Buckle up as we wade
into a world of Plains Warrior tactics that boggle the senses with its viciousness
and double befuddle the mind when one ponders how much pragmatic thought was
placed in these brutal applications.
[First:
No freebie video of this material—EVER. Its easy assimilation and blind-sided
aspect of use make it less than ideal for immoral consumption.
We do cover the details
of application on RAW 232/Black Box Volume 20 where the proof of interest
is backed with money-where-the-mouth is action and even then there is a bit of “Review
of Purchaser” indulged in by the Old Man.
Meaning, on some of
the more vicious volumes of Black Box, Yours Truly does a wee dive into the
profile of the purchaser. If anything strikes the Old Man as a bit “off” to my idiosyncratic
aesthetics there is a prompt refund with a “Thanks for your interest but not
today” message.
This practice may be
bad for business but it’s good for my soul.]
Back to Knife
Ambushing…
In the Plains and
Eastern Woodland tradition there was a premium placed upon, what early settlers
called “skulking,” that is, sneaky tactics.
This low-opinion had a
tinge of “sour grapes” to it as we had a population of assumed “savages” with
stone-age weaponry and lesser-numbers time-and-again turning the tide of larger
and better armed forces.
The sour-grapes opinion
of “skulking” would go on to become sweet wine and a large part of the adopted tactics
of Special Warfare Operations groups the world over.
Amongst these tactics
were “setting traps,” “melt aways,” and the occasional “touching.” [We will explore
all of these in detail another day, particularly an art the Siksika called namachkani,
which is a particularly reckless and bold form of firearm disarming—both long
gun and sidearms—again, much more on this later.]
Deliberate
Recklessness
The honor culture of
many indigenous warrior societies asks [and in some cases demands] that the
Warrior engage deep in enemy territory with a stripped-down arsenal—and in some
cases completely stripped—some solo raids were conducted wearing only breechclout
or less.
These deliberate reckless
raids would gauge the Warrior’s bravery by how causally armed there were.
Firearms were often left
behind, if it was a war lance culture, shorter lances were used, in most cases
a breech clouted Warrior would enter enemy territory with nothing more than a
knife or a tomahawk, and in some cases nothing.
The Proof of the
Bravery was what could be accomplished with little to nothing.
Silence
Not all deliberate
recklessness was about bodily harm, many tribes, [my adopted Comanche in particular]
made it a point of pride to steal horses from right under the very nose of the owner.
There are myriad accounts of horses stolen from just outside Sibley tents or in
some cases reins cut from a cavalryman’s ankle while he slept.
We must ponder the silent-skill
craft that goes into getting that close to an enemy and approaching and taking
a large animal not known for silence.
That leads us to the
fact that a large part of “skulking” and ambushing is the skill of “maho’ikat’u”
that is “silent stalking.” An entire school of movement that inculcates silent
or whisper-quiet movement.
[We will not delve
into “maho’ikat’u” here just the end result of the knife-tactic, but we must never
forget the “maho’ikat’u” skill itself is what allowed the ambush tactics to be
applied in the first place.
The “maho’ikat’u”
arsenal and drills are delineated in The Suakhet’u Program.]
The Off-Hand
is Key
When one thinks of
knife tactics there is a tendency to focus on the blade itself or the thrusting
tip.
What we find in Nahu’u Makamu’kar’u is the vital importance of
The Off-Hand.
The idea was that the technology
of the blade will take care of itself, that is the edge will cut, the tip will
pierce, whereas the off-hand is what decides what and where the cut or thrust
will be applied.
A mere “sneak-up” grip-and-rip
mentality is often the assumption, but in Nahu’u Makamu’kar’u, reality
is addressed. Long experience of hunting without firearms and lessons learned
in ambushing itself educate that a surprised animal [human or otherwise] still
has some movement as that initial contact is made before the slice or thrust
can be made.
Poor placement of the
off-hand can result in loss of “animal-control” or stabbing or slicing one’s
own hand in that chaotic final second.
Nahu’u Makamu’kar’u identifies Five Off-Hand Entries that “ride
the surprise” and dictate what thrust or slice will be used and where.
None of these are mere
“reach and control” there is always a striking/smearing aspect to them.
Mi’its’u
Mit’its’u is a
one-to-one translation for “near” but in Nahu’u Makamu’kar’u is
transforms into the use of body-to-body control that acts as the “third limb”
of the ambush—The Off-Hand and the knife itself being the other two limbs of
the three-pronged ambush attack.
Ku[?]e
The bracketed “?”
informs that the following syllable rises in pitch.
Ku[?]e, essentially “spinner”
refers to the overall torquing aspect of the knife-ambush.
Ku[?]e takes into
account…
·
The
pivoting that helps steal base during the final moments of the surprise.
·
Prepares shielding
if an allied attack post ambush is likely.
·
And, last
but not least, takes into account the brutally pragmatic aspect of controlling
or directing arterial spray so that one does not blind the self and perhaps
even uses the plasma-jet as an aid vs. the possible allied attack.
Though we delved into
strategy over tactics here, the savvy between-the-lines reader sees that there
is far more than meets the eye to this aspect of Warriorhood that was never meant
to be seen coming.
[For access to Nahu’u Makamu’kar’u drills see RAW 232/Black Box 20 and the Black Box Subscription Service.]
Or our brand-spankin’ new podcast The Rough and Tumble Raconteur
available on all platforms.
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