More Karambit: Advanced Demonstration
This video is narrated, so please turn the sound on your computer to on. Please note that this is a long video and may take some time to load.
Previously, my student, Chris, and I have done some video regarding the karambit. A friend and frequent viewer of this site requested some additional karambit footage, and hopefully he and the others who view this footage are pleased with the result. In this video, Chris was directed to attack with whatever knife techniques and other attacks he saw fit to use. As the video progressed, I encouraged him to use combinations rather than single attacks and to keep moving until he felt that he would have been stopped in real life, due to the nature and severity of the injuries that would have been inflicted if I were using a live karambit rather than a trainer.
There was no prearrangement, rehearsal or choreography in regard to this video. Chris attacked and I reacted. I wished to demonstrate some combinations (multiple movements) with the karambit, some trapping and takedown maneuvers, and some low level attacks/defenses against the opponents legs and base.
Please notice that, at one point, after striking Chriss weapon arm and then his leg, I perform a shoulder roll. This is a very advanced level technique that involves disabling the opponents weapon, pressing down on the arm, then striking the leg and lowering the opponents upper torso due to these motions, and striking the opponents head with a downward kick as the roll is conducted. Notice that I fall to the side of Chris and he moves his head to the side, so that he is not struck and severely injured. I land in hari mau (tiger) posture and am ready to defend, but Chris backs away, and I rise to my feet. With live steel and an asphalt battleground, as they say in television commercials, your mileage may vary. I do not recommend this technique in most situations and almost edited it out of this video, as it is a very specialized technique and I consider it, in general, more show than go when it comes to fighting. Still, it can be a viable technique, and, due to the nature of what transpired during Chris attack, the technique was available and I utilized it.
I would also like to draw attention to the fact that, at two points, Chris and I get into a clinch or upright grappling position. This sometimes happens when opponents move into close range. In the first situation, after I start a takedown and he shifts his weight to defend and resist the takedown, I ask Chris what he would do in this position, and when he replies and tries to take me down, I placed the inside curve and point of the training karambit on the back of his neck and cut down into his upper back. In the second instance, we end up in a mutual bear hug where we both have our weapon arms covered by the opponents arm. I demonstrate two easy methods of breaking the clinch, both by cutting with the karambit.
I hope that you enjoyed this video. Please contact me via email at tuhan@albokalisilat.org if you have any questions regarding this video or other content on this website. Please note, for those of you who wish to see some of the motions depicted at a slower rate of speed, I have slowed down some of the demonstrated techniques to one-half speed and eliminated the soundtrack using the audio visual controls on Apple QuickTime Pro, and this video is available by clicking on the Slow Motion Highlights link below the video window.
Tuhan Holloway, November 2007
