Blade Training

My Thoughts on a Knife Training Course Manual Contents

I thought this was the best knife course introduction ever written so why change it. Not written by me!

The Knife; Why?

I’ve been watching “The Last Kingdom” until the new season of “Vikings” returns in the Autumn. Of course, I’m watching what they use in their camps, at war, in their daily lives and I noticed something; The Knife.

Not every man had a sword because not every man was a warrior. Not every man had a hammer, because not every man was a blacksmith. Not every man had a shepherd’s crook, because not every man was a herder.

But every man and even every boy had one thing…a knife.

That got me to thinking of how many ways it was important for them to have a knife. Of course, there are the obvious tasks that are familiar to woodcraft like woodworking and the processing of game & fish and crafting, but what don’t we think about? Personal protection? Offensive actions?

Yes, those things and something else…A sense of control.

The knife gave a man a sense of control over his region. The man without a knife would have to hope that they could find stones to turn into cutting tools, cutting tools that would wear down and break with material fatigue. It was just physics. Stone tools were just not as durable as metal tools were.

But the knife, the knife was reliable. It would perform in any weather. It was trustworthy. It never complained. It didn’t need to be fed. You paid for it one time and it served you forever.

It was as Corin, Conan’s father told him once regarding steel…

“You must learn its riddle, Conan, you must learn its discipline. For no one, no one in this world can you trust. Not men, not women, not beasts… This you can trust.” –Corin

A young boy being given a knife begins his path on to manhood. It was as my own grandfather taught me in the mountains how to respect the sharpness of the tool and how to care for them and store them.

It was as my own father taught me the days I worked by his side for years how they were to be treasured and valued more than any other possession because with steel, a man could feed his family and clothes them and shelter them and have abundance for them.

And throughout history, steel has decided battles and created civilizations and has changed the trajectory of mankind. And for us? Well for us, it gives us fire and prepares our quarry and provides shelter for us.

While Conan’s father shared with him the importance of steel, it was Thulsa Doom who actually revealed the Riddle of Steel to Conan…

“Steel isn’t strong, boy. Flesh is stronger; That is strength, boy. That is power: the strength and power of flesh. What is steel compared to the hand that wields it?” –Thulsa Doom

Man is weaker without steel and is stronger with it, but the strength behind that steel is always the man who wields it, not the steel itself and alone. Therefore, it’s a relationship.

Remember, steel does not need man, it is man that needs steel. And for me, for what I’ve learned, for how I’ve used it to do exactly those things that would give me life in the harshest of conditions out in the woods as it has throughout my life working in the real world, that is why I see a knife differently than the overwhelming majority of the world.

Only men who’ve earned their livings with knives and tools understand their importance. So I don’t swoon for exotic handles or decorative colored liners or faux patinas. I don’t incarcerate them in display cases or wrap them in soft fabrics. I introduce them to wood and to hide and to meat and to blood.

And I only wield knives I could trust my life to.

–Yankee

I really wanted to start a knife training course. I have seen a lot of misinformation on social media sites and forums when newbies ask questions. I can talk about blades all day long. I just wanted to take people out and show them. Have a brief handout from the following links they can use as a pre-reading information booklet to ask questions about, or rather to give them the right questions to ask. At one time I had well over 600 knives and have gradually whittled down my obsession to under 80. Keeping my favorites and selling the ones I didn’t use often enough. Rarely owning a safe queen. There is a niche area of training that most courses Ive been on just dont cover. I thought I could make some extra money teaching what I like. BLADES!I don’t know of many people that would open up a lock box full of custom knives to strangers and say lets play.

Bevels – primary, secondary, tertiary

Cuts – chop, push ,slice, whittle, tip cope, edge cope, draw, shearing, thrust

Grinds – flat, hollow, chisel, convex

Steels – stainless, carbon, super steels

Tempering – hardening

Parts – tang, clip, ridge line, ricasso, choil, belly, false edge, grind plunge

Grips – reverse, hammer, ice pick,fencers, sabre

Sharpening

LINKS

To put it bluntly, what this guy doesnt know, isnt worth knowing

https://www.jayfisher.com/Blades.htm

Grinds