Martial Blade Concepts
A Crash Course In Defensive Knife Tactics
By Michael D. Janich - 2006 - 60 Minutes - DVD
Available From Paladin Press

Michael Janich has produced numerous books, DVDs, and magazine articles on the subject of edged weapons over the years and I for one have always enjoyed his presentation, knowledge, and skill.  His latest DVD is a "fast start" prequel to his full Martial Blade Craft (MBC) program, and here he sets the ground work for someone who wants to learn effective, realistic, and most importantly court-defendable knife skills at home.

By court-defendable, I mean that legal use of force is stressed.  The initial targets are on the limbs and there are intentionally no attacks made to vital organs of the torso, to the neck, or to the head.  This is for both tactical reasons of stopping (as opposed to de-animating) the opponent as well as for avoiding the murderous overkill espoused in some blade systems.  While such "kill em all" tactics might have had a place historically or in certain military applications, they do not play well in contemporary civilian society!

While it must be understood that any use of the knife today will likely bring with it legal hassles and that the cutting the limbs is not a panacea in that regard, it is part of a reasoned strategy in using deadly force and Mr. Janich is commended for teaching how to use the knife in its highest form - the way of preserving and not needlessly taking life.

Before getting underway, Mike shows a number of cuts on a "meat arm" with a small folding knife.  This is done not for shock value, but to discuss the importance of understanding exactly what your knife is capable of doing through the practice of test cutting.  (If you've never done it, test cutting will really give you a lot to think about as far as what you carry and what you train to do with it.  The pocket folder is not a stick or sword.)

After introducing the muscular targets on the arm and leg he advocates to stop the opponent from trying to hurt you, he then teaches 5 basic angles of attack and defensive counters for each.  Finally, he combines these basics into a flow drill with variations so students can practice give and take.

The core of the material will be very familiar to any Filipino martial artist.  It is often called "Crossada Style" or "Banda y Banda Style" depending who you train with with some elements of hubud or knife-trapping involved.  As with many aspects of the FMA, when you dive into one technique (in this case Crossada) it can become a whole fighting method as you will see here.

All the knife work on the DVD is shown in the forward grip but ALL of the sets shown will work exactly the same in a reverse grip as well.  Because he's trying to keep things simple here Mr. Janich never mentions this on the DVD but do try it at home as it allows you get double duty out of your training sets.

Considering this is designed as a crash-course "intro" DVD, I have to hand it to Mike Janich for packing a lot of information and practical training drills into an hour!  It will serve the student well as a launching platform to work from, as was indeed its goal.  I recommend this DVD highly for anyone looking to get a good start with the blade arts and for more advanced players as a reminder of the power of the basics!

Martial Blade Concepts Is Available From Paladin Press