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Robert J. Lehnert, Copyright 2006; Permission to copy and publish granted, with proper citationand credit

ac! in the "#$0%s, !ni&e ma!er ill agwell started a 'or%easter o& contro(ersy &rom his ) attlelades) column in *oldier o& +ortune maga ine. agwell championed -estern +encing using alarge owie ni&e /# " 2)1 blade as the most e&&ecti(e !ni&e &ighting combination / agwell, 2000 .

3t that time, the nascent )!ni&e &ighting) community was roughly di(ided into two methodologies4 3sian 5artial 3rts and 5ilitary *treet Combati(es. oth &actions reacted to agwell%s position as i& they were the members o& either a uddhist or Pentecostal congregation and someone had stoodup during either o& their respecti(e ser(ices and loudly shouted out the error o& anything less thana Latin 7ridentine 5ass. Compounding his )heresy), agwell recommended the boo! Cold *teel/*tyers, "#82 as a (aluable !ni&e &ighting manual as long as the student )si&ted out the wheat&rom the cha&&).

9 and other tail end aby oomers were a media indoctrinated generation belie(ing any 3sianmartial art or melee weapon was, a priori, superior to any non 3sian method or weapon. -ethought it inconcei(able that &encing /those guys in white suits playing tag with toy swordsteamed up with a hon!ing big hillbilly !ni&e was better than the blade arts and weapons o& Japan,China, and the Philippines. -e swallowed tales o& 'ipponese !atanas cutting through machinegun barrels /:es, we were gullible , so we umped on the tanto bandwagon. 7hose o& us with atleast one &oot in the 5ilitary *treet Combati(es camp /+airbairn, 3pplegate, etc... were doublyannoyed by agwell%s promotion o& Cold *teel. -e regarded its author John *tyers little betterthan his mentor, 3nthony ue boiled down to )!ni&e &ights areclose range, in your &ace, balls to the walls dog &ights where the winner goes to the hospital in a!ni&e cut e=pect to be cut?)

7he epitome o& anti iddle and *tyers te=ts was Prison loody 9ron /originally titled loody 9ronni&e +ighting , written by two &ormer +ederal con(icts, @arold J. Jen!s and 5ichael @. rown.Lea(ing aside some (ery suspect physical training ad(ice and historical commentary, the boo! isa gripping account o& !ni&e as weapon both inside and outside o& prison though there is only onemention o& !ni&e (s. !ni&e combat, the others are !ni&e user (s. unarmed user a&&airs. Jen!s and

rown%s criticism o& &encing based !ni&e &ighting is based on the analogy ust as ri&le handling isnot trans&erable o(er to pistol shooting, so you can%t adapt swordsmanship to the much shorter!ni&e.

9t must be stressed Prison loody 9ron /P 9 ad(ocated the combat use o& !ni(es si= or lessinches long. -hile P 9%s posed photographs show the inept )&encing !ni&e user) / rownA with aB) $) blade length owie, P 9 promoted shorter weapons / uc! &olders, erber 5! 9 . Dnephotograph shows a large owie /the -estern Cutlery model but the te=ts gi(es no indicationhow its use might di&&er &rom smaller !ni(es. 9ndeed, one o& P 9%s historic de&iciencies is theauthors were unaware o& &encing masters /such as Pepe Lulla teaching )saber &encing) with theowie !ni&e in 3nte ellum 'ew Drleans.

5elee weapons are not only damage multipliers they o&ten /but not always are range e=tenders.

3 !ni&e with a 6) blade is only a minor range e=tender, shorter blades correspondingly less so. 9&either an )ice pic!) or )hammer) grip is used rather than a more e=tended grip /P 9 &a(ored ahori ontal )&oil grip) e(en more range is lost. P 9 drew upon Jen!s%s re&orm school e=perience o&)!ni&e &ighting) using the last " E) o& a nail &ile a deep scratching implement with no reachad(antage whatsoe(er. +rom the bac!ground o& using short !ni(es, P 9 >uite rightly critici es!ni&e &ighting stances where the weapon arm is signi&icantly ad(anced &orward o& the non weaponarm. *tances li!e the classic *aber stance or the iddle ) ni&e

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stance was suicidal nonsense.

Conse>uently, P 9 promoted an o&&hand &orward stance /a.!.a. )5ilitary ni&e *tance) , with the&orearm held up as a shield and ready &or grabs and stri!es while holding the !ni&e well bac! outo& range o& an opponent%s weapon or empty hand attac!s /*ee both earlier and later promotionso& this basic stance4 3pplegate "#B6, Pentecost "#$$, 5ac:oung "##0 .

P 9 repeatedly asserted that the longer ranged attac!s o& either iddle or *tyers were easilye(aded and countered the implicit assumption being that such attac!s would be both telegraphedand slow. P 9 and other boo!s /Pentecost "#$$, elly "#$F disdained the iddle and *tyers useo& linear deli(ered edge stri!es /a.!.a. )snap cuts), )snipe cuts), )hac! cuts) as a bridging andcrippling attac!. 7hese authors &elt such stri!es lac!ed any potential to in&lict signi&icant damageespecially to the abo(e ad(ocated )shield arm) the ulna bone could shed such low commitmentstri!es with only a minor &lesh wound in e=change &or the opportunity to sei e the opponent%sweapon arm and bring one%s own !ni&e into play with repeated thrusts and cuts to the opponent%sweapon limb and (ital organs. @ence )ta!e a small cut to deli(er a big cut)

7his premise contained at least two other assumptions4

". 7he damage done by the snap cut to the &orearm is unli!ely to be disabling, let alone lethal.

2. 7he snap cut will not only be telegraphed and slow, it will also remain in &ull e=tension longenough to be counter attac!ed.

+or the many writers who critici ed both iddle and *tyers% )dueling mind set), it is curious theynot only e=pect a &encing stylist to cooperate in using ine&&ecti(e weapons and attac!s but also tobe personally incompetent. P 9 and li!e minded wor!s showed no appreciation o& how longerblades /by ust a &ew inches more length radically changes the conduct o& !ni&e combat.

3nthony uarter combati(es. 3dilettante and an amateur in the original senses o& both words, iddle used his &amily &ortune tolearn and promote -estern armed and unarmed combat methods /especially bo=ing . 3s -illiamCassidy /"##B noted, iddle used &amily connections to get a commission in the G*5C Reser(e,

allowing him to teach 5arine o&&icer candidates both during and a&ter -orld -ar 9. iddle%s coremethod was published in ue byclaiming iddle created a &ine sword &ighting method that was utterly unsuitable &or !ni(es. 5c ayand others utterly ignored the &act

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7here is some anecdotal e(idence that a&ter G* entry into --99, iddle tried and &ailed to adapthis sword bayonet method to shorter military !ni(es / 3 3R%s, 5 E%s . Regardless o& the(eracity o& these rather biased accounts, this is the same period John *tyers was iddle%sprotHgH. -hereas a B01 year old man might ha(e &ailed, the pupil succeeded.

John *tyers oined the G*5C prior to

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it%s deli(ered on target and is already retracting bac! out o& range within .28 to .F seconds. @umanresponse time to percei(e a stimulus and start a muscular response is rarely less than .28seconds it%s (ery unli!ely a counter cut will be success&ul i& the initiating attac!er is at allcompetent. 3s Cold *teel claims, )i& an opponent is open and in range o& a le&t ab, he%s going tobe hit) /p.EE . 3gainst the non telegraphed attac!s *tyers taught, reaction tends to be criticallybehind the response cur(e especially i& the weapon hand has a longer distance to tra(el.

Gnli!e a bo=ers ab, a single !ni&e stri!e can be lethal especially a well directed thrust to the torsoor nec!. 3gain re&erencing Cestari, the *tyers% !ni&e method was to 9LL an enemy in direcircumstances 'D7 to get in(ol(ed in some prolonged duel. 7he !ni&e techni>ue in Cold *teelwas predicated on ta!ing ad(antage o& the wea!nesses o& the most common !ni&e methods &oundon the battle&ield or the street. 9& you enemy tries to guard his !ni&e hand and (ital organs with hiso&& arm, well you cut that arm or hand &ast and hard, and while he%s still in shoc! you stab him inthe torso or nec!, &ast and hard. :ou retract your attac!s as &ast as they are launched, you ne(erlet your enemy close into his e&&ecti(e range you only step in when it%s ob(ious you can deli(erthe &inishing stri!e/s without ris!ing getting s!ewered in return /pp.B2 BF . Proper distance /thin!o& a bo=er who cannot be touched is the !ey to understanding where *tyers was coming &rom/pp.6" 68

Regarding the )cha&&% that agwell said you ha(e to si&t out actually, Cold *teel has (ery littleindigestible material. 7he ) ac! cut% *tyers ad(ocates is marginal at best more li!ely than not i&there%s any bounce bac! &rom a snap cut, the owie%s conca(e bac! edge will hit nothing but airand i& it hits a resistant target the )saber grip) is not the most secure hold /again, Cestari . 5odernteachers are o& the consensus snap cutting is one type o& critter and bac! cutting another you canmi= and match %em while car(ing your way through to the !ill ones but they shouldn%t becombined in a single action. Cold *teel%s lac! o& a dedicated bac! cut /ta!ing &ull ad(antage o& theowie%s conca(e bac! edge capacity to in&lict crippling and lethal wounds is probably thechapter%s greatest )hole).

7he rear approach sentry remo(al using a snap cut /p.60 is optimistic at best unless you areusing a weapon o& better cutting capacity than an issue 3 3R. @ere%s where a traditional si edowie !ni&e comes into play /# " 2) or better and you don%t use a snap cut, with an opportunityli!e that you chop through the spine or downwards into the s!ull. 'o grappling, no &uss /still,

wouldn%t a silenced @ be betterA

9n regards to snap cutting, short and thin blades do ha(e problems in ma!ing e&&ecti(e, lowcommitment cuts / elly, "#$F, agwell 2000 . 9n Cold *teel, *tyers understandably used demo!ni(es with blades o& 3 3R length /cut down )Patton) "#"2 sabers . *tyers% own customRandall only had " 2) o(er the 3 3R%s B) /howe(er, the Randall%s " E) thic!ness ma!es &ordeeper cuts and slashes than the issue weapons F "6) stoc! . *tyers% method K * &or a larger,better balanced weapon perhaps why his pri(ate purchase recommendation are &or a blade B)7D "0) length.*ince he died in "#$F, *tyers didn%t li(e to see the re(i(al o& the large owie as military andci(ilian weapon. Regardless, *tyers% in&luence li(es on, through new teachers and students whosee the gold in a once derided boo! but most o& all it li(es it the (eterans who learned &rom*tyers and PRK 39LK

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8 Cestari, Carl4 -ho is JD@' *7:KR*A; online article, accessed at4http4 p22F.e board.com &attle&ield&...pic9< 28.topic ; 200F, wwwthetruthaboutsel&de&ense.com

6 @einlein, Robert 3.; lory Road /'o(el ; "#6F; Charles *cribners M *ons-hile a wor! o& &iction, the &encing and close combat re&erences in the boo! come &rom the

author%s bac! ground, both as a champion &encer &or the G* 'a(al 3cadamy in the late "#20%sand being trained in close combat by G*5C instructors possible those teained by iddle himsel&

B Jen!s, @arold M 5ichael rown; Prison loody 9ron4 "#B$; Corn(ille Press

$ elly, R.; 'in a ni&e +ighting; "#$F; Paladin Press

# 5ac:oung, 5arc )3nimal); ni(es, ni&e +ighting, and Dther Related @assles4 @ow to *ur(i(ea RK3L ni&e +ight4 "##F; Paladin Press

"0 5c ride, -illiam4 3 Ri&leman -ent to -ar; "#B$ /reprint ; Lancer 5ilitaria

"" 5c ay, Robert4 5odern 3merican +ighting ni(es; "#$6

"2 Pentecost, ue o& Close Combat4 "#82; Paladin PressLi!e N Comment