Knife or Death

Goldberg again said, "30 seconds penalty" in the Knife Fight run of one of the contestants from last night!
 
bluemax_1 said:
So far, there's nothing I've seen to change my view that the courses have definitely been biased towards longer blades.

I haven't really seen any obstacles that I would consider to be biased towards a shorter (12" or less) blade.

The biggest 'tell' for me, is the difference in effectiveness vs skill levels.

It's pretty obvious that the majority of the sword wielders don't practice cutting/chopping anything more solid than air, and maybe fruit.

Despite that lack of practice, and with poorer technique, some of them are demolishing some of the obstacles that skilled, veteran choppers need more time on, even with the veteran chopper's better chopping technique and skill.

Based on what I've seen, I'd want something with at least an 18" blade, preferably more in the 20 - 22" blade range, with a handle that can be used both 1 and 2-handed
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Skill has a LOT to do with it. The 2 contestants in Dead Run last night had a 12" and 16" blade, so not very big blades at all. I think skill has a LOT to do with it, although size of blade does give an advantage. Another thing I noticed is lack of sharpness on some of the blades, which will put you behind the curve.
 
91bravo said:
Skill has a LOT to do with it. The 2 contestants in Dead Run last night had a 12" and 16" blade, so not very big blades at all. I think skill has a LOT to do with it, although size of blade does give an advantage. Another thing I noticed is lack of sharpness on some of the blades, which will put you behind the curve.
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Skill definitely is key.

What I'm trying to say is that a skilled competitor, who's practiced with a long blade, would have a significant advantage over a skilled competitor with a short blade, or a poorly skilled one with a long blade.

The funny part is that the vast majority of competitors with the most practice, experience and skill in chopping solid targets, have the most experience with shorter blades (understandably so), and that is what they bring with them.

Conversely, most of the competitors I've seen bringing longer blades (just about everyone who brought some type of sword?), have little, to no skill, cutting anything but air, or maybe fruit, at the most.

Even regular tameshigiri (practice/test cutting) on rolled tatami would have given the sword users, better cutting form and technique, as opposed to their 'swinging a baseball bat/tree branch like a child' approach.

The guy with the Oakeshott sword in S1 did incredibly well for someone who wasn't really in shape, and didn't have the level of skill many of the guys with short choppers do.

I'll say that the sword he brought (and handmade himself) was also undoubtedly the best made sword on the show thus far. It held up to everything, and retained its edge well, unlike all the air ninja specials.

Even the kid on S2 E2 with the ridiculously long sword, demolished the crates in a couple of swings each, where everyone else needed 8-20+ chops.
 
91bravo said:
And in the end, the 2 contestants with the shortest blades make it to the final run! I didn't see any commercials for next week, so I still don't which episode my wife or I am appearing on!
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I saw your wife on the opener's preview, but doesn't necessarily mean that was a preview for next week. Maybe it was or maybe just a collage of things to come in the next few epis!
 
91bravo said:
And in the end, the 2 contestants with the shortest blades make it to the final run! I didn't see any commercials for next week, so I still don't which episode my wife or I am appearing on!
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Well I won't be on the show anytime soon and I'll have PLENTY of time to watch you and your better half. I'm still under a nerve block. I had my rotator cuff repaired today. 30 days in a sling. About 6 mos to fully heal.
But I can't wait to see you two wailing away!
 
91bravo said:
And in the end, the 2 contestants with the shortest blades make it to the final run! I didn't see any commercials for next week, so I still don't which episode my wife or I am appearing on!
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To use a shooting analogy:

If a firefight was imminent, I'd take Jerry Miculek with a Ruger LCP by my side, over some random guy with an AR who's only shot 100 rounds through it.

There's no question that the AR is a better option for a firefight. Just because Jerry's skill easily overcomes the ballistic disadvantage of the LCP, vs someone with little training, armed with an AR, doesn't change that.

Jerry with an AR would have an incredible advantage.
 
Uncle Timbo said:
Well I won't be on the show anytime soon and I'll have PLENTY of time to watch you and your better half. I'm still under a nerve block. I had my rotator cuff repaired today. 30 days in a sling. About 6 mos to fully heal.
But I can't wait to see you two wailing away!
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Ugh. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

I injured mine last June. Chose to see if PT/rehab could help avoid surgery. It's been 15 months (12 months of PT. Couldn't even start for the first 3 months after the injury)

It's still not 100%, but it's definitely better than it was after the injury.
 
@MarriedTheMedic
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