What attracted you/

ChungSan

ChungSan

Joined
Jul 25, 2000
Messages
816
What attracted you to balisongs orginally.

I would have to say that I was about five. I saw one used in a TV show by a ninja. I have been hooked on martial arts and balisongs ever since.

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Chung San

Butterfly Knife Exchange
www.butterflyknifeexchange.com
"A new kind of balisong store"
 
I don't know what attracted me initially. I have been intrigued by them for as long as I can remember, so it was most likely also a movie scene that I saw as a young child that started it. They were prohibited in my household for the longest time, so I had a piece that I got when I was about 12 hiding in my house for a while, then it had an accident in Washington DC and ended up running away. Then I got a 45 just before they went out of production, I was in love, and my mom forced me to give it up, sad day, but alas, I agreed. Anyways, I was searching for a good number of years for something to replace it and so I picked up the very first 42 that I could get preordered back in may or so and I have been completely taken by them since, I think I'm in love.
 
I never paid much attention to them, tell Parker, Frost & Taylor started to import them. Then it was the Japan made butterfly knife that really caught my attention. At the time, the China made butterfly was not very good, it was rather lite and a very soft brittle metal like zinc. They had triangles in the handle instead of round holes.

What caught my attention was that they were starting to sell so good. A lot of young men would come along and pick them up off of my table and start to flip them around and they seemed facinated by them and wanted to talk about them a lot.

Then customs started to cause problems. The Parker & Frost companies seperated into two different companies. That was about the time the Taiwan butterfly started to show up. It was a fairly good quality knife, for a fairly low price. Esp. compared to what China was making at the time.

Then when I was over in the Philippines, my brother in law showed me his Balisong knife, and took me to where I could purchase them. They were not quite as well made as a Japan butterfly, but they were still a very nice item and I decided to try to bring them into the country.

Contrary to popular belief, I have not imported that many of them from the Philippines. Less than 100 of the 2" size, and maybe not that much more than 2 or 300 of the other sizes. But we still plan to bring in small amounts of them at a time, and also, if I can buy them in parts, we will be bringing in more of them.

I am also in contact with a company in Japan to see if I can start to bring them in. Not that I am rich enough to really import them from Japan, but you never know, things could work themselves out somewhere along the way. All it takes is for someone to get the ball rolling, then others usually jump on the band wagon.

Also, at some point in the future, I plan to go to Pakinstan. No one was all that impressed with their butterfly knife, but it was cheap, and everyone had one in their collection at the time. They maybe able to improve upon the design a bit. Thanks, JohnR7 www.BalisongKnife.com
 
I have no idea what got me into them. I think I somehow stumbled upon Clay's site, saw a few techniques, then I decided I had to have one. so I went to this flea market the next day and got this black one; it held up for a good long time. then I got a silver rostefrei , then another one with that imitation kris blade. After that came my Jag, which is my standard carry now. the Kris is my practice bali now
 
Until a few months ago I just thought they were more flashy ninja crap. It wasn't until after I read the history behind them that I became interested.
 
I was 13 I think... and I guess it was after the movie American Ninja ("American Warrior" in France) with Michael Dudikoff, Tadashi Yama****a...
It's a poor Canon Prod of the 80s with ninja everywhere, but I liked that when I was young :-)))
The first scene shows Dudikoff manipulating a balisong when other soliders are playing with a ball... I liked his attitude.

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<A HREF="http://www.balisong.net" TARGET=_blank>www.balisong.net
</A>|
www.guillaumemorel.com
 
For me, It was probably the movie Face/Off. I thought that movie had the coolest bali ever. At that time, I was pretty broke and I couldn't afford a 45 or a 35 at the time. I really wish I picked one up 2 years ago when they were readily available for $75.
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Dave

My collection
 
I suppose the reason I like them is how versatile they are in that they fold to half-size, are easy to carry, simple to lock in place, easy and quick to deploy, and all-around efficient.
 
I read a review in a recent knife mag about the BM42
The author said it was the best, lightest,
most improved bali he had ever handled.
In fact he said he called BM and said he wanted to buy the knife he was testing. That was enough for me. Had to have one. Plus i'm a sucker for all metal knives especially Titanium. I like it even more since I bought a Bali instructional video on E-bay
 
I wasn't into them until fairly recently. At some point, my friend told me that someone in our Boy Scout troop could obtain knives for a low price, including butterfly knives. I wasn't into that, and I wanted a lockblade. Fortunately, the guy was unreliable, and after a while, I decided, what the hell, I'll get one. Kind of a guy thing.

Then, when I was doing a search on the Internet,(I didn't even know they were called balisongs, and most people I know don't) I found Clay's site, and couldn't wait to get one. In fact, I modified a cheap multitool to serve as one.
 
When I was a kid it was the late night "Kung Fu Theater" In the 80's I was obsessed with those dat gum Manila Folders. Since nobody around me knew much about them I thought " I could be one of the best at this"!

But I was a kid, Never to this day have owned a M/F, Wore out plenty of POS! I find myself a part of an art that has always seemed to be the underdog. (Kinda like the AFC) Every now and then, we have our day.

I AM A PASSIONATE BALISONG PRACTITIONER!
(whether I suck or not)!

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Sabo 29


 
Originally posted by Adopt-A-Greyhound-Dog:
I read a review in a recent knife mag about the BM42
The author said it was the best, lightest,
most improved bali he had ever handled.
Click to expand...

That would have been in Tactical Knives. Everything they test, it seems, is the "best, lightest, fastest, most user-friendly, etc." They just don't write "bad" reviews.

Ok, on the subj. at hand ... A good friend in high school had one, a brass skeltonized handled thingy. He'd flipped it so much the pins had actually worn down the handles. So I started playing with it whilst visiting. A couple of years later, another friend gave me a wave-handled "bali-tool" - no cutting edge, but a slotted screwdriver for the tip, bottle opener in the "blade." Of course the "bad guy" in Karate Kid II flipped one at the beginning of the big, end-of-the-show fight scene, but I never really equated what I saw in that movie (oh SOOOO many years ago) to what I was later introduced to, which is ultimately what got me snookered for 'em.

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Sometimes I get the idea that everything is ulterior ...
 
I was always surrounded by balisong knives in my youth- so much that it was no big thing. i gt one whaen I was 8 cause i wasnt supposd to.. rusted to smithereens.

WHen I went to the US to study everyone seemed to be surprised I could flip that BM48 in the store so out of nstalgia I boght it- got screwed up ever since
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<A HREF="http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~soo/balisong/balisong.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~soo/balisong/balisong.html
</A> If you play with love you will be heartbroken; if you play with knives you will [bleed]


 
When I was little, my older brother had one. (he's 11 years older than me.) When he turned 18 he joined the Air Force and while he was packing everything, I "acquired"
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the knife. To this day I have it. He knows that I have it now and is fine with this fact. I guess the fact that he had one got me interested. The knife I'm talking about is Taylor, model 1084 with Tanto blade and rosewood inserts (thanks Balisongman). I love Tantos. I think I'm gonna start hunting for a BM Tanto at the next gun shows I go to.
 
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BM and PC had the International Series with 4 different tantos: model 138, model 148, model 158, model 168. BM and PC had the model 44 which is a tanto, the model 11 is a 3 in. tanto with exposed pins and none of the holes are countersunk, the model 69 is a 3 in. tanto but has hidden pins and countersunk holes. I'm keepin my eyes open for a 69
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and hopefully I'll find some at the Blade Show in Oregon (providing I go
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).

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Cameron

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"Look deep, deep inside and you will find a place of anger, vengeance, and brutality. Go there. It is your last hope to conquer the truly wicked."
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A few of my balisongs
My Photopoint album
 
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