Balisong Online?

Well, I've just spent a couple of hours on Clay's site. I've got just two things to say: 1) It really is well-done. 2) I'm glad I had a thick pipe put into the house. He's got great pictures and AVI files that are really clear. But, if your on the old 1200 baud dial-up, forget about it.

I have one question, Clay: how did you catch the aerial tricks so nicely? You must use a good camera.

Mr. Palacio's pictures are good too and I like his use of Acrobat to compress them. He also give nice textual descriptions. You can download them, print them, and use them as handouts if you're teaching someone.

So, we now have two excellent web sites that give instruction. Anyone that wants to learn to manipulate a Bali Song has ample resources.

Chuck

Chuck

[This message has been edited by Gollnick (edited 16 July 1999).]
 
Hey, hey, I'd better get to work then.... I have a few great double passes I came up with recently, you might find them of some interest. Most involve throws (I love 'em) I've also been playing around with two knives in one hand. It takes some getting used to, but it's fun as.... well, you know.

*The AVI files believe it or not, were made with a US robotics desktop cam.... ya' know, the kind that sit on top of your monitor. The key is the lighting. I spent about $20 on a double 500 watt light tree from Wal-mart. Works great. And it doubles as a place to hang clothes when not in use ;-) I also noticed if you kill the "sync sound with video" feature, it gives the slow motion effect you see in the videos. All techniques were done slightly less than full speed.

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Clay G. www.balisongxtreme.com



[This message has been edited by Clay (edited 16 July 1999).]
 
Chuck, great to see that you got the webmaster of Balisong Xtreme to join us here at BFC.
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Clay, gotta say that I love your site, man! The graphics are great! The contents are awesome, what more can I say? Heheheh...
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Here in the Philippines, those who are adept to the use of the Balisong, won't go for fancy moves (well, sometimes yes, to intimidate the opponent into thinking twice).
We usually just make sure that we can whip it out as fast as humanely possible without blinking.
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I've been collecting balisongs since I was in my early teens, and even though the training I got didn't advocate the use of bladed weapons, I took it upon myself to learn the simplest, fastest, and most effective method of deploying the balisong, and using it accordingly.

And yes, I agree with Clay that one has to excercise the involved muscle groups if one wants to be proficient in handling the blade.

Dan
PS. Aghh.. sure wish my car is ready by weekend, so that I can go out and get me some more of these toys.
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hehehe...
 
Found this info on a web site.

The Balisong knife, occasionally called the Batangas knife, is a deadly weapon that is in the hand of an expert can be opened as fast as, if not faster, than a Western switch blade.
barriobalisong.JPG
The majority of Balisong knives come from Barrio Balisong in Batangas province Philippines.

deLeon.GIF
It is claimed that "Perfecto de Leon" is the father of Balisong and records have it that the first one was made in 1905. With the advent of the Industrial revolution, requirements for the lowly "Itak" or bolo decreased and Perfecto de Leon turned to manufacturing knives and eventually to development and propagation of the balisong as a weapon truly Filipino Barrio Balisong shares the industry with the other near by barrios such as Pook, Buli, and Tolo. It is common for families to do piece-work for the main manufacturer. This helps supplement their regular income and provides the general populace with a cottage industry. The average balisong maker can finish three to four knives a day.

In properly managed balisong factory, the process is divided into specialized areas of labor. There is a blacksmith who forges and prepares the blade; the handle maker prepares the rough frames of the balisong. Another individual concentrates on preparing the latches for the balisong. Several people are employed to prepare and insert the various inlays used to decorate a balisong and put together the blade, the handle and the latches.

The blade of a balisong is made from several materials depending on the quality required by the manufacturer.s. Ordinary balisongs are usually made from scrap iron, automotive leaf springs, ball bearing housings or used steel files. The official sizes of a balisong knife is 29 centimeters in overall leght. There are balisongs made to order with sixteen to twenty four inches blades, but these are not of the standard type but more of novelty. After World War II, during what is known as the liberation period, balisong knives became popular among the American soldiers who bought them back with them to the Western World.

Today, the balisong is again receiving an even greater popularity with the revival of martial arts and the impact of modern communications media such as print publications and features films. In some cases, the balisong is even reffered to as "Ninja Knife", possibly the product of western creative mind, attributing to the right application but the wrong country of origin.
Click to expand...

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Best Regards,
Mike Turber
BladeForums Site Owner and Administrator
Do it! Do it right! Do it right NOW!
www.wowinc.com

 
Clay,

Please meet Mike. Mike's the Innkeeper here. So, if you're looking for someone to compliment on such a fine establishment, that would be Mike.

Mike also imports a line of butterflies from, as I recall, China, which he sells under the Dragon Forge label. He offers a "life time warranty." I haven't got one yet, but I plan to one of these days. Anyway, you might want to try that out.

I was really surprised by your camera choice and so inspired that I went out and bought one myself on the way home today. As Mike demonstrated, you can put pictures into forum posts. I think you should be able to put .avi files in too. This raises the serious potential for trading Bali Song tricks on-line. I'm very excited.

Chuck
 
Ok, I've got a .avi file to try, but I can't figure out how to put it in here.

Any tips anyone?

Chuck
 
Pleasure to meet ya' Mike. Nice place you have here. And I certainly would be interested to see what you have in the way of Balisongs. My habit is starting to get a little expensive. I've gone from snapping the pins, to snapping the handles. Two of my Jaguars broke at work tonight. I guess they couldn't take the stress of another 30 minute lunch time workout. I have 4 more on order, but at the rate I'm going, they won't last me the rest of the year! The two I broke tonight were only 6 weeks old. Do you have anything in a Steel skeleton handle model? The heavier the weight, the better.

Chuck: As far as your trying to post your AVI, check the link for "UBB code", under the window where you type your messages. It looks as though the file has to be on a server. The code brings it up in the browser. I'm not sure it will work with an AVI though. I'll be watching for it!
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Clay G. www.balisongxtreme.com



[This message has been edited by Clay (edited 17 July 1999).]
 
Hmmm... interesting pics. Those came from Balisong Online. Notice the line of balisongs up for sale along the sidewalk. Chuck, that's where I go whenever I want to hunt down good balisongs. Of course, one has to really shop around to get the best buy, as there are literally hundreds of manufacturers lining up the streets.

It's around a 2-hour drive from my place, and Batangas has great beaches to boot!
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not to mention the fact that you can go to different restaurants there and eat all the beef you want, hehehehe..

The countdown has started.
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Once I get my car fixed, this is the first place I'll be dropping by.
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Dan
 
You and me both, Danny, I wish. Someday. If you people weren't such noted seamen, I might get to crew a delivery into or out of the Philippines some day. Ah well, Alaska awaits.

(pictures removed to avoid cluttering the thread. If you really want to see my Alaska pictures, e-mail me and I'll send you some full-size ones.)

I have a good friend who is a missionary and radio engineer for Far East Broadcasting Corporation and who has just been reassigned to a station just outside of Manila. There's every likly hood that I'll be going over there next year to do some volunteer work for them. Then, we'll get together and head for the knives!!!

Chuck

Hey, it worked. With the new guy telling the Senior Member how to do this stuff, I can now get a .jpeg up!

Chuck

[This message has been edited by Gollnick (edited 17 July 1999).]

Actually, come to think of it, that's Vancouver BC, sunset over the bow as we head out to sea. Here's Alaska:


Mt. Denali, the highest point in North America. Bet you don't have one of those Danny.

Chuck

[This message has been edited by Gollnick (edited 17 July 1999).]

[This message has been edited by Gollnick (edited 20 July 1999).]
 
Far East Brodcasting Corp? I know that place! Yes, it's where missionaries do volunteer work. Hmm.. you're a missionary, too?
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Oh yeah, one of the painters at our motor shop is from Batangas. I already asked him about the possibility of looking for the good balisongs around. He's a bit old already. What he told me was right, those that you see on the pic displayed by the roadside are the regular ones. If you really want the good or high-quality balisongs, you really have to know people around there, who'll direct you to the right place.
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Also, he confirmed that most of the houses there are pretty old, Spanish colonial days, even! So chances are, the balisongs didn't originate from the Philippines, but most likely Spain.

That'll be cool if you can drop by one of these days.
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Maybe you, me, and Titan could get together and go to balisong nirvana, huh? hehehe...

Nope, we don't have those type of mountains here (they'll melt faster than I can say my name backwards) but I bet you guys don't have a Mt. Pinatubo. LOL!!!

Dan
 
Awesome site Clay! Very impressive! i'm going to have to break out my Benchmade and start practicing again. Pray for my fingers!

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"May you live in interesting times"

AKTI - A000389
 
I have contacted several makers in the Phillipines and have not yet imprted any. I did import some a few years back but the guy I was buying from died.

The Dragon-Forge butterflies are made in Taiwan and not China. They are OK and better than most but I am still not satisfied with the quality for hard use.

Hopefully I will be able to get some in from Batangas soon.

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Best Regards,
Mike Turber
BladeForums Site Owner and Administrator
Do it! Do it right! Do it right NOW!
www.wowinc.com

 
I'm not really a missionary, no, but I have done limited volunteer work before and would like to do that again. Maybe someday I'll have the guts to do what Guy did, give up everything and enter full-time mission work. Guy is an engineer and specializes in antenna design and construction. Keep an eye on Far East and you're going to see a lot of steel go into the air in the next couple of years.

As I say, I hope to go over there and help with some of that construction. Guy has been over several times already. I saw him a couple of months ago here in the States. He's busy raising money and going to language school. His whole family, five of them, will be headed over in just a few weeks. He's shown me pictures of the areas around Manila including some rather rough looking neighborhoods.

So, Danny, how can a race car driver's car be broken? That's not good. Your knife's probably dull too
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Is there a web site where we can follow your professional antics?

Sounds like we have enough interrest to organize a BladeForums.com tour to Batangas. I can see it now: We'll need tee-shirts, and name tags that say things like "Hello! My name is Timmy the Talking Toilet." Then, we'll need buses, lots of buses. We'll organize ourselves into groups by color and all wear brightly colored baseball caps to indicate which group we're in. Clay, you'll look especially cute with your cap on. And we'll take lots of pictures of each other standing in front of everything. Oh, it'll be loads of fun. So, who wants to join in?

Seriously, though, going to Bali Song is high on my list of plans. But, as you say, you need someone to show you around and get you past the tourist fronts. So, I'm glad to have a few contacts here. It would be fun to get together with a couple of the folks here and go. Any interrest?

Chuck

 
Holly smokes!..... I'm getting all kinds of E-mail with Balisong questions and comments. The site has been there for a few months now with not much response. I have to send out a big thanx to Chuck for sending me here, and Mike for creating a "here" for me to be sent to. My whole page started as just a way for me to practice my WEB authoring, and keeping track of all my techniques. Now I have to keep updating it on a timely basis because people are actually showing up. I would have never guessed...... Well I put up a "how to" on replacing pins yourself. You can find it on the "Tip of the week" page. I hope it helps someone..... Later!

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Clay G.
www.balisongxtreme.com

 
Clay,

Do you really leave a full half-inch of nail before you start pounding? Do you pound all of that down or just pound down part and then cut off the rest?

Also, have you tried using a Dremel tool with a cut-off bit to cut the nails. I'll bet the first time you do, you'll never go back to that hack saw again. We had a thread here on Dremel tools recently. One person suggested mounting two cut-off wheels back-to-back to reduce the tendency these things have to shatter. It's helped me out. Also, once you've cut the nail, you could change to a grinding wheel to grind it down instead of a file. Just a thought anyway. I know my Dremel is one of my favorite tools. I call it my "lotta' dammage real fast tool."

As to practicing your web authoring skills, I'd say you're there. You know, there's serious money to be made in that these days even just as a side job a few hours a week. But, I wouldn't want to cut into your practice time.

Chuck

[This message has been edited by Gollnick (edited 17 July 1999).]
 
Chuck
I know 1/2" sounds like a lot, but having extra gives you the option of grinding it back more if needed. And I have also experienced some compression of the nail (in the center)taking it another 1/8"+ more down. I only mentioned the metal file for those who might not have access to a grinder. I actually posted that page because I got a few E-mails this morning asking if I knew of anywhere they could send their knives. The majority had Jags or the financial equivelant, so I figured sending them out would probably cost them more than the knives were worth in the first place, not to mention taking weeks to get back...... and besides, whats that saying about "Give a man a fish...."....you know the rest. I also kept in mind all the people who know little or nothing about tools and their uses. After all, chances are, if they did know their way around a tool set, they would have done it themselves in the first place.

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Clay G. www.balisongxtreme.com



[This message has been edited by Clay (edited 17 July 1999).]
 
OK Bali-hounds, I worked all weekend to get the text into the Step-by-step pages. And I just up-loaded all....Enjoy!


Oh, and if you see something that doesn't make sense, or is just hard to understand, please let me know.

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Clay G.
www.balisongxtreme.com

 
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