I've been training in Pekiti Tirsia Kali for about 6 yrs. at present and feel quite enlightened to the advantages of pakal primarily through full speed freeflow/sparring. It is pretty much completely offensive in mode and very powerful. Also difficult to counter without getting struck in the process with hard hammering thrust and jabs.
From my knowledge, pakal is edge-in by nature and I didn't know about it
until I began training in PTK.
The rule of thumb on size in our system is different per individual and how
they specifically move in pakal methodology.
The rule I was taught for 'maximum' pakal blade length is the length
from one's middle finger tip to the bottom of the palm heal, essentially the
length of one's vertical palm span. Again that's maximum, anything smaller
will pass fine. Going over this length did get a bit cumbersome and
unwieldly, and it would be more advantageous to be in saksak(forward) grip
to maximize reach with something that long anyhow.
My personal preference for pakal is something in the 4.5-5" blade range.
Small enough to be agile/mobile, but long enough to produce a decent
amount of damage per solid contact.
I differentiate between forward only knives, and Pekiti friendly knives. I find
advantages to both. The Pekiti friendly blade wouldn't have much of an
angular 'cant' or bend in either direction, and the tip would stay fairly 'inline'
with the long axis of the handle. It would ideally be usable comfortably in
edge-out and edge-in, in either forward or reverse. Aquisition of the handle
under stress in not always a precision act. I've had my trainer stripped from snagging on clothing, etc. in freeflow and the attacker was not stopping, and I had to grab the trainer off the floor while being aware of my opponent and his weapon, couldn't focus fully on 'how' I grabbed it, just had to get the handle back in hand asap.
Pommel must have 'capping' capacity. Some people do it, some don't, but it
is definitely an option that must be present.
Sal, I did talk to you briefly this past summer about the Temp. fixed and how
you did take into account the user base that does utilize edge in orientation.
That kind of consideration from a company head of higher quality products is
very appreciated and I do spread that kind of positive word around when
I get the chance.
Out of your entire 'current' line, I would say my optimal pakal and Pekiti
friendly knife in general is the Perrin street bowie. Light, very versatile not too wild and exotic in it's contours, inline structure and easily thumb-capped.
I hope you and Eric make it out to SoS this summer again. I can't wait to
check out that Bison fullsize folder I hear floating around.
I hope this point of view helps a bit.
Ken