Steven Tedford, Custom Knifemaker:

A couple years ago I bought two custom knives from a fairly new Canadian knifemaker. Steven Tedford was just getting his business, Fireborne Swords, established when I saw one of his Bowies on Ebay. No sooner had I won the bid on that knife than I found another of Steven’s knives up for bid. I liked the looks of that knife even better. I ended up owning both of them. The Bowie was a nice knife. The other knife, that he called the Willow Leaf Fighter, resembles a small kukri. It is more graceful than many kukri and It quickly became a permanent part of my collection. In fact, once our second book is finished, you will find both of these knives and the new ones illustrated in it.
The real reason for writing this blog is that recently Steven sent out an emailing with photos of three new knives he had for sale. They instantly caught my attention! I emailed him and he made me a generous offer if I bought them as a set. I thought about it for a day or two and decided to buy them. Based on the photos I was confident they would be of equal quality to the previous knives.

When they arrived I tore into the package and discovered that I was wrong about the quality. These knives were visibly superior in fit and finish to his earlier knives. The first thing I noted was his signature on the blades. It is prominent and in a very artistic script. In fact that was only the first indication of his new level of artistry. Steven’s past knives had nice lines, these have perfect lines! The design elements of blade curvature and handle shape, the ratio of blade length to width, and handle to blade all seemed to flow effortlessly, creating an integrated piece of art. Having built many custom rifles I know that the difference between nice lines and perfect lines was not guaranteed by just putting in a few man hours. It is a long hard road of trial and error. This sort of artistry demands many late nights with cups of coffee and pencil in hand. It often results in nothing more than wads of sketches tossed into a wastebasket or littering the floor. Despite all the hard work, if you do not have that spark of artist in you, you may never create knives like this.
So now I have a conundrum, a real dilemma. I told my wife that I bought these knives to sell. Now that I’ve seen and held them I’m not sure that I will be able to do that. You see a collector is just another type of merchant, one who can’t or won’t sell anything. He’s also a man who spends a lot of time in the doghouse. Do you have a knife you would like built? Check out Steven’s website and contact him with your ideas. Talk to him, send him a sketch. Go ahead, I’ve got some room left in the dog house. We’ll compare knives, drink whisky, and stay up late barking at the moon. Check his work out at: http://www.tedfordknivesandswords.com/

Boker Plus Rampage

Boker Rampage™

The Boker Rampage is the inexpensive commercial version of the RJ Martin knife of the same name. The Boker version does not have the grooved blade that has become an RJ Martin hallmark. The 4 ¾ inch blade is nicely ground from 5mm thick 440-C stainless and it is razor sharp. As you know, I reserve this title for only those knives that truly are razor sharp, not every knife that simply cuts paper. The overall blade shape reminds me of a Rhino with its nose out of joint. There are few blade profiles that are more aggressive than this one. It is a complex grind and Boker has done a nice job.
The handle is less inspiring. Hogged out of micarta, it has the distinct look of a Cub Scout project carved with a dull jack knife in ten minutes or less. It has the potential to be ergonomic but whoever designed it was apparently unfamiliar with how the human hand is shaped. It fits my hand like the new airplane seats fit my body. The grooved thumb ramp should have been higher, so that the thumb rested naturally on it rather than having to be pressed down onto it. The notches roughed out for your forefinger are left too clunky and there are sharp corners just dying to be rounded off. The handle is barely long enough to accommodate my rather small hand. Anyone with big hands need not apply.
The sheath is your typical, thermo-plastic, kydex wanna-be, construct with the ubiquitous Tech-Lok. For some reason there is no retention capacity with this particular sheath. Maybe mine is unusually loose in the sheath, but right now, if I tip it up the knife will fall right out.
Overall the knife is a Plus in the Boker™ line despite the awful handles. I had similar complaints with my Boker Smatchet too. I have to wonder if Boker’s design folks don’t know how a knife is supposed to be held. If the Rampage were scaled up just a bit, like a 7inch blade and 4.5 inch handle, it would be a fantastic fighting knife! I am sure that before too long my Rampage is going to have the handles reshaped or replaced. It is too nice a blade to leave the handles as they are. A little research will find one of these knives for a hundred dollars or less. In that price range it is worth buying.

Filling Emptiness, crossing the bridge

Filling Emptiness, Crossing the Bridge

If you have read our book you will know that I am fairly skeptical of all the people in the martial arts running around with all sorts of titles attached to their names. I have read many of their books and watched a lot of their DVDs or VHS tapes. While it is impossible to learn an art from a book or a DVD, it is possible to get an idea of a person’s intent and their abilities. A man who bought our book said there are two reasons to write a book: to tell something, or to sell something. Gratefully he placed out book in the telling category. This past weekend I watched the latestDVD by a man I consider one of the few real-deals in the knife world. After watching the DVD "Crossing the Bridge" I and came away with an even deeper appreciation of the man and what he had to tell.
Of all the people teaching the bladed arts there is one who has fully committed his life to teaching the art and telling the truth. Master at Arms James A. Keating stands head and shoulders above the crowd. While I have never had the honor of training with Master Keating I have (through various media) watched him explore the diversity of bladed arts from Asian to American and everything in between. What truly makes him a master is his ability to draw them all together, demonstrate the commonalities, and teach conceptually. Master Keating has managed to raise the perception of the knife fighter from the sordid world of thugs, muggers, and salivating pseudo instructors to a more noble art preaching self-restraint over self aggrandizement, awareness of the moral and legal constraints, and promoting defense over offense. In the process you also find, almost subliminally, that your technical skills improve.
I am sure that some of the other instructors out there could cut me to pieces and consider that proof of their superiority. That would still not convince me that they know anything about the art itself, only about violence, and their willingness to inflict more violence than I am. Master Keating’s latest DVD on Crossing the Bridge is what prompted me to write this blog. As he says in the opening, this is not a DVD about techniques, it is one about thinking. Then he goes on from there to break down the concepts of distance, angles, and timing and make it all seem so obvious. This DVD is a masterpiece! In the DVD Master Keating talks about adhering, bridging, and emptiness. These are elements from the warrior arts of the ancient masters literally "bridging" several centuries. When was the last time your instructor, or the instructor on your latest DVD, talked about emptiness? Musashi sama and Munenori sama understood and taught these concepts and ideals. The classes held by our late beloved sensei Yagyu Nobuharu taught these concepts. These are the teachings that transform violence for violence’ sake into a nobler art, and through enlightenment convert the back-stabbing drunken knifer to a thoughtful warrior.
Master Keating has a depth and breadth of martial vocabulary and knowledge that I have not seen in anyone since Donn Draeger. A deep bow and a thank you to Master James A. Keating for the sacrifices he has made in his life to write the books, teach the classes, and make the DVDs that have something profound to tell rather than just something to sell. working with James is Mark Davies from Scotland, a friend and Comtech Instructor certified by James keating .