Confused and need help deciding!

[Aeromat209]

I bought a Gelbu Special 18" and was to thick in spine & heavy for Marshal arts. I already have a 21" Dui Chirra and a 20" AK for heavier chopping but wanted a lighter faster blade for Martial arts . My confusion comes down to the differences between :

Kobra
Sirupati
Chitlandia "check spelling"
Chainpura

Any help or if someone can refer to another post where this is covered . I looked over the HI web site and only found vague descriptors.

Thanks Mike

 

[cul4u01]

I am an avid martial artist for 30 plus years, and a HI khukuri user/collector.

Sirupati is best for martial arts, very fast, light, blade configuration.
The Kobra I like too, but in any size 18" and smaller.
The Chitlangi is a bit heavier, because it's a little more stout.

The 15" to 17" Chainpuri's coming out are very fast, and make great fighting blades. I really like mine.

The Reti blades are super light and fast too, but it may be quite some time before any of those make a come back.

I really like my Bashpati, it is the one that stays near me for "night" duty in my nightstand.

There are some kamis that are just so good, that they can make a blade 18" at 29 oz, and make it feel neutral in hand, thus, really fast. I have a few by Rajkumar, including a sword, that is just impossible to describe. Those blades are so fast, neutrally balanced, just a martial artists dream.

The magic cionfiguration for a fast blade is 1oz per inch.

Good Luck!

 

[Jens Schuetz]

I'm doing martial arts since 30 years.
There are some blades that feel just right the first time you hold them. And then there are blades which need to be held a few minutes a day for a week and then they feel just as right.
That's a problem for me right now where I'm shaping my own blade. It just feels so familiar and fast after handling it so many times but is it really?

In general I like neutral for more stabby blades in limited spaces. But if you want to chop and not just slice air in a Kata/Form then some forward balance point is good. My personal maximum for that is 4 inch but with more training more might be just as good.

What kind of martial arts are you doing? What kind of blades do you train with or what kind blades do you like so far.
Have you ever trained with longer blades like a traditional gladius for example. They feel too front heavy too at first.

 

[Aeromat209]

I am training with 4 and 6 " blades but getting into some Japanese steel Wakasashi's and Tactical TomaHawks . I have stick and poly weighted trainers for practice to be safe !
Thank you for your input! The Gelbu Special was a nice shape but i did not realize how heavy the blade was felt more like my 21" Dui Chirra.

 

[Scara]

I am training with 4 and 6 " blades but getting into some Japanese steel Wakasashi's and Tactical TomaHawks . I have stick and poly weighted trainers for practice to be safe !
Thank you for your input! The Gelbu Special was a nice shape but i did not realize how heavy the blade was felt more like my 21" Dui Chirra.

If you're looking for something faster, you can keep your eyes open for something like the Chainpuri Purna has been making lately. Mine is 15 inches and 16 ounces and may be the fastest kukri I own. It strikes a great balance between lightweight kukris that lack the momentum to feel like a kukri, and the heavy ones that are slow but have tons of momentum behind them. However I have found that a heavy kukri used properly can be shockingly fast. A few tricks I use are to start in one direction, and circle it around into the opposite direction. I've also found that making a punching motion (wing chung or karate punches work) and letting the wrist flick at the end with the forward motion results in a fast and lethal chop that mixes the best of cuts and thrusts.

 

[gurkha berserka]

I have a 20 in Kobra by Sher that is a fighting machine, he built it rather stoutly @ 28oz... It's one of my best fighters along with my Thamar 17.5in 23oz Dui Chirra.

I also love my Purna Chainpuri with its 18in 20oz handling characteristics. It's got a oval, smooth, horn pommel without any metal except for a small decrotive brass diamond. Cul4 just posted his which is identical to mine. I have a rather heavy 30oz Yek Chirra Chiruwa that feels muchighyer in the hand. Any of those make great fighters.

I tend to think you might want something long and light for MA work and forms. The Kobra might be your best bet seeing as most of them arrive light from most any kami. The lighter Dui's, Yek's, and Tin's are harder to find unless you watch for DOTD religiously.

Speaking of Tin Chirra's... I recently aquired a Thamar Tin that has a ton of belly, stout build, and a highly curved gun fight style grip that weighs 28oz. Man that thing is gorgeous and functional

 

[Scara]

I have a 20 in Kobra by Sher that is a fighting machine, he built it rather stoutly @ 28oz... It's one of my best fighters along with my Thamar 17.5in 23oz Dui Chirra.

I also love my Purna Chainpuri with its 18in 20oz handling characteristics. It's got a oval, smooth, horn pommel without any metal except for a small decrotive brass diamond. Cul4 just posted his which is identical to mine. I have a rather heavy 30oz Yek Chirra Chiruwa that feels muchighyer in the hand. Any of those make great fighters.

I tend to think you might want something long and light for MA work and forms. The Kobra might be your best bet seeing as most of them arrive light from most any kami. The lighter Dui's, Yek's, and Tin's are harder to find unless you watch for DOTD religiously.

Speaking of Tin Chirra's... I recently aquired a Thamar Tin that has a ton of belly, stout build, and a highly curved gun fight style grip that weighs 28oz. Man that thing is gorgeous and functional

I'm not so sure that brass diamond is decorative. At least on mine I can see what sure looks like the peened tang in the center like my other kukris.

Personally, of my three kukris I find my Purna Chainpuri and my Lachhu WWII to be the best fighters. My Lachhu Sirupati, well that one confuses me. One day I use it and it behaves beautifully and energetically, another day it's slow and uncooperative. It's also a little odd, as my WWII is about 32 ounces, and the Sirupati is about 24 ounces, bother of them are 18 inches long, yet the WWII has always seemed more energetic and cooperative.

One thing to know about martial arts and kukris is that wrist flicks are very helpful in getting some extra energy into the blade. I've found that heavier kukris will do that without you having to put a lot of thought into it. And with lighter kukris it can be made even stronger by leaving the ring and little fingers a little loose on the handle until just before they make contact and then gripping hard with them.

One other thing to know about kukris, especially the heavier ones is that they require distance and velocity to do their job. Kukris aren't one of those knives where you can cut yourself just by looking at them, they are not straight razors. So you can't just lightly and slowly tap the edge against something and split it in half. The kukri needs speed, and it takes distance to do that. Now you can increase that distance by circling the blade around, sort of like a half version of figure-eight drills, but there needs to be some distance. I have found that my Purna Chianpuri doesn't take as much distance as my other kukris to get that much needed speed, and as it has a sharper blade and shallower bevels than my other kukris, I expect that it would perform better in Corto Mano distances than my others. However I fully expect that any blow from my WWII kukri would be more devastating than my Chainpuri. That said the Chainpuri is now my favorite kukri.