Knife or Death

91bravo said:
This is a post of History Channel's IG page. I spy a CPK!

ZBnddJg.png
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Someone seems really calm under pressure.

Counterclockwise from top left:
Grrrr face
Durrr face
Grrrr face
Ho hum face


:p
 
I watched it last night and have some thoughts:

Over all, I think that the course is still slanted toward the male competitors who can wield larger blades and who naturally carry a higher BMI (Body Mass Index). That said, I think that the S2 course lends itself better to a precision cutting demon like NinJo as opposed to last years course which was definitely less advantageous because there were obstacles in S1's Knife Fight phase (1st leg of the competition) which required more brute force and height advantage. I am sure that Jo and her Champ friend whose name I don't exactly recall (Nicole?) from S1 would've breezed through the "decapitation" obstacle without incurring any penalties.

Another opinion remains that 10-12" BL knives, even something as stout and tough SOB such as our own beloved MC / BC do not stand much of a chance when competing against a well-conditioned competitor wielding a heavier and longer blade. That said, I think that the new courses do not bode as well as S1 courses did for those ridiculously long double grip swords! All this makes me really believe that something slightly bigger than Dr. Dan Keffeler's Sasquatch, maybe one of Dan's shorter swords than his Super Assassin (I don't recall the name of the sword) which can also be wielded two handed may be the ticket to kick the course's arse!
 
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Casinostocks said:
I watched it last night and have some thoughts:

Over all, I think that the course is still slanted toward the male competitors who can wield larger blades and who naturally carry a higher BMI (Body Mass Index for the lay folks). That said, I think that the S2 course lends itself better to a precision cutting demon like NinJo as opposed to last years course which was definitely less advantageous because there were obstacles in S1's Knife Fight phase (1st leg of the competition) which required more brute force and height advantage. I am sure that Jo and her Champ friend whose name I don't exactly recall (Nicole?) from S1 would've breezed through the "decapitation" obstacle without incurring any penalties.

Another opinion remains that 10-12" BL knives, even something as stout and tough SOB such as our own beloved MC / BC do not stand much of a chance when competing against a well-conditioned competitor wielding a heavier and longer blade. That said, I think that the new courses do not bode as well as S1 courses did for those ridiculously long double grip swords! All this makes me really believe that something slightly bigger than Dr. Dan Keffeler's Sasquatch, maybe one of Dan's shorter swords than his Super Assassin (I don't recall the name of the sword) which can also be wielded two handed may be the ticket to kick the course's arse!
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Sure a 2-handed longer blade will give you an advantage, but a 12-14" knife will do just fine in the right hands! Jason from S1 proved that. I did not feel under-knifed at all going through with the BC, I just wish I could have done MY part better. After watching the premiere of S2 last night, I have no doubt that the BC could have cut through every single one of those obstacles with no problems. Might have taken longer, but it still would have accomplished the task. The set this season up for more penalties if you haven't noticed. Penalties will kill you whether you have a large or small chopper. Did you see that first strap take out the biggest blade on the show last night? If you liked the Decapitator, wait till you see next week's episode!
 
Those taut straps were death traps for longer blades with lotta flex and the chopping motion without slashing (dragging) caused those blades to just bounce off the straps. The balls were also brutal for excessively long blades with uncoordinated participants. Jo would've probably hit every single ball had she reached that stage in S2 ;)
 
I'd disagree about the longer bladed advantage. From the looks of the S2 course, I think the Super Assassin waki (he has both the slightly shorter SA wakizashi and the slightly longer SA katana), would be a great option for this course.

Likewise, that Oakeshott sword from S1 would have done very well too. There isn't really anything in these courses that has any bias towards a shorter blade.

Longer, heavy blades, like a Claymore wouldn't be as easy to use, unless the wielder was a beast (fit, 270 lbs SCA/ARMA/HEMA guy who practices with it :eek:).

A well made hand-and-a-half double edged sword like the Oakeshott from last season still has a significant advantage though (Great reach. Reasonable weight. Can be wielded 1-handed or with 2. Looooong cutting edge. Can use one edge for harder targets, and save the other razor edge for soft targets.)
 
Jonny, no matter what happened to you during your run (same with Jeannie) which we will find out in due course, at least you had the desire and the guts to audition, show up and participate. Those are 100% more effort that the rest of us, Monday morning QBs ;)

Yes, one also has to be lucky as well as being good at this. That's the nature of almost all game shows.
 
bluemax_1 said:
I'd disagree about the longer bladed advantage. From the looks of the S2 course, I think the Super Assassin waki (he has both the slightly shorter SA wakizashi and the slightly longer SA katana), would be a great option for this course.

Likewise, that Oakeshott sword from S1 would have done very well too. There isn't really anything in these courses that has any bias towards a shorter blade.

Longer, heavy blades, like a Claymore wouldn't be as easy to use, unless the wielder was a beast (fit, 270 lbs SCA/ARMA/HEMA guy who practices with it :eek:).

A well made hand-and-a-half double edged sword like the Oakeshott from last season still has a significant advantage though (Great reach. Reasonable weight. Can be wielded 1-handed or with 2. Looooong cutting edge. Can use one edge for harder targets, and save the other razor edge for soft targets.)
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The Wakizashi was the Keffeler pattern which I was searching for :) :thumbsup:
 
Casinostocks said:
Those taut straps were death traps for longer blades with lotta flex and the chopping motion without slashing (dragging) caused those blades to just bounce off the straps. The balls were also brutal for excessively long blades with uncoordinated participants. Jo would've probably hit every single ball had she reached that stage in S2 ;)
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Technique (and a blade that still had an edge) played a big part with the ratchet straps. Plenty of folks can chop. Far fewer know what a drawing cut is (slicing/slashing technique), much less practiced it. Some of the contestants did, quite a few obviously didn't.

As for the balls in round 2, it's still biased towards bigger guys with longer blades. Did you see how wide that ramp/table was? Even some of the men with mid-length blades had to stretch to try to reach balls that were on the far side.

If they'd specified a vertical cut ONLY, like in bladesports competitions, guys who haven't practiced their timing with longer blades, might have a disadvantage, BUT they allowed horizontal cuts with the balls (and I don't know what those balls were made of, but it appeared that any edge contact, sliced them). Someone with a long blade who figured that out quickly, could have just used that, with no real chance of missing.
 
91bravo said:
I don't care how good you are with a blade, there IS an element of luck to this game show!
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I think the unknown until you are there evens the field a bit ... not sure how you'll need to attack the course ... sure sometimes a longer blade or handle may benefit at some things and be a hinderance at others ...

did you get to see the coatse or walk through at all before your run?

after watching last nights episode I don't think I'd wouldn't want more than a hand and a half hanfle length ... better control and I could adjust my body for more power ...

but it's easy to sit here and say that ... could be a whole different ball game as you dive in.
 
I'm on the next episode. The course is about half of the same as last nights episode. They changed it up. Decapitator is still there but it is after they try and destroy your edge not the first obsticle. I brought the smallest knife in my episode!...lol I remeber walking up to the table they had our knives on and thought hmmm...this should be interesting
 
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