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Johnny-at-the-Jump: Reverse Grip Knife Fighting by Mark Hatmaker

 


[Part of The Plains Knife Fighting Series. Other currently available volumes are Comanche Knife Ambush & Dixie Knife Games.]

The belt-knife of the early American Frontier, circa 1700-1830s was a staple of the dense Eastern Forests that stretched from the length of the Appalachians and Westward through the Ohio River valley.

The belt knife was worn by settlers, indigenous peoples of many tribes and the legendary “Long Hunters” from where we draw such a stock of men as Daniel Boone and Simon Girty.

Before the commonality of a holstered revolver, we saw an equipage that was usually a carried Kentucky or Pennsylvania rifle, shot and powder horns on shoulder-slings, and a belt from which usually hung a tucked tomahawk on the strong side and a sheathed knife on the offhand side.

Tomahawks and knives were both tools and weapons; they were typically used singly and less common in tandem—meaning drawing both at the same time, but it could and did occur in close-quarters melee or honor building coup tactics.

With that in mind, the strong-side tomahawk was belted to make ease of draw for the strong-side [that is a right-side hang for a right-sided man] and the belt knife sheathed on the left side with an oft tilted scabbard for ease of access for a right hand cross-draw.

Being an assumed strong-handed/right-handed weapon the knife within sheath was most often scabbard with edge forward and spine to the rear.

This placement allowed the strong hand draw to pull blade with edge to knuckles forward and spine to rear, that is, combat ready, tool-use ready.

In cases of an off-hand draw, that is, a right-handed man drawing with his left—the left hand would hit the handle with a reverse-grip and the draw would reveal blade down with edge still to the fore and spine still to the rear.

An off-hand draw was not the preference, but circumstances dictate tactics.

An off-hand draw forces a reverse-grip strategy under the following circumstances-

·        Reverse-Grip off-hand use until a hand-off can be managed [aka “shifty” tactics.]

·        The longer ranged tomahawk would be the primary weapon and if there was a loss or a “bone bury” the knife hand is “forced.”

·        Or merely a need or desire to go twin-weaponed from a dual draw.

This forced off-hand draw at speed has gone by many names but one that struck from old journal accounts was “Johnny-at-the-Jump.”

A colloquialism referring to an offhand draw that left the scabbard immediately into an attack.

To draw and brandish the blade WAS NOT and IS NOT Johnny-at-the-Jump.

In Johnny-at-the-Jump there is no “presentation,” no “squaring off.”

The tactical operation order is…

1.     Hand to handle.

2.     Draw

3.     Directly into attack

4.     Immediately into a second [and sometimes a third] attack and tactical change.

5.     Get “shifty,” exit, or proceed to the next assailant in the melee.

The Johnny-at-the-Jump Course Offers the Following…

·        “The 8 Steps” [There is nothing static here—movement on the draw is vital.]

·        The 9 Lateral Slashes

·        The 8 Turn-Overs

·        Why you NEVER “cap” on the draw but…

·        The vital importance of capping once knife leaves the sheath.

·        The 9 Finishing Thrusts

·        CQB “Puncheon & Peg” Tactics

·        2 versions of the Tight Press

·        Incidental “Un-Capped” Picking

·        A Combination Drill Template that allows you to mix-and match the “Second & Third Taps” of the Draw Combination.

·        This Template allows for an approximate 100+ Mix & Match Options

·        I advise as you work thru the template settle on what feels natural to your hand and how it flows in your “8 Steps.”

Ready to grab some of that Simon Girty Iroquois Confederacy grittiness?

View or Purchase Here.

Resources for Livin’ the Warrior Life

The Black Box Store

https://www.extremeselfprotection.com/

The Rough ‘n’ Tumble Raconteur Podcast

https://anchor.fm/mark-hatmaker

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