Get A Grip

The handle on a fine fighting knife does more than provide a means of simply holding on to your knife. Its shape, size, and subtle contours will define the manner in which you manipulate it. In my other writings on the subject I have stated decisively that a knife is primarily controlled through the gripping force exerted by the thumb and first two fingers. This grip provides a delicate balance with the knife pivoting loosely between the thumb and index finger. But, slight differences in the shape of the handle can shift the emphasis clear back to the pinky finger, more like the way a Japanese sword is gripped. What is the difference? The top knife, a Laci Szabo designed Jaws IV, is a perfect example of the thumb and index finger control.

In the bottom knife, a Matt Lamey Bootlegger, we see a very different style handle which is more suited to the thumb-pinky finger grip. These handles are much broader near the pommel. The thumb-pinky method works best for broad, circular movements, ie chopping and cuts. In my opinion the thumb-pinky style also provides a slightly more secure grip, less likely to be knocked from your hand. This is good for a less confident fighter or one with a weak grip.

Which style do I prefer? This really is a personal preference and each student has to decide for themselves. Due to my past training I prefer the handle style of the top knife, thumb-forefinger. How can you determine which one best suits your hand or your style? The cheapest way would be to make one of each out of aluminum and wood. These could be used later for training purposes and will not cost you a lot of money. This is a much cheaper method than buying live blades with different style handles. (But who am I to talk?) I would suggest making these “trainers” with over-sized handles and slowly working them down with a rasp and sandpaper until they perfectly fill your hand and your style. Once you have accomplished this you could find a custom maker and send off your knife to him as a pattern. This is assuming you can find a custom maker who will build a knife to your design. If nothing else, ask him to match the handle size and configuration of your trainer. As a note of warning, I have had to remind one of my favorite makers a couple times when his handles started getting too big for my hands. How important is the handle? While, the blade is the part that does the deadly deeds, the handle is where the human operator interfaces. A properly fitting knife will feel almost weightless, a poorly fitting one, like a club.

The Honeymoon is Over

First Osama Bin Laden, then Hosni Mubarak, then Anwar Al-Awlaki and his son, now Muammar Gaddafi. Hey Hugo you might want to be careful about hanging around with this guy, remember he's from Chicago.

Train Like it Matters

Looking at a marker stained T-shirt from a knife training exercise: “Do you think any of your techniques really work?” I was asked this question by a very skeptical combat veteran as he fingered the brilliant red marker “cuts” on the T-shirt. The T-shirt belonged to the dubious “winner” of the bout and it was obvious she had taken a number of, what would have most likely been, lethal cuts. Many of you may have participated in this type of training exercise.

We have all read the plethora of articles on the effects of adrenaline rush, fight or flight, loss of fine motor skills, auditory exclusion, always expect to get cut, etc. But the question remains, do any of my techniques work? First I have a couple questions for you. Why do people think that training with a knife is any different, more valuable, or less valuable, than training with a gun, a basketball, or a guitar? Do people who play tennis or a cello practice or do they just do it, you know off the cuff? It depends on whether they want to be any good or not. Why does NASCAR have practice sessions and do the drivers have any techniques or do they just push down on the gas pedal and hold on for dear life?

Does every knife technique work every time against all comers? No of course not. When I was asked about the lethality of the simulated cuts on the T-shirt I asked my friend if he had ever trained with air-soft or simmunition firearms. Yes of course he had. And I asked, “Did you drop over dead every time you got hit in a lethal zone or did you continue to shoot back?” “Well,” he said thoughtfully, “I guess I kept shooting back.” Exactly! If the knife duelists had to accept the cuts at face value they probably would have not lasted more than a few seconds, based on the wounds they received. But instead they continued on as if nothing had happened because it was only an ink marker. No matter what type of combat training you do it will always fall far short of the real thing, that is why it’s called training not killing. Given the choice, I would rather train and not need to use what I have learned, than to have never trained and suddenly realize I need it.

There are four major facets to surviving an attack: Awareness, Ability (ie practice, training), Mindset (courage, fear, fortitude, anger) and Luck. (If I could make these letters into a good acronym I could probably market it.) Luck is as important as the other three combined. If you’re having a bad day then your attacker may get in a “lucky” hit. Many of the knife techniques that I learned in my early karate days seemed very “do-able,” after a few years I found many of them were instead dubious. The ones I learned from Cook sensei and Hanshi Juchnik taught me the difference. Set aside what doesn’t work for you and hone what does. Then every once in a while go back and review those techniques you set aside and see if there was something you missed. Train hard, train safe, but for God’s sake train.