Sunday, February 11, 2007

Rules? No Rules in a Knife Fight!

So a quick review of the knife seminar:

Mushtaq showed some basic moves from his training, Sonnon showed a few moves from his Russian background, and we all danced back and forth for a little while waving our training blades and a fun time was had by all. (Well, except maybe for one guy who had stayed after the main Path seminar who, at the end, voiced a question/opinion that this was nasty stuff, all this cutting and stabbing business, and why would he want to know it?)

Both Mushtaq and Sonnon are well-spoken and effective teachers, and what they showed us mostly didn't violate any principles of the art I study. You can't learn this kind of thing in two hours, it takes a lot of practice, but the idea was to open a door and show a glimmer of the material on the other side.

I'd offer that people who are serious about self-defense in today's society take a class like this, just to understand how dangerous a knife is. There's a silat guy who says that a knife takes away your first five years of training. By this he means, that even a fairly-untrained person with a blade is not somebody you want to face barehanded. Steel beats flesh most of the time.

I have spent some time training with knives, and what last night did was re-enforce the belief that going up against somebody with a blade who knows how to use it, even if you have one of your own, both of you are going to get cut. The only questions are, where and how bad ...

Afterward, a bunch of use decamped to Todd and Tiel's house, where they had prepared a sumptious feast. We sat around, ate, drank, and talked, and it was an intellectually stimulating and interesting evening. I left around midnight and they were still going.

(And in truth, Bobbe's euro-trash beer wasn't too bad. A little stale, being in the bottle so long, but better than Brew 102. Terry Trahan and I spent maybe a little too much time picking on the Kid, but he was a good sport about it.)

10 comments:

  1. >"who, at the end, voiced a question/opinion that this was nasty stuff, all this cutting and stabbing business, and why would he want to know it"<

    I was trying SO HARD not to snort when he said that! I think my jaw hit the floor hard enough to make a noise, tho. Y'know, it really goes to show how by and large people can be sheltered against..Reality. For a time, anyway.

    I KNEW YOU LIKED THE BEER!!! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!!! You'll have to excuse me now, I'm off to learn how to be a Eurosnob...

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  2. Oh, it wasn't bad beer. Not as good as fresh local microbrews, mind you, whence the drinking thereof you don't have to worry about catching the Bubonic Plague, but a cut above Jax, say ...

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  3. Before I got into silat, I trained in a few other martial arts. I never cared for knives. Preferred sticks or swords. I figured that if somebody pulled a blade on me, I had the Richard Pryor attitude: I'll take that knife and shove it up your ass.

    Once I started playing with knives, I realized just how stupid that was -- even though I had actually done it once. That's because the guy with the knife was so stoned, he probably saw three of me and couldn't figure out which was to cut -- plus I was so scared I kicked into hormonal overdrive.

    If I have a knife and you don't, I'm good with that. If you have a knife and I have one, that's not so good -- especially if you know something about how to use it. Both of us are going to get cut if we dance. If you have a knife and I don't, I don't want any part of that. I have some things I can do, but I expect I'll have to pay dearly to do them and all things being equal, I'd rather not. A Pyrric victory isn't my idea of a win ...

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  4. Mike Blackgrave mentioned a very convincing drill. He gave his 11yr old son a red magic marker. Told him not to let him take it away from him. Then looked at how what marks he ended with. Not only does the holder not have to be lucky, he doesn't even have to be adult!
    Makes for a stunning mental image.

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  5. >"Not as good as fresh local microbrews, mind you"<

    Sore loser.

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  6. Sore loser? Au contraire, mon ami Euro-Trash. Fresh is better ...

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  7. C'mon, Kid, you're slowing down. I said, "Fresh is better," and this was your cue to talk about Chateau Lafitte Rothchild and Boone's Farm and all, that sometimes aged is better.

    Of course, if you say that, then I get to say, "You're right. And I'm much older than you, so, ipso facto ..."

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  8. I may be (decades) younger than you, 'ya old fart, but I really CAN learn when I'm about to get ragged to death like a Jehova's Witness in the jaws of a pit bull.

    Gimme a little credit, please, I can at least see obvious sucker moves coming from a FEW feet away!

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  9. I'm just hoping this conversation doesn't end up in the next Matador book. ;-)

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  10. Which reminds me: Get busy on the next Matador book, Old Man.

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