posted 05-04-2001 06:59               

I arrived at the shop late Friday morning, and Kevin showed me around, then trimmed my dog's toenails (this is a full-service outfit!). I had other business to attend to in Prescott, and when I returned to the shop in the afternoon, two of my fellow students had arrived. We repaired to Casa McClung for the first of several gourmet meals prepared by Teryl. The hospitality displayed to total strangers by the entire McClung family was remarkable, in the fine tradition of Colonel Jeff and Janelle Cooper, only more so. Family.

Saturday morning at 9, after fruit, bagels, croissants, and coffee, we motored the mile to the shop and began training. We started out cutting air with training knives, learning the seven basic knife strokes and working on footwork. Knife fighting is a dynamic martial art and good footwork is fundamental, foundational. We shuffled in...we shuffled out...draw...cut...check...endlessly. While skill was not expected of us, stamina and determination were. We worked hard. At one point we were allowed to trade the trainers for live steel, and drilling continued. For the rest of the morning we alternated between air-cutting with live steel, and light sparring with trainers. We broke for lunch, and Teryl had gone nuts. Two kinds of stuffed pasta, pesto, marinara, marinated pork, steak, chicken, salad, and I don't remember what-all. This was LUNCH! You might wonder why I keep talking about the food at a knife class, but this class should really be billed as knife class/gourmet adventure. It's a good thing, too. After lunch, Kevin quit being kind...

Harder, faster sparring, fewer breaks, faster movement in the air-cutting and footwork drills. Tongues dragging. Towards the end of the afternoon, we went outside to practice real cutting on a two-foot long section of 4x4 post which Kevin had rigged vertically, supported by an "X" of bungee cords. Kevin had a rope by which to control the 4x4, and the way he moved that thing was, well, diabolical. I had never trained with a knife longer than 5" before, and the shortcomings of a short blade and the advantages of a long one were immediately apparent. For me, the advantages of a longer blade showed up in a big way at 7". Sucking on busted knuckles, we limped back to the McClung home for another wonderful meal, a movie or two, and an evening of good conversation. I was asleep by 9...

Morning found our number diminished by two. This type of training is not for everyone. The four of us who remained spent the entire day sparring hard, drilling on footwork, and especially working on that evil 4x4. Being manly men. We managed to cut through one 4x4 and make a good start on another. At one point the sound of steel on steel rang out. A student's Panther had whacked one of the eyebolts to which the bungees were attached. Score: Panther-1, Eyebolt-0. The edge was slightly dulled, and there was a deep cut in the eyebolt. Impressive.

When we could no longer lift our arms and legs to fight, we retired for the final time to the house, ate one more incredible meal, and slept the contented sleep of the totally whupped.

While I hope it's obvious that I enjoyed the class and learned a lot, I want to be clear that this is not a class for sissies. You WILL get beat up, torn up, and worn out. I arrived home with torn and swollen knuckles, a swollen nose, sore calves and back, and a blood blister on my foot. And I'm pretty fit. If you are not fit, get fit before you go. Really. Knife fighting is a brutal, nasty business, and Kevin is not shy about the fact that he attempts to replicate that in his training. But if you're hardcore, you'll love it. I sure did.

As I mentioned, the shortcomings of my Pygmy ATAK as a fighter were glaring when compared to the 7" to 10" knives. My thanks to classmate Rusty and to Kevin for letting me try out their larger knives. I ordered a Voodoo Hound yesterday.

Take care.

Joe

posted 05-04-2001 08:55               

Heh, heh, heh. Such fond memories of the Panther training, right Bubba?

Glad to know others will bear scars of their training. One look in the mirror brings back the importance of good training knowing it could have been a live blade.

Mark

------------------
We are the people our parents warned us about.

posted 05-04-2001 11:43               

You should all congratulate yourselves on your efforts to keep up with this high speed class.
One thing many of you probably had going against you was the fact that we are at altitude, some 4900+ feet above sea level!
The air is thinner here and it can be difficult at best to train under this adverse condition, even for someone who is otherwise fit.

posted 05-04-2001 13:45               

There is a reason why the survivors of these classes order larger knives upon completion of the course. I train with a 6" Wild Thing, and even a hanging carboard carpet tube can bruise a knuckle...

The altitude can be an issue, I think that it adversely effected my appetite.

I'm encouraged by the fact that there are many more classes scheduled, with allowances for varying skill levels.

Bravo.

posted 05-04-2001 15:49               

Leaving the class due to an injury does not necessarily mean that anyone is a sissy, but rather that they have probably learned at least one very improtant thing: Knife fighting is not for everyone.
It may also mean that they just took a bad ding, and really can't go on. This happens in football, baseball, basketball, and tiddleywinks. Hey, tiddleywinks was played real serious in my old neighborhood...

In point of fact, very few are capable of the physical agility, hand speed and coordination necessary to become a reasonably competent knife fighter or tiddleywink player.
This is a discipline that takes years to learn in depth, and should be approached that way. Training in seminars like mine gives students the most basic tools that they need to practice, hone and elaborate on for the rest of their lives.

Due to the short time frame of the classes, the data stream is very large, and no one can be expected to master or even grasp 100% of it. No one can be expected to "drink from a firehose", but the puddles that collect around the edges of the stream can provide enough of the waters of knowledge if the student splashes around in it a bit.

Prospective students should realize that ALL of the evolutions we practice are voluntary, and NO ONE is forcing them to participate.
This is emphasized at the beginning of each class.

You can take years of "martial arts" and learn a sum total of nothing that will be of any value whatsoever on the street. Kata/Non Contact Training is about as worthless as ballroom dancing when it comes to fighting, unless one has used the Kata/NCT as a bridge to sparring and ultimately, full contact fighting.
It is common for me to sustain injuries in fighting classes conducted by myself or other instructors that allow sparring.
I have received a number of dislocated fingers and toes, cuts, bruises, 12 broken ribs, bloody lips, black eyes, lumps, bumps and contusions.
None of these injuries occurred as a result of full contact fighting. Just me failing to get out of the way of moderately forceful incoming... but I learned from it.

It is sad that so many knife courses offer so little realism. "Successful" completion of these entirely unrealistic classes (usually taught by individuals with zero street experience) tends to give some folks an inflated sense of what they may be able to accomplish on the street.

As an instructor, I feel that all of the students that train with me should leave the seminar with at least a realistic view of what goes on in a knife fight, as well as a realistic evaluation of their potential to defend themselves with or against edged weapons. The last thing I want to do is encourage those that SHOULD NOT be attempting self defense with edged weapns from doing so.

My knife training techniques and philosophies are not mainstream, and they are not easy.
They are fast, brutal, and often painful.
They do however, have the singular advantage of being very effective in training those that are capable of becoming knife fighters.

Like I said, knife fighting is not for everyone.

posted 05-05-2001 10:32               

What was the most important thing I learned during those two days??? I do NOT want to be in ANY *(&*&^^ Knife fight. If all else fails, and I have no way out, and I am seconds away from being in front of the big grinder in the sky.... well... MAYBE what Kevin taught me MIGHT allow me to postpone that inevitable meeting just a bit longer. But I know now that is just about the only time I EVER want to be where I have to use what Kevin beat into my thick skull.

I concider this to be one of the better lessons I have learned from the Rabid One.... That and "Distance is your friend."