...or, in a word - Bowie! It is probably safe to say that my interest in combative use of the bowie knife comes from the same dimension as that regarding tomahawk. This time however, I will split the review of the materials into three categories: introductory; comprehensive course; and additional resources. In presenting them, the order in which the materials are presented is based on the alphabetical order of the authors' last name. So, without further ado...
James Keating's double video package titled Legacy of Steel is essentially the edited recording of one of his legendary Riddle of Steel camps that he used to run annually for a number of years. It was professionally recorded and edited by the good folks of the Paladin Press, so we all can benefit from this work. And benefits abound! The first volume of the pack is titled Left Hand Path and deals with the close quarters use of smaller knives, the method being strongly influenced by FMA approach, and as good as it is (more like awesome), we shall focus today on the second volume - the Right Hand Path.
What we have here is roughly a 50-minute introduction to all the fundamental aspects regarding the usage of bowie-type, i.e. big knives. Keating starts with a spoken introduction to the specifics of this kind of knife, thus providing the context for the better understanding of the instruction that follows. He is than joined by another Comtech instructor, Rob Langford, who gives an excellent explanation of the timing that makes the bowie knife such a feared and respected implement. In practice, he analyzes and demonstrates teh mechanics of non-telegraphing striking, exemplified on this occasion by the straight thrust. Keating takes over the instruction to work on the topics of guard, with focus on the blind-spot targeting, and stance that serves as a mobile platform for the whole thing. Next, he shows the tactical maneuvers of in quartata and passata soto that allow you to place your thrusts as counters to the opponents initiative. In the last section, Langford steps in again to teach the functioning of the often mentioned but rarely understood specialty of of the bowie - back cut!
All in all, this is a great video, which should give an excellent overview of what the bowie knife is about, and if you practice the material diligently, it should give you a fairly sufficient command of the tool in practice, in case you do not want to investigate further.
The next piece is a book from Marc Lawrence, with a rather interesting take on the subject. Specifically, as indicated by the title American Bowie Knife Methods From the 1880s, the author takes a HEMA-type approach. Even the historical overview of the origins and popularity of the weapon itself is shown through a newspaper article from 1888, with all of the possible inaccuracies and bias, so the interpretation is left to the reader. When it comes to the fighting methods, he uses two newspaper articles from 1890 and 1888 (in that order for some reason), and then uses the information therein to formulate a couple dozen drills and exercises in order to put the material into practice. According to him, the goal here is to help the readers/practitioners to the level of skill demonstrated by the exponents, as described in the original articles.
Now, this approach is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, most instructors teaching the bowie knife today are explicit in saying that there is no a sure way to establish the period-authenticity of the techniques and methods used, i.e. that we can't know with certainty how Jim Bowie himself or other exponents in the first half of the 19th century, presumably the heyday of this type of knife, fought or taught their craft. Lawrence attempts to get us as close as possible, using the information that is as close as possible to the historical period and geographical region concerned. Second, while most practitioners would use this kind of resource to maybe pick up a couple of techniques or tactics at best, he strives to look beyond mere individual nuggets and see a bigger picture, thus developing an actual training plan that would get us to a higher level of understanding and, consequently, skill.
It has to be noted that the two articles used as mining source are quite similar, possibly a retelling of the same story.What are the implication of this fact to the historical authenticity and technical accuracy of the content...I leave that to the reader to ponder.
Among these three resources, James Loriega's book Behind the Bowie Blade is the only one that offers some comprehensiveness in its historical introduction, regarding the origin of the tool, particularly with regards to the influences of other cultures and earlier blade designs that were present in the southern part of today's USA in 1830's, where the roots of the phenomenon are.
Unlike the previous author, Loriega adheres to the subtitle - A Personal Method of Edged Defense - when treating the hands-on portion of the book. It means we get to see his own interpretation of how a big knife ought to be used for the combative purpose. While doing that, he covers all the bases required for a well rounded grasp of the situation: cuts, thrusts and related fundamentals; attack and defense; footwork and targeting; recommendations for safe training, including several suitable models of training knives for this kind of work.
Now, the author offers a rather succinct sort of instruction, primarily relying on written descriptions and very few illustrations. In itself that wouldn't bother me much, if there wasn't for the fact that out of 100 pages of this book as many as 15 (fifteen!) are used for a selection of posters and pictures from the a number of movies and TV shows that dealt with the lore of Jim Bowie. Aside from a possible bit of nostalgia trip for some of the readers, it seems to me that this space would have been much better used for a somewhat more detailed coverage of the instructional portion of the book. That said, it is an expensive book, and probably goes in tandem with Keating's video better that the previous one, due to a more conceptual method of approaching the material.
If these resources succeed in awakening more interest for the subject matter, keep en eye on the following posts about it.
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