An Artful Nuance: A John Gage Fighter

Artful Nuance:
"A very slight difference or variation in color or tone." This is one online definition of nuance from Dictionary.Com. Some knives are overtly aggressive in looks and attitude, like the ITAC knives. Others are more subtle, like this H.S.L.D. Fighter made by John Gage. When I asked John what the initials stood for he told me, High Speed Low Drag. Not truly being a man of the 20th century I had to look that term up on the internet. It means something purely functional with no fluff or irrelevant baggage attached. In some ways this description seems too stark for such a beautiful knife.
My first impression of the HSLD was that it had a strong Persian flair. Once I held it in my hands I could see that there was a definite Japanese influence too. The seven-inch, hollow ground blade, exhibits that artful nuance of colors and textures so reminiscent of Japanese blades, in fact anything Japanese. It is more than the presence of a vibrant billowing hamon. In the marginal area between the hamon and the shinogi lies a wonderfully textured surface suggesting a forged and folded blade when in fact it is a stock removal blade. The shinogi ji is satin polished and contains an etched JG logo. Although the back edge is curved differently than most tanto, it has the same peaked shape typical of an iori mune.
The handle profile is pretty basic, totally tactical, and with a single finger cutout in the ricasso area, makes the knife highly maneuverable. Covering the ¼ inch thick tang are four thin scales of green and black G-10. The scales are held in place by five pieces of tubing serving as rivets. The last tube also functions as a lanyard hole. I have never been a fan of lanyards on fighting knives. I figure if I lose my grip on my knife during a fight the last thing I want is to have it tethered to me where it can flop around and cut me numerous times. So when this knife arrived I removed its lanyard. It was actually more of a braided dangle, since there was not enough room to slip your hand through. As part of the man-knife bonding process I noticed that the point of balance is more blade forward than I generally prefer in a knife this size.
Experimenting, I decided to slip a silver Emerson Skull bead on the dangle and reinstall it. Bingo, the HSLD Fighter now balances perfectly at the finger cutout. For some reason I never thought of using a dangle to balance a knife, although many Chinese Jian dao (swords) are balanced by the application of sashes to their pommels. Would the dangle inhibit grip changes? It probably would but I don’t advocate messing around changing your grip during a fight anyway. John’s green and black leather sheath is functional and very well made but the sheath somehow lacks the excitement and inspiration of the knife itself. Hey I can live with that. Why did I buy this knife? Chalk it up to the fatal attraction of artful nuance and the subtle ways John blended lines, colors, and textures. Great job John. This is my first John Gage knife and it’s definitely a keeper!

(John Gage photo: )

For Craig

For Craig

There are times that you just shake your head and wonder what its all about. I came home from the East Coast Custom Knife Show in NYC all pumped up only to find a disturbing voice mail awaiting me. A martial arts friend left a brief message saying that a young man named Craig Eden had died that day in an auto accident.

Craig was a very old soul in a too young body. He was used hard and life had not been easy or kind to him. Craig was the first to admit that he had been in trouble all too often. Maybe he was just wild, reckless, spirited or ignored too much when he was a child. Probably a little of all of the above. He came to me wanting to learn Japanese swordsmanship. I don’t even remember how he found out about me, not that it really matters. Several people said I should not accept him as a student. He was "trouble." Indeed, trouble seemed to plague Craig’s days but in my class he was no trouble. We were like the old dog and the new pup, Bear Claw and Jeremiah Johnson in the movie by the same name.

Bear Claw Chris Lapp: You've come far pilgrim. Jeremiah Johnson: Feels like far. Bear Claw Chris Lapp: Were it worth the trouble? Jeremiah Johnson: Ahh, What trouble?

That’s how it was with Craig and I, "what trouble?" One night at the beginning of class I asked Craig, "What would you like to do tonight?" His reply, "Whatever you want me to do." Never have I had a student answer that way in all the years I have taught. In that one short exchange I looked into the soul of a true warrior. Craig was also an artist and one of his drawings of a samurai is hanging in our dojo. His talents included making mounts and a saya for his own katana using a forged blade he bought. He was always tinkering with it, improving the wrapping or reshaping the tsuka.

There came a point where Craig was in some ways better and faster than me. As any teacher knows that is rewarding and frustrating at the same time. One night I picked up a wooden wakizashi and took a stance. Craig held his bokuto (wooden katana) in the jodan or overhead posture. I told him to cut straight down on my head. He hesitated, knowing how fast he was. I told him again, "CUT." He did. I slipped his cut and brought my wakizashi to rest right alongside his head. He never flinched or faltered in his cut but I knew I would never be able to beat him twice with that technique. Sometimes you only get one chance at life or death.

Life is seldom fair. Sometimes we get what we deserve and other times it seems disproportionately good or bad. This one time, this one night, fate dealt Craig an unfair hand. but he would not complain. He always accepted life as it came, the bitter and the sweet. Craig I wish you well whatever path you are on, and until we can train together again, keep practicing.