When Am I Going to Learn?

Well I just wasted another $40 on a DVD by one of the top-rated knife instructors. (I’ll tell you right up front it wasn’t James Keating, because in my opinion he is one of the few true artisans of the blade, or my friend Pete Kautz.) This instructor’s book was highly rated on a knife forum I belong to so when I found a copy of the material on DVD I bought it.
I was enjoying the DVD up to the point where the instructor demonstrated the basic grips. He is a proponent of the saber and hammer grip, which is fine. But then he half-heartedly demos the reverse grip and gives some BS reason for why it was developed and then flipping a few expletives he dismisses it as being stupid and useless, unless you are attacked by someone wearing bamboo armor. Ok so he doesn’t like the reverse grip I get the message. In my opinion that makes his understanding two-dimensional. His prejudice may someday leave him wide open to an attack by a skilled reverse grip fighter.
As I continued on through the video I was not seeing anything especially new. He brags about "spending all of 3 minutes" on footwork and grips. Must be he figures we are either too stupid, or the moves are too simple, to waste his time on them. Next, I guess to add some classicism, he says against a slash or thrust you can use a technique called In-Quartata. As a side note he credits John Steyer for it. Well John Steyer learned it from Anthony Drexel-Biddle, who learned it from his fencing master, who learned it from, etc. etc. Then this instructor doesn’t even bother to perform this 300 year old technique correctly. Maybe we are just supposed to figure that out too. By the way In-Quartata was designed to be used against a thrust not a slashing attack. The instructor has a preference for an almost square stance, saying that blading your body places your rear ankle at risk of folding under. That is because his rear foot is not properly positioned. If he had trained with those idiots in bamboo armor he would have learned that. Standing square-on is markedly the weakest possible stance to defend against a frontal rushing attack.
I guess it depends on what level the buyer of the DVD happens to be, but this guy’s attitude seems unnecessarily dismissive. Lets be honest, any time an artist sells books, DVDs, or lessons he is merchandizing his art, myself included. Therefore we need to properly serve our paying customers not insult them. This is the real root of this blog/rant: rudeness, condescension, profanity, arrogance, machismo. Why is it so many notable knife instructors feel they need to act this way? Do they believe this makes them more fearsome or masterful appearing? Arghh when will I learn? The knife work that Gwynne and I do is every bit as effective and in many ways more advanced than what is on this DVD. I have not intimidated any of my students lately that I know of, and I certainly have not felt a need to punctuate my lessons with colorful expletives. Maybe this is why I am still not enshrined in the halls of rich and famous instructors.
For my simple skills I am indebted to my instructors, Hanshi Juchnik, Sensei Bob Cook, Masahiro Tsukedate, Sensei Yagyu Koichi, Sensei Ron Long, my training partners, and most especially my warrior daughter! If you want to see what we teach, buy a copy of our book "The Rhythm of One" or come visit us. I promise you, no profanities, and no photos of us dressed in camouflage BDUs or ninja-esque outfits.