Technique of No Technique?

On one of the knife forums I frequent a self-proclaimed expert says that it is fantasy to talk about defending yourself with a knife and therefore your pick of a carry knife ought to be based strictly on utility needs, and carry a handgun for defense. BUT, you can take a knife defense course from this same man. What? He is also an expert instructor on handguns, sticks, rifles, shotguns, etc. You don’t have to believe me, just ask him. Opinions are a great thing until they inflate one’s ego to the point of incredulity.

I have seen this man work his magic. A lot of what he does might not work except for his size and power. Perhaps he is unaware of this because all of his life he has had a size advantage. Truthfully he is a powerful man, but a good technique cannot rely on any certain physical attribute or it will fail the majority of the people trying to apply it. This was the guiding premise of our book The Rhythm of One. I am a relatively small man, five foot six inches. My daughter is even smaller, five foot, one half inch. To be of value, every technique must rely on technique, not on bulk or strength. So when you go looking for instruction: whether knife, gun or sword, look for a teacher who can (and is willing to) adapt his techniques to your physique, age, weaknesses, etc. One time I had a young woman with one deformed arm show up for sword class. Her left arm was the size of a babies. Her spirit was strong and we worked hard to select techniques that she could manage or adapt those that wouldn’t initially work. We also cut down her bokken to duplicate the size of a ko-katana. I remembered what Yagyu Koichi sensei once said to me, that it is mindset that matters, techniques evolve. I have this bit of wisdom written on the blackboard at our dojo. With time, I have learned that the instructors who eschew techniques usually do so because they don’t have any.

Shinken

I had a young man (Zak) ask me to explain my fascination with the katana, or shinken. This is my reply to him. One of the most famous Japanese sayings is “ken shin ichi nyo,” the sword and the mind are one. But the warrior’s mind and spirit being one with his weapon cuts across all cultures, races, and times.
A true warrior must understand the spirit within his weapons, whether that spirit is forged in or absorbed through the sweat and blood of its owner’s hands. It is not enough to be an efficient killer or a wild barbarian, which result from the mechanical use of the sword without the spiritual. Death comes to all of us but the real way of the warrior, the real bushido, is finding that middle ground and achieving a sense of balance.
Zak, as you said, the katana is a razor, par excellent. But, as we mature in our understanding of Western martial arts we also find that the better broad swords were well balanced and razor sharp too, not the crude armor mashers we originally thought. One of the main differences tactically is that the katana was both sword and shield to its master, unlike the Westerner who blocked attacks with a shield held in his left hand.

Many schools in America that teach Kenjutsu (combat swordsmanship) disparage the use of the blade for blocking, especially edge-wise, because they say the very hard edge will chip, ruining the sword. While it is true the blade may chip, not blocking is simply an old wives tales. Once when 80+ year old Japanese sensei Yagyu Nobuharu was asked about that his response was very pragmatic. Basically he said: Yes my sword blade may get chipped but if I do not block a cut I might get killed. When the battle is over, if I survive, I look around for a nicer sword. If I don’t survive, then it doesn’t matter.

To the samurai the katana blade was imbued with its own spirituality and soul. The mounts (however plain or fancy) were of a distant secondary importance. I think it was a major concession for the blade maker to punch a hole in the tang for the bamboo pin which holds the handle and guard on the blade. If the mystical or spiritual doesn’t appeal to you then I would revert to the original argument, the katana is one of the most capable cutters in the history of the world. It is a ruthlessly efficient killer capable of cleanly severing a human body completely through in one stroke. The metallurgical and tempering qualities are unique, and although Damascus and Wootz were also great sword making materials none of them surpassed the differentially tempered Japanese blade. A well designed and executed katana is exquisitely balanced for one or two handed use. By comparison most modern katana are over sized, over weight, with fat handles and crude mounts.

In use, a sword (like a fighting knife) has two primary functions, cutting or thrusting. A Japanese sword may also be used for deflecting or blocking as I mentioned. Different schools of swordmaking had different degrees of curvature forged into their blades based on the techniques taught by the schools of instruction. For example, if a school liked to use the thrust it would gravitate toward a straighter blade than a school whose principal attack was a slash. Makes sense right? While many people say that a thrust is more lethal than a cut, that rationale does not apply if the cut is so massive as to dismember or bisect the opponent. I don’t know if any of this actually answered Zak’s question. It may be a subliminal thing that is felt rather than a logical thing that can be argued or rationalized. Either way the katana is a fearsome, elegant, and sublime weapon. The photos are by Bugei trading Company of my Peace Sword.

Fire!

It has been a week or more and I need to write a new blog. But I want to make a short comment, an observation. Whenever I post a political narrative I do not get any responses, on the blog that is. Sometimes I am playing devil's advocate, being provocative, purposely antagonistic. One of my good friends is on to me and he doesn't respond on purpose. A few of you email me privately in agreement but often say I don't want to comment publicly. Or I get comments like aren't you afraid to post such things? What if the wrong people are watching your blog? What wrong people, what are they afraid of saying? I once told my abbot that I feel like a mute screaming "fire!" in a theater full of deaf people. So I will continue to write knife and gun articles but forgive me if once in a while I scream "fire!" Whoever you are out there, thanks for reading what I post. ghdave2@hotmail.com

Give us Liberty?

I am not going to comment on this, read it and decide for yourself whether this is healthy for American liberty or will end in abject slavery. If you cannot make the link work, google executive order 13575.
Copy and paste into your browser:

www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/7958-obama-signs-agenda-21-related-executive-order/

EDC Bowie

Here is an example of a very cool knife from Sage Blades the creation of Dylan Farnham. His site came to my attention through a posting on MAA James A Keating’s website. http://www.jamesakeating.com/maajak1.html

Initially I went to the Sage Blades site to buy a JAK designed Dao and ended up buying this Bowie knife instead. I’m definitely going to go back and order a Dao too. The EDC (every day carry) Bowie resembles a design I created and have on order from another maker. Mine is different is several areas but the concept/question is the same, how to carry a Bowie style blade in a compact package. No matter how big a Bowie you have in hand, the working part is only the last 4 inches or so. Some people may argue that point with me, but in my opinion, more blade length just increases the ma-ai not the actual techniques. I’m not going to share what the differences are in my design until I have a working knife in hand to show you.

From point of contact to delivered knife was less than three weeks and part of that was spent in communicating back and forth. This is incredible service! During our communications I expressed to Dylan my past experience with a “custom” knifemaker who shipped me a dull Bowie. With an electronic wink and a nod he let me know this one would be sharp, and sharp it is. Both the primary and secondary edges are hair shaving sharp. The G-10 handles are finely fitted and contoured to the full tang blade. What you cannot easily see in the photos is the precise bevel on the top of the scales which makes them very comfortable in the hand. The sharply recurved tip will deliver a very nasty back cut with a flick of your wrist. The curvature of the tip does tend to detract from the thrusting somewhat by moving the centerline of the tip to your left when you extend your arm. That is not a huge problem, the curve simply makes this knife that much more suitable for cutting or ripping techniques. That is part of the individuality, or personality, you find in custom knives. Gently curving like the grip on a 19th century dueling pistol, the handle of the EDC is both ergonomic and provides great leverage for executing comma-cuts. Remember what Frank Lloyd Wright preached, “Form follows function.” With the EDC Bowie you could almost say that “From defines function.”

So travel the world wide web to Sage Blades and you will find some extremely neat forms which will suit any edged function you desire. This knife will provide you with a stout, first-class, line of defense against any and all bladed attackers.
http://www.sageblades.com

Kaboom: Embracing the Suck

I am reading an excellent book right now that ought to be required reading, for highschoolers, politicians and the damned Commander in Chief. The title is "Kaboom: Enbracing the Suck in a Savage Little War." I encourage you to go to Amazon.com and buy this book right now! The author, Matt Gallagher, writes of his experiences in Iraq. I have read a few books on that dirty little war but none have been written as eloquently as this one. I just finished the section on Dear John letters and it touched me personally, as did the dear john letter I got while in Vietnam in 1968. Well one was a dear john letter and the other was just a copy of the wedding ceremony of a young woman who stole my heart and a major part of my soul.

What are we doing over there? I no longer even believe it is for the oil. It has the foul taste of lies and betrayal to our troops and the people here at home. It has all the appearance of the death throes of a decaying empire. When an empire crumbles the emperor always trys to keep his armies at the hithermost outposts for his own safety. Its time that we retracted the tiger's claws, withdrew from Iraq, afghanistan, korea, germany, okinawa, cuba, and all of the other pestilent outposts around the world. Instead of empire building let's focus on nation building.

Please read Matt Gallagher's book, read some books by different authors and see whether you still believe that the wars we are engaged in are vital to our nation's interests. Bring our troops home, and this time lets give them a warm welcome, not like the one the Vietnam Vets got when they returned home. PS, I am the man in the photos with asteriks, or at leaast I was 40 plus years ago.

Independence Day

Happy Independence day! How many people in the USA today even know (or care) what July 4th is all about? When will they change the name to hide the true meaning of the holiday? How long before Independence Day becomes a victim to political correctness, ethnic diversity or some other form of socialist cleansing? The July 4th holiday, celebrating our independence from an oppressive foreign power many years ago, follows the recent news story of a 95 year old, wheel chair ridden, woman being patted down by the TSA for potentially hiding explosives in her Depends™. Rotten terrorist grandmothers, I hate them the most. This July 4th holiday also follows the news that the Office of Veterans Affairs (VA) has prohibited the use of the words God, Jesus, etc in the funeral services of fallen veterans or to console their loved ones, because they are too overtly religious. These are the men who died for religious freedom as much as any other right.

Statistics say that 18 veterans per day are committing suicide but we are too fixated on the Casey Anthony trial to even notice. Veterans of all ages and wars are among the highest unemployed. Thousands are sleeping in boxes or shelters across our “GREAT” nation, but who cares? Hey did you see the news about Hillary and Lady GaGa? Now that’s newsworthy. And speaking of Hillary, did you know she is working arm in arm with the globalists and the UN to pass a treaty that will annul our constitutionally guaranteed right to keep and bear arms? Meanwhile, flashing back to the real news: What would Lady Diana look like if she were still alive today? Really, that’s news worth spending air time on?
I hope that you sleep better at nights than I do because I fear that by next year Independence itself may be prohibited as being too discriminatory or too American. Aren’t you ashamed that you live in freedom while others live under tyranny? Some people in our government think you should feel that way. I also hope that you remember those who have fought and died for your freedom. Say a prayer for them, say God Bless them! If you see a man or woman in a military uniform, thank them for their service. Fly your flag this holiday and cherish your independence while you still have it, or what little bit is left of it.