? about a Kukri

R

Randy Rawson

Joined
May 7, 2001
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I am looking for any information on the use of a kukri in a situation where you would have to use it as a weapon. I have some training with edged weapons. However, It seems to me that using a Kukri would be differnt than a Bowie or dagger. I am comfortable using one as a tool but would like to know how one is used as a weapon. Any information on this subject would be appreciatad.

Thank you,
Randy
 
We have experts in this area who visit the forum. Let's wait and see what they have to say.

Pala, an old Assam Rifles vet, had only four offensive moves: An overhead swing at upper body -- head, shoulders and arms. A mid body cross swing at the gut. An angled lower swing at the legs. A flat blade swing at head to disable.
 
I was very amazed the first time I held a khukuri in a reverse grip.
The reverse grip makes the khukuri into an effiecient stabber.
I have to agree with Howard Wallace in what he told me when I exclaimed here with what I had discovered.
He said, "Let the khukuri teach you." :)
By using different grips and placement of your hand on the handle of the khukuri it will indeed teach you.\
And I am far from one of the experts Uncle Bill mentioned.:)
 
I neglected to welcome you to the Cantina, Randy. Welcome. And here and everywhere for that matter it's "Uncle" Bill. Mr. Martino makes me nervous.
 
OK Uncle Bill it is...

I was taught that the simpler or more basic the move is the faster you will pick it up and the more likely you are to remember it under stress. For that reason I am glad to hear about Pala the old Assam Rifle. For some reason I allways thought that learning to use a Kukri would be like learning to use a Katana. I pictured years of formal training before you could master a Kukri.

thank you,
Randy

Please exuse the spelling of kukri
 
Three good automatic moves are better than trying to decide which of the 800 moves you learned in class should be used. In any emergency situation you have to be preprogrammed so only action and no thinking is involved.

Everybody spelled khukuri "kukri" 20 years ago. I had to work 7 or 8 years to get the spelling corrected and made a few enemies ("kukri experts") in the process.
 
I'm no expert but this is my opinion.

A tool will have it's strong points and weak points. To use it effectively one will naturally use its stengths more than its weaknesses. Take the Ang Khola. This is a heavy khukri, more suited to chopping, yet it does have a point. The point isn't really in line with the "axis of thrust" so it's not going to pierce like a dagger. So, you have a tool which can chop well and can still thrust but not like an icepick.

If you've used a bowie before, chances are you would use very similar techniques. Footwork and distancing would generally be the same for a weapon of similar length. You might have to make some consideration for a heavier knife. Just use less thrusting techniques against people wearing heavier clothing.

The best way to learn how to use it is to play with it, "shadow box" with it.

Then there's different blade styles and length. It's all the same in my opinion. Heavy tool, chop. Pointy tool, poke. Blah, blah, blah. When it comes down to a real fight, all martial arts look very similar.

:o I'm sure someone else will come along and offer something more useful. I'm even boring myself to sleep.

:o
 
I forget where I read it, probably here or in the FAQ somewhere. It was an analogy to Gurkas and Khukuris being like French chefs and their big chef knives. The point was that a French chef spends so much time using that thing that it becomes an extension of his hand. It is a tool, but if he needed it to it would be a devastating weapon because it is so natural in his hand, he would not have to think about using it. The same is true for the khukuri in Nepal. It is in such common use as a tool, that turning it into a weapon is as much a matter of familiarity with the way it handles as anything else. A lumberjack and his axe would be the same. Also a carpenter and his hammer. I guess anytime someone uses a tool so often that it is an extension of themselves, making it into a weapon is second nature. This is probably the best kind of weapon too, that which is so familiar that it requires no "training" to be familiar with it. Then your stlye of fighting becomes a matter of learning how not to get hit, or leave openings in your defense more than how to hit, or mount an offense. It becomes more a strategy of the mind, than a system of moves for the body, as the moves are already there.
 
Khukuri can be effective by knowing a few moves, but I guess they can be polished unlimitedly. A katana (tanto) is a formidable weapon in a master's hand(s), but there is a basic effective method for instant assasins known among gang society.
They take young apprentices, give them tanto, tell them to hold the tanto with two hands as firm as possible just above belt, and run into the target (do not stab, but run into the target!) Thus continuously iterated "Draw, hold, run" sets of 10,000 times (two or three days) makes them capable of unconscious completion of the sequence. Unconscious means that they never think of defense while attacking. Body inertia will lead the edge into the victim even if the attacker is shot to death. Usually he is supposed to be luckier as nobody think of difense before the tip contacts his body.

This sounds quite practical for them assasines than training hand guns. Hnad guns need aiming that goes never without cousciousness. But I've never tried the training method for I have not found any application for self DEFENSE. Hope this helps brighter forumites than I.
 
Interesting stuff, oi-chan. As I'm sitting here sipping my first Heineken of the day it occurred to me that the bottle would make the most "natural" weapon for me.
 
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