OT for HI but still khukuri: Martial Arts

Y

yoippari

Joined
May 8, 2004
Messages
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Does anyone know of a martial arts "style"? that uses the khukuri? I know of budokai-do, and I like the theory of it (avoid attacks with semi-circles and counter from behind). But the closest school is in an unkown (unknown to me) part of kalifornia, I am in Oregon. So its not *that far, and I may be going to college there, but I would like to get started before next summer. Anyway does any one know of another.
I would like to get into martial arts for other reasons as well but khukuris being involved would be a nice bonus.
 
Could you post a link to a good web site on that? All I'm finding is the same article copy-pasted on several different sites and several people who just describe it, but offer no real information. Nothing concrete such as a school or an official site/organization that is actually found in the internet, except for some place in ohio with an incomplete site.
 
Any martial art could use a khukuri.
Right?
If they use weapons, they can use a khukuri.
Let your mind open up to the idea that any weapon is interchangable.
then finding a dojo will be easy!
 
yoippari said:
Could you post a link to a good web site on that?
Click to expand...
The Bando boys are quiet about their art and I don't think they have a website as such. Bill may be along to put you in touch with a member or two if he gets to feeling better, or you may get an email from one if you have it listed.
 
I understand what you mean danny, its just that I tend to be a purist. I like to do things how they were ment to be or how they have been traditionally done. For example I will never "tune"/rice my scirocco, I am restoring it. More appropriatly you could use a falchion or a saber in place of a katana but my thinking is, why? just use a katana. The practice was ment for that shape, weight, and length of sword.
But you are right. I am limiting myself by wanting to only go with khukuri using martial arts. I will look into similar weapon styles as well. Any advice there? Machete, and falcata are all that comes to mind.

And any of you bando types, please reply, pm, or e-mail. Right now I am looking into what would be a good art to study. Not actually looking to join a school right now.
 
Almost any martial art that uses weapons would teach you techniques that you can do with your khukuri.
The secret of weapons: The magnify the power of the body.
We could probably find a similarly sized and shaped weapon in every country and an "art" that goes along with it.
I guess the most important question is, what do you want to learn?
How to survive a battle ?
How to "use" a khukuri ?
Those are not necessarily the same.
Please, share with us your intention if you could...
 
Basicly I want to learn confidance, dicipline and control. I am lacking in all of them, but I dont want to learn to "channel my chi" or anything like that. As far as actual fighting I would like to know I can survive an encounter with a disgruntled cougar or bear, as I hunt in their territory. The khukuri comes into play mostly as an excuse to buy more of them, but also as what I plan on having accessable in the woods and around the house if the need to use it ever comes.
However as I am now, I could probably fight off a bear out of self preservation. But I want to be able to do it with out causing injury to myself by swinging around a big knife.
I hope that helps.
 
Kung Fu or Tai chi might be good for you.
Plus, once you learn the forms you can practice at home.
Tai chi is especially good for developing patience, discipline and control.
 
I actually thought about tai chi, I just dont know much about it. I guess I didnt think about it much.

Yes, chances are that if I see a bear it will just walk away (or it will be so far away it wont matter), but that is if it's a normal bear. If its a ninja bear then I want to be prepared.

...

please explain ninja bear :confused:.

oh, and ferrous, thanks for the clever :D
 
ninja bears are classified.
need-to-know basis.
sorry.
Tai chi is your best bet, but if you ever get serious about combat, give the bujinkan a try.
 
yoippari said:
...its just that I tend to be a purist. I like to do things how they were ment to be or how they have been traditionally done.
Click to expand...

Danny mentioned that surviving a battle and how to use a kukhri may not necessarily be the same. One reason why Danny can say this is because many martial arts confuse tradition for the original meaning.

Despite what some people say, martial arts were initially envisioned to protect oneself (or others) from people trying to kill you. Not that there is anything wrong with pursuing martial arts as a sport or an exercise etc. The point that I am trying to make though, is that many people fail to understand the implications of their choices. Studying martial arts may not in fact be the best thing for you in order to survive a bear attack. I don't know of that many bears who have been 'knocked' out by a roundhouse kick to the head...

In anycase, as I am biased, I would recommend the Bujinkan, if you would like to learn how to move your body when you have a kukhri in your hand.

Moving your body is more likely to save you then moving your knife.

:)

Good luck,

Sleiman
 
From your post sleiman I am picturing that movie, kung pow: enter the fist, where the guy is using those rodent nunchaku things, and beating up a cow. That is not the kind of thing I want to do at all, yes my main focus will be on the whole discipline, and control thing but I do still want to know how to defend myself, but since I doubt I will be able to fight off an animal as large as a bear, bare handed (i know its been done, but I don?t want to), I want to learn how to use my khukuri effectively. I am picturing (with a bag of salt) avoiding a bears first attack by ducking and side stepping giving me enough time to sink a khukuri (in this case it would probably be the best knife for it) in the back of its neck. As I said, bag of salt.

However that doesn?t mean that is all I want to learn. As it is, the more I learn, the more I find out I have yet to learn. Basically I'm still new to this whole area and so I am likely to say I want X not realizing all the parts of X. Such as your body moving italics example.

As for tai chi. I had enough time for some general reading and it looks like it is a "channel your chi" type of thing. I don?t believe in "chi". I am a Christian, while the same principal would still apply (I think), it would be distracting to try and re-phrase it mentally to a "focus on god" idea. Is there much in the way of focus and control techniques that dont involve believing in a life energy. Or is there a simpler way of looking at it, that I am just being blind to.

While reading up on kung fu I figured that I might need a different site. The one that I have been using to look at different styles is www.usadojo.com. I found it while looking for information on Bando. According to it kung fu is a generalized term used for pretty much any Chinese martial arts. While it may be right I would like to find a site that I can cross reference to check the information instead of taking it all from one source.
 
One of the other martial arts is Gatka, the Sikh martial art.

The khukuri is taught there much as the tonfa was taught on Okinawa ( I believe ). The idea was that if you had access to the sword and spear and axe or mace, fine. But if you were, say, under Mughal domination, and weapons of war were not available, you used the staff, spade, scythe, or khukri that were your commonplace farming or working tools.

There was a thread not too long ago about the ditchbank axe, brush-hog, kaiser blade, etc., looking like the English Bill or Lochaber Axe, or Halberd or other polearms.

It was also interesting to watch Braveheart and see the commonfolks tools turned into field expedient weaponry. You work with an axe 50 or 60 hours a week.... hmmn!
 
I understand, I am a Christian too.
Dont worry, Chi is not something that people do during battle. If you have to think about it or "build up" anything, you're dead.
That whole fascination wtih "chi" has nothing to do with real combat.


There are good parts in every martial art. It all depends on how you look at it.
If you speed up tai chi and put a bloody knife in the guys hand, tai chi doesnt look like yoga anymore.It looks quite scary.
there have been many times in the dojo I was thinking about my bodys movement and suddenly I was struck by its similarity to a tai chi movement.
Suddenly I thought " oh, so that is where that came from"
Its all from real battle, but not every martial art or teacher is able or willing to tell you that.
For example, kyudo.
Japanese archery.
I was told at my first kyudo class that kyudo must never be used for taking life. Not even for hunting.
I said "you DO know that this is a weapon, right?"
I understood their desire to study kyudo for spiritual and moral purposes, but to deny the killing that fromed martial arts is to dishonor those who died to pass it down to us and it is a form of delusion.
The purpose of any path is to remove all delusions , right ?


You have to approach any study of martial arts from the perspective or real, combat-applicable movement.
Once you have that attitude in mind, you can learn how to fight from almost any activity. I learned a great deal about timing, distance and rythym from studying ballroom dancing.

So go find a dojo and make yourself a practice khukuri and see if you dont start discovering new things...
 
A couple of the posts have suggested some martial arts which make it a point to involve the kukhri in their training. If you are interested in the kukhri then it seems like they would be the best choice for you.

I wouldn't worry too much about chi, or ki, or whatever else somebody wants to call it. As far as I am concerned, and of course this is just my opinion, chi/ki is a cultural term used to express the simplicity of natural movement. I have seen my teachers do some amazing things that may be described in many colourful terms but the more I train, the more I realise that all of these 'mystical' demonstrations of whatever are all simply the result of moving one's body naturally. As I said, don't worry about chi, instead, worry about whether the art you choose focuses on teaching you how to move your body. That's all.

My advice is that if the martial art that you choose 'forces' you into odd movements that require unnatural contortions of the body, which among other things make it improbable that a weapon could be used, then look elsewhere.

If the art you choose spends a lot of time talking about developing power rather than avoiding someone else's power, again, look elsewhere. Martial arts are for saving your life, not for 'kicking ass'. Unfortunately many instructors don't understand that.

Finally, the only way you'll really be able to know what's going on is to go to a training group and see for yourself.

I hope that this has been of some help. Again, good luck. :)

Sleiman
 
yoippari said:
As for tai chi. ....... it looks like it is a "channel your chi" type of thing.
I don?t believe in "chi".
Click to expand...
Neither do I.
At least in any 'mystical' or new-age'y way.
Knowing it' not 'true' (to me), I just go with the flow......
And generally avoid teachers who go all mystical
about 'chi' all the time.
Many taiji teachers have a very scientific view of 'chi'.

So...........
-good- taijiquan is good martial arts training.
Chi-Kung / Qi-Gong practice is closely associated
with taijiquan / tai chi chuan practice.

The 'chi' they refer to might best be translated as breath.
The goal is to coordinate one's energy (force acting over distance)
by proper practice, practice, practice, practice...............
===> Kung Fu

-Most- sports/physical activities of -all- types
at least make reference to proper breathing patterns.

Breath -is- life.
And energy.
Try running up a hill while holding your breath.

The Chinese internal martial arts make a detailed science
of coordinating breath and movement.
The application of the energy of movement is multiplied
when properly coordinating with the breath.

Often breathing patterns are taught first through chi kung practice;
if they are taught at all in a given school.
And tai chi forms practice is used to teach the martial movement patterns.
Chi kung also teaches just as much, but more basic movement patterns.
Silk Reeling is another training system that teaches more
'basic' movement patterns related to tai chi forms practice.
Silk Reeling classes are rare.

Until one learns proper breathing, one isn't -yet- practicing a -complete- taiji (or other of the internal Chinese arts).
Don't know about breath importance in other martial arts.

==========adding:
Here's some good taiji links:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2535401#post2535401
 
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