Re-Defining Sharp!

Lets talk about sharp for a few minutes.

I recently bought a new Matt Lamey knife. He calls it the "Urban Fighter." I had been wandering around on the web looking for a small easily carried Bowie for EDC and this fit the bill. Sure I can slip a Hells Belle or another large Bowie inside my waistband and make it work, but it is not always practical nor comfortable. Upon first opening the package I was a little disappointed. It was a small Bowie. Well that was exactly what I was looking for, and once I readjusted to that fact, I began to appreciate the details. The Urban Fighter is a very sweet piece of workmanship with a stout, flat ground blade handled with a gorgeous piece of Desert Ironwood. One of Matt’s finely shaped and fitted steel guards provides the requisite hand protection. Carefully checking the edge I was shocked by the sharpness of the blade. (By the way the false edge is also sharp.) This knife begged to do some test cutting.


One of my martial arts videos shows a Japanese swordsman cutting tatami mats from only an inch or so away and this intrigued me. I decided I wanted to try this sometime with a Bowie knife. This Urban Fighter’s razor edge induced me to try it. So, getting to the dojo early I set the blade one inch away from my trusty pool noodle target. I aligned the knife at the correct angle, and literally dropped the blade right straight through!

It cut so cleanly I thought it might be a fluke so I did it again, five times! This technique requires a well-honed edge, perfect edge geometry, and proper technique. I did not use a drawing cut, it was not a wind up and swing at the target cut, just drop right through it. As you can see by the photos the blade size is a very modest 6.5 inches. The cuts are laser clean and all at the same angle. Am I impressed? You bet I am and I was so excited that my technique produced these results that I called my daughter to tell her about the test.
A little bit about the technique I used. Dropping, is not a matter of squatting down and pulling the blade along with you, rather, you pull your feet up and simply drop, using the full force of gravity. The blade was held absolutely still and not moved as it was passing through the target. When doing this cut you must focus on your breathing, dropping as you exhale. It also helps to envision the blade passing through the target. There are other applications of this technique that will be discussed in our upcoming book, "When Two Tigers Fight."
The only other knives I own that share this degree of sharpness are my Gary Bradburn Shobu tanto and an RJ Martin "Manta Ray." Next time I go down to the dojo I am going to repeat this same experiment using the big fighter Matt Lamey custom made for me, the one recently reviewed here. It doesn't seem quite as sharp but I have a feeling it will also be up to the task as long as I do my part. In the mean time, this Lamey Urban Fighter has redefined my understanding of "sharp."

Custom Fighter

Bradburn Hogosha

Ladies and Gentlemen if you want an opportunity to own a superb custom japanese fighting knife please check it out at the bottom of the fighting knives page on our White Shadow Security website. Please take a look and if you hesitate it will be gone. I am a big fan of Gary Bradburn's knives and own about a dozen of them. Here is where you can find it.
http://www.whiteshadowsecurity.com/FightingKnives.html

This custom "Hogosha" tanto by Gary Bradburn features a clay tempered 6.25" high carbon steel blade in the Shobu style with bright hamon 1.25 inches wide at the handle. The handle has dark red rayskin wrap with black Ito, large silver dragonfly menuki on one side and skull crusher pommel. The knife is 12" overall in length and includes a Kydex sheath with adjustable belt loop.

Our Books at Spartan Blades

Spartan Blades LLC

Copies of our book, "The Rhythm of One", and our mini-manual, "On the Edge" are now available from the guys at Spartan Blades LLC. Check out their website and pick up a copy of our book to go along with one of their fine fighting knives. Be safe, always use a training knife when you practice any knife defense techniques!

A Magnificent Fighter

Matt Lamey Fighter:

I promised a full review of my custom Matt Lamey Fighter once it arrived. The knife is awesome, good enough?

Just teasing, there are a lot more great things to say about this knife. Number one is the quality of service from the maker. I don’t care how good a knife is, the deal can quickly turn sour if the maker is some arrogant jerk. When I am spending my money it isn’t to stroke some guys ego and listen to him tell me how great he is. It’s all about the knife. Matt is great to deal with and his knives speak volumes for his artistry and workmanship.
The hand-forged 1095 blade is about ten inches long and 1¾ inches wide. It has a very active hamon that wraps up around the fully sharpened clip. The handling of the knife is enhanced by the six inch long clip and forged-in distal taper. Matt enlarged the choil to suit my inclination to sometimes wrap my pointer finger around the guard. To make it more comfortable he softened the corners of the guard and choil. Unlike some custom knives this one is frightfully sharp where it is supposed to be, and pleasantly smoothened where it counts.
Matt carefully blended the flats on the blade down to the edge, acutely in the major portion of the blade, and more obtusely near the tip. This method provides added strength to the tip where the blade is traveling the fastest and the impact forces are the highest. Subtleties like this are seldom found on knives costing even hundreds of dollars more. Either some makers don’t understand these finer points, or they assume that their customers won’t know the difference. The result of Matt’s extra handiwork is an edge that is hair shaving sharp from one end to the other. By the way, I asked for a sharpened clip and that is exactly what I got. The clip on this knife is properly hardened and sharper than the primary edge on some custom knives I have bought.

The handle is of hidden or mortised tang construction. This requires a lot more work than a fully exposed tang but it makes for a beautiful knife. One single copper pin is all that interrupts the flow of highly figured walnut. The functional handle shape is typical of many of today’s competition cutting knives. It is comfortable and well sized to fit my hand. Finished off with a satin sheen, the colors in the walnut are perfectly complimented by the copper guard. Formed out of solid copper, the guard to blade fit is perfect and the sculpting is graceful, leaving only that material necessary for proper function. Rakishly angled forward, with the branches positioned to make gripping and thumb placement natural, this is a guard designed with the user in mind. Far too often "custom" knifemakers solder on a lump of metal, call it a guard, and neglect to sculpt it or blend it into the flow of the handle. The balance point of this fighter falls just ahead of the ricasso. Having the point of balance slightly weight-forward adds to the cutting power of the knife without seriously affecting its maneuverability, like when performing quick blade reversals. A fighting knife like this is ideally designed for cut and thrust techniques and it will offer up a lively offense or defense.


A custom Kenny Rowe sheath finishes out the package. While it might look mundane, I specified a plain sheath. The fit and workmanship is of the highest order. There is a belt loop on the back and a stud on the front giving me the option to slip it IWB or place it on my belt. Together, the knife and sheath are a magnificent example of the knife fighter’s stock in trade. Without a doubt Matt Lamey is a master of his trade and you would be hard put to find a finer fighting knife or a nicer guy. Thanks Matt.