At past Gatherings, I brought two aluminum blades: one for myself, one for my opponent. The primary reason was that i didn't want to be stuck or cut with one of those diamond-shaped kung Fu blades with the nastiest burrs, even on the tip. The secondary reason is that I didn't want my opponent to use a plastic blade. Since this event is largely propagated with pictures (video clips are great, but they seem to have inadequate circulation until very recently), I don't think it's a good idea to showcase the world's premiere weapons fighting event with plastic implements of destruction.
I should probably chime in here. Ironically, I used to use one of those small Nok knives -- the black foam ones with hard plastic inside. I liked that it's very hard to hurt someone with them, but it seems that the very harmlessness of the device may be a liability -- both in terms of immediate effect and of perception, as you note. I remember right after you and I fought in the Fall that Guro Crafty said, "Next time consider an aluminum knife: it's easier to see." (Or words to that effect, I apologize for any misquotation.) I realize now that I inadvertently created just the situation you strive to avoid; and I apologize for that.
In any case, our fight did get me thinking about the desirability of the large aluminum trainers; and I ordered one. (Thanks to Bob Burgee -- who rushed me a replacement days before the Tribal when the original was lost in transit.) When I fought Beowful, we inspected one another's weapons (it was a knife fight), and he had a comparable aluminum trainer. Long story short, we both took some damage as a result of engaging in a fairly close, aggressive way. This was something I did on purpose because I was interested in understanding the engagement parameters better. The point of this story is that I took one stab to the armpit which did, in fact, puncture me fairly well. (It was a good, clean stab -- thank you, Beowulf.) And in return, I delivered a pretty hard thrust to his ribs around his heart. Fortunately, we're both fine. I needed four stitches, and decided to avoid grappling or clinching contact for the rest of the day. Beowulf thought at one point he might have cracked his ribs but tells me now it's just muscular bruising. That's good news.
The important point I want to make is that above and beyond anything else, I think the main factor in what can be responsibly used is going to be the people involved -- and the ability to find the line within the code, 'friends at the end of the day'. I am still new to these rules of engagement and have only had a few knife fights, so I am hardly an expert. The question is what level of restraint is implied by using the aluminum trainers. I feel confident that a relatively 'sporting' style of engagement can work with the trainers. In that case, both parties work to control distance in such a way that any cuts/thrusts are relatively controlled. I think that style of what Guro Crafty calls 'sport knife dueling' works well with the aluminum.
What I'm not sure about is what happens if one or both parties wants to change the mindset to simulate something different, more primal. Well, yes, I am sure: I think there's an injury risk which *might* be too great. I brought the new knife in order to explore that boundary and with the intention of trying to understand how more 'realistic' contact could be used to sharpen things further. It all worked out well, but I did find what is -- for me -- the edge from which I would want to back down. I'm really glad I *didn't* crack Beowulf's rib, or worse. And I'm really glad his thrust didn't go just a little deeper, or hit in a slightly different spot. We were lucky, but I believe some of the 'luck' was that even while increasing the pressure and intensity -- there was no intent to harm: it was still a 'conversation' between friends.
I'm not sure yet what this means for the choices I will make in the future. I think it means I won't try to replicate that situation in quite the same way. I think maybe it means that in addition to agreeing on weapons, perhaps I need to engage in more specific discussion and negotiation of the parameters implied by the weapons chosen. Perhaps this discussion can catalyze a more general discussion of *that* topic. For example, later that day Gong Fu and I had spear vs sword fight -- in which we agreed to respect the point of his staff as a speartip, and the edge of my wooden bokken as a blade. Even though it was *not* 'harder' contact, I felt that it did promote 'higher consciousness' within the context of what a Gathering represents.
I still want to explore the more aggressive ranges of the knife. It is something I do not understand well enough yet. But maybe for that to work it will be necessary to agree to work with the safer foam-covered knives. By the same token, given that the 'hidden knife' is generally used as a weapon of last resort to combat clinching or grappling, I am not sure whether it's realistically possible to expect to engage in that situation accurately even with the thick aluminum trainers. There's something valuable about the ambiguity, but the ambiguity also creates danger because there's not a commonly agreed upon meaning to the presence of the knife. We don't want to engage in a point-sparring or rules-controlled mentality, but maybe we need more specific agreement about what each weapon 'means' in any given fight.
This is getting long, so I will end here. I don't know the right answer but thought my experience of the situation seemed relevant in terms of focusing some of the many complex issues I see involved here. Beause this is all still quite new to me, I am thinking it through for the first time. Even if the answers that would clear up my confusion are already well-known, it might be useful to discuss them again. That might help the 'wisdom of the tribe' to expand into greater specificity in terms of how the knife can be used productively and *somewhat* safely.
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