Sharp as a knife II-A separating distance

Science does not tell tales, and neither does it draw assumptions…
It usually acts upon logic, study, and findings. The following imaginative story probably happened to a distant cousin of our species, well before our times, well before Homo Sapiens, some two and a half million years ago. Some say, even more…

The earth’s rock formations are not always smooth and gentle as water and wind forms them. Schist rocks are to be found almost everywhere on the planet, and come in a peculiar shape of fragments, which actually end up into an almost razor sharp natural cutting edge at its sides.
It is more than likely that one of our pre-ancestors did cut himself on a schist rock, and in this accidental way, he found out that an edge is a nasty thing to be cut by…
But it was no accident for what happened next… He picked up that same stone he was cut by, he looked at the stone and then at his hand. And at that precise moment, he figured it out, by using his mind!
If he was to bleed from that piece of rock, he could make others bleed with it as well.
The discovery of the cutting edge gave formation to the first primitive knife.
A discovery that is as important as the discovery of the fire and the wheel and no less than that…
 
It maybe sounds somehow dramatized to our modern ear, but the fact remains that had we not invented the cutting edge, chances are that we would be an extinct species of the past! Because apart from our tool constructing abilities, our kind was  always one of the weakest, slowest and most vulnerable…
So, it is no wonder that the knife, as an object, is curved into our DNA, because it was the claw and the fang which we did not possess, but we did create.
This is why there is a natural irresistible attraction to knives, especially at the age when we are starting to explore and discover our world around us. Some detest knives strongly, and this is natural as well, since it carries the danger and the fear of what can be done with. The knife produces either “this” feeling or “that” feeling. But almost never indifference…
One other interesting thing is, that if you point a knife at an animal just for it to notice it, its reactions clearly show that it recognizes it…

Knife talk
It is difficult to speak about knives and not feel somehow strange, to say the least. On one hand, knife talk is like a discussion for ten-year olds, and on the other hand, to put it as mildly as possible, knife issues don’t look like being in the top of the agenda for those people who are going to shape the world’s future with the contribution of their intellect. It simply doesn’t fill the profile…

My intention here is, firstly, to define the knife as a weapon, and define it seriously and correctly.
And, secondly, to understand the knife “through the eyes of Aikido” since beyond practicing Aiki-Jo (Japanese short staff) and Aiki-Ken (Japanese sword) Traditional Aikido includes the practice of Tanto (Japanese knife)

How much of a weapon is a knife?
…to begin this without hesitation, it is the (very) prime weapon of them all!
Let us see why…
As we saw earlier, historically speaking, this invention is something we inherited. So, to rush and say that “it has been with us all along” is an understatement. There must be a reason for its survival over time.
Due to its size, light weight, ease to be worn concealed, limitless varieties of forms and lethal effectiveness, it takes a dominant position among arms. It is exactly where one starts building up his being-armed. From a table full of weapons, old and modern, it is the first thing one takes. Instinctively…
Therefore, the distance between being armed from being un-armed is one blade apart! And despite personal preferences, the smaller and lighter a knife is, the better it proves this.

This is why one of the worst ever ideas is to wear a knife!!!
(Note: As you see I use the term “wearing” instead of the term “carrying” because a light folder could be worn literally on your underwear and it wouldn’t be felt to be there… The term carrying, quite correctly, is to be used for firearms. And there is a different attitude and responsibility to it, as well). 

The combination which leads to do that mistake (of wearing a knife) is one of the easiest to make in life…
The natural attraction for something that is clearly carved deep into our DNA… The idea of the knife being an effective self-defense weapon… The fact that it is a decision so easy to take, with so little leverage of thinking behind it…
 
Before you object please tell me, would you give your friend, your brother, your son or daughter… a knife before going out for the evening, then tap him/her on the shoulder and say “here, take this blade, just to be safe”?!
No you would not! Unless I am writing this to the wrong people here…
It might sound as a cliché, since it comes from someone who is instructing Aikido, but those who you love, you firstly send them to practice self-defense arts in order to increase their chances of survival. Guns and knives could be a second choice. And that order is respected even by those who “fancy” weaponry!
 
The advice on knife issues is simple here… Have a collection of them, enjoy handling them, oiling them, sharpening them, cutting with them… But for crying out loud, leave your knife at home. This is not an argument here, arguments are luxury when it comes to facts. Without any “hand-to-hand” training, the chances of being injured or killed by your own weapon, simply because it was taken away from you during a fight, are overwhelming!
Staying out of trouble is primary a mind thing. To avoid suspicious places, to act with reserve, to control your behavior and your surroundings…
Most of the times trouble, when thought about in retrospect, could have been avoided with little awareness and attention.
No less awareness and attention is required by those who are training in Martial Arts. Being in the practice doesn’t exclude you from being a target, but the chances of successfully evading or surviving an attack are dramatically increased when you pay attention to your own behaving and surroundings…

The gentle Aikido point of view
It takes very little time and effort to train someone into successfully attacking with a knife. In a period of a few hours only, one can learn how to hold a blade, where to stab, where to cut and why. If one is aggressive enough, there you have your walking menace. I don’t know, and frankly I don’t care to know, the official statistics of which is the weapon that has claimed most human lives in the history of mankind, but let me guess!
Quite the opposite happens if you have to disarm a person with a knife, by using Aikido or some other Marital Art. It takes a long time to learn the techniques, and even longer from there on, in order to apply them fluently.
On the contrary from your attacker, you will need to stay completely calm, controlled and focused. And on top of it all, and in complete contrast from the one who will try to stab and slash your life away, you will discover that, particularly in Aikido, most if not all of your training, involves disarming your aggressor with minor risk on his life… If this is not irony, then what is?!

Training traditionally with a Tanto, your mind is always on how to disarm your attacker without being cut. Of course in Dojo-practice the knife is wooden, but gradually you learn to escape “injury” and apply technique, manipulating an attack into neutralization… This builds self-confidence beyond compare, while you are motivating your partner-in-practice to go faster and harder on you in his cutting/slashing modes…

And something else…
Nature has a way of balancing things out. You spend a lifetime in practice, with your mind totally committed on disarming techniques… While you are at it, a “byproduct” of this training gives you the ability to use anything in your surroundings, as a weapon.
And then, the day you were trying to avoid for so long, comes to your doorstep… So, you just stand there having disarmed whatever you have disarmed, and it is now you the one who is holding the weapon.
Who is more dangerous now?!

“A running man
can cut a thousand throats
in one night”

April 15, 2016