Large Fierce Mammal

My Hunting Kit. Left to Right: Jerry Fisk Bowie knife, CRKT Minimalist Bowie, Jerry Fisk field knife, Thompson Sharps hand axe. Mrs. LFM photo – Click the picture to enlarge.

As has been made more than amply clear here lo these many years, I have been studying the Nature and use of the Blade, from chisels to axes, pen knives to sabres, scythes to ploughshares, épées to corkscrews; learning, teaching, and writing about it for a very big part of my nearly three score and six years upon this Earth. In case you missed it, there is entertainment and education to be found in the links embedded in that previous sentence, and some of those that follow, that you may not want to miss because, if you’ve read this far, you’re just the type.

With minimal commentary, what I have for you today is a (mostly) visual portrayal of a Man in his element, and in keeping with this:

“It’s said that a much handled tool takes on the soul of its master. There’s a truth in this that, as a blade guy, I discovered a long time ago and practice to this day – when a knife first comes into my possession, I use it exclusively for every cutting task it can possibly be applied to. It may be instantaneous, or it may take weeks, but eventually there will come a day when that knife suddenly seems sharper than before. Its use becomes effortless and all conscious thought is removed from any task it’s called upon to do so that it seems to know of its own accord what needs to be done. That’s the day when I know it has become a part of me.” ~ Essential Knife Skills

And also with this bit of practical philosophy in mind to set the mood:

Tooth and Claw

By LFM

More likely to be stabbed, is he,
In brawl or street melee
Who carries but a single knife,
At least that’s what they say.

I’ve heard the blade’s an awful thing,
More lives it takes than guns.
But as to mine, I’ve come to think
I have the lazy ones.

For none of this makes sense to me.
I’ve always one in reach,
My knife and axe n’er cry for blood,
Nor violence beseech.

The blade is but the tooth and claw
That Nature never gave,
So Man no longer hides in trees,
Nor cowers in a cave.

Why scrabble for what lives beneath
The rocks and rotting logs?
Take blade, go forth with Comrades bold,
And Trusty Hunting Dogs!

The power of a Man resides
in Spirit, Heart, and Mind,
And if he’s blunt in any one,
His blade’s not far behind.

For as the blade empowers Men,
It raises not the knave,
Nor can it grant wise counsel,
Or turn cowardly to brave.

The blade has power to destroy,
To rend and slay withal,
To take the lives of mighty Trees,
And make the meagre tall.

But notwithstanding all of this,
Do hold this to your breast,
When wit and wisdom aren’t enough,
A blade can do the rest.

OK, maybe the commentary is not so minimal. Anyway, it will not be lost on you, Good Reader, that what follows depicts use of the large blade in a defensive role, this representing but a tiny subset of its multitude of non-combative, workaday uses in the field. That said, it behooves the well rounded Man to know his tools in all the ways they may help him make his way in the world, and bring the best of himself to any task.

The following four images are stills from a video shot yesterday during live blade manipulation flow drills using the Jerry Fisk Bowie knife shown at the top of this article, and personal liberties taken with adaptations from the Esteemed Master At Arms James (Jim) Keating’s Comtech Bowie method. This is NEITHER an endorsement NOR encouragement for you to sally forth and swing live steel around UNLESS you have first received an adequate level of training, and then ONLY AFTER MUCH SOBER DELIBERATION!

Through all of this, I received constant critique from a Crow whose attention I caught as he was passing by, and who decided to perch high up in a Hemlock for the live entertainment. I’m thinking he was on a mission from Jim.

What’s all this then? (LFM Photo — click to enlarge.)

Intercepting “back cut” using false edge, with bodily “hollowing out” for distance in receiving the incoming attack. (LFM Photo — click to enlarge.)

A fragment showing an outside parry following a second back cut from the one shown previously. (LFM Photo — click to enlarge.)

Perhaps the point has been made. (LFM Photo — click to enlarge.)

Next, a couple of head on shots employing the Rubber Training Laredo Bowie from Cold Steel with which I (and you) will be less likely to end up being called “Lefty”.

Business end of the back cut, as previously seen above from the side view. The sharp back edge of the blade, the “false edge”, is employed to intercept the incoming threat with an untelegraphed strike exploiting one of the fastest moves the human body can make. (LFM photo — click to enlarge.)

Receiving end of a snap cut, which is exactly as it sounds. (LFM photo — click to enlarge.)

A good old thrust should never be cast aside lightly. (LFM photo — click to enlarge.)

Now let’s conclude today’s revelries with this sequence, again using the Cold Steel trainer, that takes us from engarde through a #1 cut (diagonally downward from my upper right to lower left), carrying through to an advancing sidestep introducing a visit from the Woodpecker from Hell. Note that this would have been a bit more dramatic in changing distance had the footing been more favourable but one thing to keep in mind is that all these beautiful extras are trained in so that, in an existential struggle, their energies may be tapped to fuel more directly efficient arguments.

And that’s all folks!

Thank you for coming! (LFM photo — click to enlarge.)