I’ve been trying to do as much in the way of edged weapons study as I can this year. With a few DVDs that I’ve seen, a seminar and some past FMA experience I’ve been searching through what I felt was the nuts and bolts of what fit in with my mindset and training style.
While I had decided on carrying fixed blade some time ago after looking at what would be worked on in the class – I registered. Deployment would be your main difference. I just wanted to mention this because my focus was on the techniques, not too much on the deployment (though I took notes throughout the entire class).
The Class
The class started with Chris Fry introducing himself and his assistant Joel. Chris stated that he’s just a regular guy who takes this stuff seriously. He explained his training in various martial arts and how that led into his current training program (please see www.mdtstraining.com for more about Chris and what he offers). Joel was noted as having been assisting Chris for years, it showed.
I personally don’t believe that I have to be taking a class from someone who has gone to war or was previously an officer, so this was A-OK with me to start the class off with.
Chris wanted to express that he wasn’t giving us techniques that would make us “knifefighters.” This was a familiarization course on edged, impact and improvised weapons with a “point driven” philosophy (as opposed to edge driven). Chris stated that he prefers point driven because it can work with tools that aren’t knives but have a point – a ballpoint pen, a kuboton, a stick, a screwdriver.
With that in mind we got further into the discussion. Chris explained that there are three common elements in any kind of fight.
1. Fear
2. Stress
3. Confusion
Criminals rely on these to complete the task they want to complete. The fact that criminals do indeed train and have their own levels of awareness was noted as well. A good quote from Chris during this portion was “a criminal not in jail is either really good at what he does or just hasn’t been caught yet.”
The topic of different upbringings was raised as well. If you grew up in a bad area and are used to fighting and your life itself was a fight, or you had a “good” life; who has the advantage in a fight? This is why the “good guys” need that extra training and proper mindset. Criminals can be smart and will create any advantage they can.
Every instructor has their take on what mindset is, so I like to take notes on them. Chris’ explanation on mindset:
What makes you ready?
• Awareness
o Avoid task fixation in public
Do you need to be talking on your phone at that point in time?
Do you need to be texting right now?
Do you need to balance your checkbook in the car?
o Avoid causing visual deprivation (not being able to see something)
Avoid obstacles
Use the outside of rooms rather than going down the center
• Willingness
o Are you willing to do what it takes to protect yourself/your loved ones?
• Preparation/Training
o Do you have the skills necessary to prevail?
With that out of the way, a basic guideline for the use of force was reviewed. This wasn’t meant to be an in depth look at the law (he’s not a lawyer, and noted such). Just basic guidelines.
• Yourself or another innocent you know if is in fear of death or grievous injury.
• Three Main Factors
o Does the attacker have the ability to do you harm
12 year old?
12 year old with a baseball bat?
Three 12 year olds with baseball bats?
Big bad dude etc
My favorite from the class – “A gang of Dwarves”
o Does the attacker(s) have the opportunity to harm you.
This mostly comes down to distance and what weapons are at play
o Does the attacker(s) show intent to harm you?
Verbal threats?
Physical Queues?
Some of the scenarios that were discussed were interesting – when to get involved or not and what’s generally a safer path to take.
Knife Selection
The next topic was discussion on various features that make for a beneficial folding knife – and the folding knife’s disadvantages to fixed blades.
A folding knife should have the following considerations made to it: Should be ambidextrous, has an optimal blade design, a plain edge, a clip that allows tip up, and a good handle material. Let’s break each one of those down
Ambidextrous:
The knife should be able to be opened with either hand. Examples were shown where the thumb-stud was only on one side which made opening under pressure extremely difficult (almost impossible).
Blade Design
We went over bowie/drop point designs, tanto designs and triangular/dagger style designs. Discussion was made that triangular blades offered the optimal design for the purposes of stopping your attacker.
Plain Edge
Serrations can catch on clothing, serrations can also promot somewhat better coagulation of blood inside a wound. We don’t want that when we’re trying to stop an attacker.
Clip
The clip should be dull/dark – Chris showed us a polished clip vs a dulled/black clip from across the room, the difference was obvious. The clip orientation should allow tip up carry.
Handle Material
Something that’s grippy like G10, Micarta, something with scallops or grooves/stippling etc that allows a strong grip.
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Locking mechanisms were discussed. Chris noted that frame and liner lock and piston locks were preferred over lockback because some grips can cause a lockback to collapse.
We then discussed the methodology of accessing a folder with some simple drills.
Chris uses the acronym S.T.A.B for deployment of a folder.
• Slap the pocket to index the knife
• Tuck the thumb
• Access the knife
• Brace against the hip and deploy
How clip orientation alters deployment was discussed.
We did some drills in class that highlighted these techniques and showed why fixed blades excel over folders. I don’t need to spell out each drill for the purpose of a review – you need to take the class to experience them first hand, I would be doing them a disservice by trying to put them into words.
We really got physical with the foam covered trainers. My training partner and I were going pretty hard because that’s what we’re used to. Chris was great at taking our (My partner any my) background and giving us pointers to techniques we already understand to accelerate our learning. This was great, when we were doing close in work we didn’t need to learn what a clinch was or what an over/underhook so we were able to tweak in some parries and additional movement.
At the end of the class Chris asked us all honestly what we liked and what we didn’t like. This is great for an instructor to do. He made sure to note that this is a way, and not THE way to do it.
I would GLADLY take more classes with MDTS based on this. I think that this class spoke to me more with what I train than the Sayoc class did. This isn’t to say the sayoc class wasn’t good – just that this class fit me and my training model better personally. Pieces of a puzzle coming together, each piece serving it’s purpose.
THANKS CHRIS!