Review: B. Richardson's "Knife versus Knife."

[jrf]

This is a review of Burton Richardson's relatively new tape called "Knife versus Knife" offered by Straight Blast Gym Productions (www.straightblastgym.com) It is tape #2 of series 2, and lasts about an hour.

Introduction footage: about 4 minutes of demonstration footage.

Brief discussion on "theatrical" knife fighting versus "practical" knife fighting lasting a couple of minutes.

Discussion of ranges (long/middle/close): about 4 minutes.

Discussion on tactics: In this segment, which is really just the first half of the next segment (I chose to divide this into two segments since his focus is slightly different), Burton discusses the tactics that he has found to really work in knife sparring. He humbly points out that he has never been in a real knife fight and hopes he never is. He also adds that this tape does not cover drawing a knife. Maybe drawing a knife should have been included, but since he states that it is about fighting (not drawing) and says so up front, I think that's just fine. He focuses on three major tactics in the three ranges. I won't give them away because that really wouldn't be fair to Richardson.

Discussion of the application of the tactics and sparring: This is really a continuation of the last segment, except that the focus is more on application and sparring out (with equipment) the stuff he taught. The sparring shows how to apply the tactics discussed against real types of attacks.

***These last two parts are the "meat" of the tape and last about 40-45 minutes or so***

Closing Footage: about 4 minutes of footage like in the opening segment, except different footage.

This is NOT a "technique" tape. It does not teach "if he does this, you do that" kind of stuff. Burton provides sage advice ("simple is good!") and points out the difference between someone with high rank who has never tested what he does in sparring (or real life) and someone with real experience in either sparring or the real world. He emphasizes the long range for fighting. He also demonstrates in totally unrehearsed sparring why he teaches what he does. This is different, he admits, from what you might have seen on his previous tapes from years past. He states that he used to be more interested in "impressive" stuff than what really holds up in all out sparring, and has grown away from that attitude towards a much more realistic view of knife fighting.

O.K., the moment of truth. What do I think of it? I think it is a good video. It is NOT technique oriented (he doesn't even bother to teach the FMA angles of attack, nor is a background in the FMA a prerequisite for learning from it). If you rigorously pressure test your knife versus knife skills in unrehearsed, all-out sparring, you will have discovered a lot of what he discusses. On the other hand, if you haven't, he can save you months of work and put your feet solidly on the path to real fighting ability. He provides tidbits of information and advice throughout the tape that I thought were valuable (meaning "practical"). I would recommend this tape to beginning FMA practitioners. It may open the eyes of some people, while others may complain that it isn't "advanced" enough for them (the ones who believe they are invincible and are unwilling to really test their techniques in all-out sparring against unrehearsed attacks of the kind you may face on the street).

I highly recommend everyone see this tape. It's not flashy (or even earth-shattering), but it is a good "reality check" and provides a wealth of valuable tips/advice. I thought Burton's teaching was really good, not ego-driven (he wasn't out to prove how tough or macho he is), and refreshing. If any of you train under him, please pass my congratulations on this tape to him, and consider yourself lucky to have a teacher who is interested in "what works" rather than looking good. Of course, this is just my opinion and I welcome others who have seen it to comment on it. This way, forum members will get a much more "well-rounded" idea of what it's like. JRF.




[This message has been edited by jrf (edited 06-12-2000).]

 

[Smoke]

jrf, you are tempting me man and I'm trying to slow down the stuff.LOL

I've seen Burt's Battlefield Kali tape and it had some intermissions using interviews from Matt Thorton and other folks. Do we see that hear? And how long is it? 50 min?

 

[jrf]

Smoke: There are little intermissions (for lack of a better word) of about a minute each throughout the tape. All but one are with Burton Richardson himself; soundbites of his ideas on fighting, why he changed the way he taught, etc.. All together, there are maybe five or six. The running time is about an hour, 50 minutes ROUGHLY without counting the demo footage at the start and finish. I wasn't watching my timer so this is just an estimate. Burton came across as someone who trained one way for a LONG time, decided to see what really works, had an eye-opening experience, and is not afraid to admit it! I think he definitely understands the difference between self-perfection drills and self-preservation. I liked it mostly because he taught without trying to impress anyone. Best of all, he states that he doesn't want the viewer to believe him (or anyone else), he wants the viewer to go try it out for himself in sparring. Experiment and prove to yourself what works and what doesn't. Most senior instructors, or instructors with his reputation, would never admit that they used to teach things that looked good rather than things that worked in real life. He has obviously made a transformation and is not afraid to step up and say it. JRF.




[This message has been edited by jrf (edited 06-12-2000).]

 

[Gaucho]

Greetings All!

JRF's excellent review of Burton's new video series tweaked my interest, so I bought the Defense Vs. Knife and Knife Vs. Knife tapes.

We do a whole lot of this type of blade training, so naturally I was curious to see if Burton had discovered anything different that we aren't already doing.

I found the tapes to be excellent for those who want to start blade sparring- the fundamental skills taught were quite good. IMO, however, one would be best served purchasing both tapes, because the Defense Vs. Knife tape does a better job of teaching the evasion skills necessary when facing a knife attack than the K. Vs. K. tape. Those skills are just as important when both partners have blades in their hands. Plus, the D. Vs. K. tape does a great job of presenting which disarms work against a blade, and which don't. Always useful if one finds oneself disarmed during a knife fight.

I don't believe that these tapes would be very useful to those who have already been blade sparring for some time. The skills presented- while good- are very basic. In fact, I found the sparring between Burton and Robert to be too linear-ie., back and forth movement- with little or no sideslipping, etc.. We have found that backpedaling to avoid a knife attack is far less effective than utilizing circling, triangle footwork, and 90 deg. pivots to evade. These leave you in a far better position in terms of time and distance to mount a counterattack. Plus, they have far more of a psychological impact on the opponent than constantly backpedaling to avoid getting cut.

Next, Burton's contention that one should avoid closing to medio or corto range, and fight from largo, attacking the opponent's limbs, while sensible, is simply not realistic. As any of you who blade spar extensively know, the fight always closes to medio or corto range- and usually very quickly. Typically, one partner will press the fight, closing with an attack. The other will, if he's fast and lucky, preempt the attack at largo and defang. If not, he has no alternative but to check and counter at medio or corto range. The fight flows back and forth this way at high speed, with the opponents circling and feinting to find openings, closing and evading and countering, until the definite cut is made. That's just the way it is. No matter how good you get at defanging, that's exactly how good your partners will get at avoiding it! So, you must to learn to flow and fight very quickly through all the ranges of combat- including the ground sometimes.

Next, the amount of protection that Burton and Robert wore to spar with those hugely padded trainers was just ludicrous. I know, I know, that their lawyers almost certainly forced them to film it this way, but come on! Simple eye protection would have been more than sufficient. All that armor just hampers your sensitivity, impairs mobility and vision, and teaches you bad habits by allowing you to rely on your armor rather than your mobility to protect you from knife attacks. Wearing armor when sparring with live blades is commonsense, here it is unnecessary and actually defeats some of the purpose of soft trainer sparring.

And finally, those soft trainers they used SUCK! No proper handle to execute reversals or punyos, and no edge. And I doubt that the balance was anything like a real knife. For our soft trainer sparring we use trainers that Jason and I have custom made for us with ergonomic handles and proper edges. You can slash and thrust with abandon without maiming your partner, and they flow through the different grips beautifully. They come in two different blade lengths to represent folders/neck knives and fighters/bowies. And they last forever! I think I'm just gonna have to send Burton a set to use on his next video.

Anyhow, that this man's opinion on the Burton Richardson Knife Series 2- hugely important topic, great philosophically, good fundamental drills and basic sparring. So a definite buy for those wanting to start on the path of realistic blade training, but not appropriate for those already doing it for any length time.

I hope that this was useful.

Peace,

Mario



------------------
Gaucho

Tuvo muy mala suerte...se callo en mi cuchillo.


[This message has been edited by Gaucho (edited 01-14-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Gaucho (edited 01-14-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Gaucho (edited 01-15-2000).]