement warranty they offer, the HI blades are, in my opinion, a good value for someone who wants a "heavy chopper." Personally, I far prefer other large knife types for combative purposes, and generally carry much smaller knives. Wearing a bowie with a ten inch blade while dressed in a business suit can be a bit silly, especially since I already have a handgun and spare ammunition, flashlight, a large folding knife or two and other items on my person, and have an M-4 and/or MP-5 in the trunk of my issued vehicle.
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