Kind Of OT:Interesting Stuff (Is That Vague Enough?)

Well, there's no doubt that trying to swing a big khukuri in combat would be slow.
You dont necessarily have to move the khukuri!
You move yourself around the khukuri, get it?
Let the khukuri be a big sharp obstacle that the opponent has to try and get around. All the while, you are free to kick, claw, punch, whatever.

You should be free to utilizes the entire space that the khukuri occupies.
 
Not one to worry about backslashing too much- I just like to feel my knives out for every bit of potential I can wring out of them. options are a very good thing! Same reason I've cleaned squirrels and rabbits with my eighteen inch Sirupati, as well as whittled fuzz sticks and a toy boat for my son, to see if It could be done. (animals...not very cleanly done, but nonetheless edible)

As far as the usefulness of backcutting, it is considered a desirable trait by many. From 1834 'till the Civil War The Dueling Oaks in new Orleans saw an average of four duels a day. There are statistics that have said that up to 80% of those defeated in knife duels were defeated with a back cut. All in all that's a pretty large skull orchard full of testimony to its effectiveness. Not as popular as the Asian arts, but it seems foolhardy to me to not at least consider the history, the numbers and the effectiveness of an eighteen inch knife that can be made to slash five to seven times in under a second. Not to say it's the best way of doing things, merely a legitimate way.

I have roundfiled trying it any further with my Khuk though- it goes against every other instinct developed with that blade, and compromises more than it gives. Besides that, the same basic move with just the spine of a decent khuk has got plenty of power to break things, and doesn't give up all else that is developed naturally through use.

I guess the happiest statistic of all, is that with all this discussion, we can all rest assured that all we're doing is benchracing our ideas, and the chance of such skills being necessary are probably about on par with that of being struck by lightning or attacked by a shark. :D
 
I don't know any statistical numbers, but they tell me that the majority of duels in japan were won by stabbing into the chest.
Kinda takes all the piss out of the legendary cutting ability of the Japanese sword, doesnt it?
The katana does cut well, but when it came time to live or die, they did whatever they had to do and it seems the thrust to the solar plexus was a very popular method.

I guess the point I would like to make is that the idea of a backslash is a part of fencing. One may very well be killed by it, but a warrior would avoid such a situation where he could be killed by a fencer. Duelling is a game where one CHOOSES to stand in proximity to someone who wants to kill you under certain limited circumstances.
That is not combat and it is not the way of the warrior.
Having said that, any good warrior will learn about the backslash and how to defend against it.

Just dont let your focus get so narrowed as to look at the hand manipulations of a fencer in a duel. Try not to get focused beyond the movements of the body of a warrior as he does what is necessary to survive.

From the very instant someone tries to hurt you, you should be moving back and offline, out of the range of his attack. As soon as he has overextended himself, feel free to hack off any offending body parts with your 22" ganga ram.

If you are at least 1mm out of range, as you should be, it wont matter if he has a knife with 18 million edges and can cut in all directions at once like Shiva.
It also wont matter if your knife is 2" long and single edged, once he is overextended and off balance, you can take him down safely and without effort.
 
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