Masters of the Blade: Blog

DON’T BE IN SUCH A RUSH TO DIE!  I have had the good fortune of traveling around the world to teach Knife work to students from all walks of life. In my seminars I often ask the participants to take a moment and think about who they consider to be the most dangerous person in the world with a knife. Inevitably responses come back such as Dan Inosanto, Nene Tortal, or some black bag spec ops type. Then I tell them that I will bet them my pay check that I could kill any of the names on their list with a knife. This is about the point where I hear dissatisfied sighs and start seeing eye balls rolling. This is the point where I get the looks that say "You’re an arrogant son of a bitch”.  Once I have acquired the disdain of the crowd I then explain to them an important lesson. I explain that killing someone with a knife is not that hard. Not hard if you have no concern for your own safety. I do believe that if I made a one-shot kamikaze run with a knife I could kill virtually any o...

1) What is the name of your art?  ACI (American Combatives Inc.) WWII Combatives  2) How do your students address you?  By name – Joe.  3) What initially drew you to the edged weapons arts?  I have always loved edged weapons and they are tools used in my profession.  4) In what edged weapons art(s) are you formally credentialed, and by whom?   I am certified in ACI under John Kary. I studied Kni-com under Bob Kasper  5) Who among your instructors most influenced you, and why?   John Kary, Because of Johns positive attitude showed me you can defend yourself with simple tactics no matter what your handicaps might be. I was transitioning from military to law enforcement and the techniques made sense to me.   6) What predominant art did he/she practice?   Earlier John was a practitioner of several arts holding black belts in them. He predominately studied CQC techniques from WWII by Fairbairn and Sykes among others....

THE FOUR GOVERNORS  George Silver in his works discussed why trained men were often hurt or killed by men of little or no training. His exact words were: “many valiant men think themselves by their practices to be skillful in their weapons, are yet many times in their fights sore hurt, and many times slain by men of small skill or none at all.” Silver identified above all other causes the lack of the Four Governors was to blame for this condition. Silver expressed that without the Four Governors it is impossible to fight safely. When reviewing the Four Governors you will see that they are points of very sound advice and should be taken to heart by any Practitioner who is serious about their study of arms. The Four Governors serve as a guideline and foundation for success in combat. Let us introduce you to the Governors as described in Silver’s work “BRIEF INSTRUCTIONS UPON MY PARADOXES OF DEFENCE”. “The first governor is judgment which is to know when your adversary can reac...

What Separates the Trainees from the Trainers.  Often NOTHING! As we begin a new year—on the heels of 2020, a year when Planet Earth uniformly achieved less of its goals than was planned—it behooves us to take stock of where we are, and to re-commit to what didn't get done last year. Before I became weary of traveling to conduct workshops, I noted similar behaviors among most edged weapons aficionados, whether they were trainees, trainers, or almost anyone in between. You all lack focus! The truth hurts—but that's good, because hurt brings change! In photography, as everyone knows, the better your focus, the sharper your picture. The same holds true for the martial arts, and indeed every other discipline one sets out to master. In this case, a better focus will make you a sharper practitioner. So, where do you begin? Get very clear about your primary goals. Granularly clear! Trainees allow themselves to stagnate by pursuing too many interests that keep them distracted. They was...

  KNIFE FIGHTER OR FIGHTER WITH A KNIFE? What’s the difference? You may ask.  Well there is a world of difference between the knife fighter and the fighter with a knife.  The definition of each is crucial to your understanding of blade work and of how you will structure your training.   The knife fighter is good with a blade, they know it inside out.  The knife fighter is confident in their ability to use their knife to bring you harm or death.  The Knife fighter spends a lot of time practicing with their blade.  They blade gives them confidence.  The blade is the focus of their attack and defense.      The fighter with a knife is good at fighting.  They know fighting inside and out.  The fighter with a knife is confident in their ability to bring you harm or death by any means necessary.   The fighter with a knife spends a lot of time practicing their fighting ability.  Their fighting ability give...

  THE MYTH OF LAW ENFORCEMENT KNIFE FIGHTING One of the most disturbing myths of all is that police officers are the best people to teach you knife work.  Much like their military counterparts, police officers usually have to go outside of their departments into the civilian sector in order to learn good knife skills.  In law enforcement perception counts for a lot and many departments will not even let their officers carry a knife per SOP.  The ones that do carry are lucky if they get any formal training from their department.  I have taught knife work to law enforcement and I can tell you that it is a very hard sell to departments who are very liability conscience.   Like soldiers, police officers will dedicate the better part of their training to their firearms.  Knives are a very distant priority for them.  Certainly, the experiences that some police officers can give to us about knife survival is invaluable but as knife tacticians their skill...

  THE DANGERS OF THE UNORTHODOX “There are some things that can beat smartness and foresight? Awkwardness and stupidity can. The best swordsman in the world doesn't need to fear the second best swordsman in the world; no, the person for him to be afraid of is some ignorant antagonist who has never had a sword in his hand before; he doesn't do the thing he ought to do, and so the expert isn't prepared for him; he does the thing he ought not to do; and often it catches the expert out and ends him on the spot.” -Mark Twain   I remember one of my old martial arts instructors telling me that the two most dangerous people to fight were a black belt and white belt.  My instructor explained to me that Black belts were dangerous because they knew what they were doing and that white belts were dangerous because they didn’t.  White belts would do crazy goofy crap.   I have found this to be very true.  When two people share a discipline and enter an engagement the two ...