When one thinks
knife-fighting, or tomahawk fighting, usually the mind drifts to a simulacrum
of tit-for-tat sword adaptation or cobbled together “sets” purporting to be “This
was how it was done, chilluns.”
This kinda-sorta-but-not-really-fencing
misses the mark by far.
This thinking is weapon-before-the-horse
territory.
By that I mean, we
often become weapon-focused, we tunnel on the implement and often fail to see that
in the beginning of man’s adoption of any tool there was an intent, a problem
to be solved and the tool was developed to resolve this problem or exercise
this intent.
That is, “I need to
accomplish so-and-so task, how can I effectively do so with what is at hand?”
Rather than, “I
have this tool in hand, I can do this with it, and I can do that with it, and
if I flip it this way, I can do this with it” in endless drum majorette
iterations.
A Plains
Example of Beyond the Edge
Let us now look to an
eyewitness account of a Lakota buffalo hunt witnessed by Francis Parkman during
his tour across the Plains.
[Be advised, the
extract is of its time and his use of descriptors no longer palatable.]
“Many of the
Indians rode at full gallop toward the spot. We followed at a more moderate
pace, and soon saw the bull lying dead on the side of the hill. The Indians
were gathered around him, and several knives were already at work. These little
instruments were plied with such wonderful address that the twisted sinews were
cut apart, the ponderous bones fell asunder as if by magic, and in a moment the
vast carcass was reduced to a heap of bloody ruins. The surrounding group of
savages offered no very attractive spectacle to a civilized eye. Some were
cracking the huge thigh-bones and devouring the marrow within; others were
cutting away pieces of the liver and other approved morsels, and swallowing
them on the spot with the appetite of wolves. The faces of most of them,
besmeared with blood from ear to ear, looked grim and horrible enough. My
friend the White Shield proffered me a marrowbone, so skillfully laid open that
all the rich substance within was exposed to view at once.”
I call your attention
to the phrase “several knives were already at work. These little instruments
were plied with such wonderful address that the twisted sinews were cut apart,
the ponderous bones fell asunder as if by magic, and in a moment the vast
carcass was reduced to a heap of bloody ruins.”
This telling
observation of facile use of “little instruments” calls attention to the fact
that often Plains inhabitants used either “made knives” [that is, blades of
stone or bone of cast-off iron] or “trade knives” that is knives bartered for
from Anglos going west.
These blades were
considered subpar and only suitable for trade with, again Parkman’s words,
“savages.”
Parkman’s account, and
many many others echo his observation, that much facile ability is made with
blades considered “not up to snuff.
He witnessed, skill of
use that was beyond the technology of the edge in hand. An intellect that saw
how to dice, slice, sever, dissect etc. An intelligence more about what
the blade will be applied to than the technology in hand.
Parkman had seen able
long hunters with their usual three-knife rig, that is belt knife, leg-knife
and patch knife.
He had seen skilled
men perform the same field dressing of buffalo with so-called better tools.
Those of what some
would later call the “Chicago way” of skilled butchery still tout the ability
and speed of these tribes with lesser tools.
What we witness with
Plains Knife Work is akin to the complete and utter creativity and utility that
was put into the buffalo itself.
You take the resource
you have [the plains knife] and find every possible manifestation of use, even
with what in many cases would be considered a “lesser tool.”
Plains knife use is
less about the tool itself, than it is about the pragmatic know-how of just
where to insert, slice, hack, tear, approach, grip-flip, heel-back, thumb-down,
twist, tuck, and all the other subtle ways of making full and complete use of a
single knife.
And so little of that
use is reflective of the mano y mano dueling approach transported with a
Toledo steel mindset.
Necessity, creativity
and survival forged this approach.
Necessity, creativity
and survival created an astonishing fount of bladed wisdom.
These tactics were
designed to work with lesser blades, and thusly work beautifully with our
modern cutlery.
It calls to mind
Seneca’s observation:
“He is the great
man who uses the earthenware dishes as if they were silver and he is equally
great if uses silver as if it were earthenware.”
Plains knifework is
silver-plated earthenware and well worth resurrecting.
South of
the Border Beyond the Edge
Knife fighting styles
differed according to broad geographic region, a point we have already digressed
upon. North of the Border we have indigenous tribes wielding subpar blades with
facile ability.
South of the Border we
see a rise in blade quality, but we still see the same appreciation for the what
and how of where the blade is to be applied.
The Southern Knife
vocabulary for thrusts, slices, hacks, butts et cetera is mirrored by an
equally deep vocabulary for what is to be thrusted into, sliced, hacked,
butted et cetera.
Some of this vocabulary
echoed into the matador tradition well into the 1940s.
A few examples…
Pinchazo-An ineffectual thrust.
Pinchazo
soltando—A thrust that strikes
bone and falls to the ground.
Or the worst insult of
all---Pistola! Which implies that the knife-wielder is so inept that
they would be better off killing with a firearm than a blade.
‘Hawks
& Axes Beyond the Edge
This beyond the edge
wisdom is found in the swinging edge as well, be that a tomahawk, a boarding
ax, a broad ax, or a battle-axe.
We have already
belabored how any knowledgeable ax wielder worth their salt “hangs” their ax
and tests it with a single line of twine to truly know the “set.”
These tests are done
with any new swinging implement to get maximum application out of it.
[See our DVD Battle
Axe Secrets for details.]
Beyond the
Edge: “Seeing” Limbs
Just as earlier
cultures had at least rudimentary butchery skills, that allowed for basic knowledge
of where to joint, separate, divide and sunder a formerly living carcass…
Lumberjacks, woodsmen,
hell, any homesteader who had to cook or keep warm knew how to see a tree.
Thought
Experiment: If I asked you to
approach two trees to chop both down, limb them for me, then section them for
the stove.
One tree
is a conifer the other deciduous, would your tactics change?
When I ask most this
question, a trap is sensed so the wary is answer is “Maybe.”
If I hadn’t asked
about tactics most would just chop willy-nilly at both trees with no difference
in approach.
That same question asked
of a frontier woodsman would be answered, “Why, of course, there’s a
difference. You callin’ me a Fool!”
And what would this
differing strategy be, you may ask.
Beyond the
Edge: Reaction Wood
Protruding limbs
require bolstering to remain in fixed positions.
Most limbs do not grow
willow like and sag, most are the fixed sturdy limbs of tree climbing fun.
Conifers and deciduous/broadleaf
trees use two different strategies to support limbs.
There are only two
ways for trees to approach this engineering feat…
One-They can bolster more support material above
the branch, that is pulling the branch upward—called Tension Wood in arbor
science.
Two—They can deposit more structure beneath the
branch and push it into a fixed position—this is called Compression Wood.
Broadleaf trees use a
Tension Wood strategy and Conifers a Compression Wood strategy.
On our next forest
walk we can recognize these strategies in a heartbeat by noticing the slight
bulges above or below branches where they join the trunk.
Our wise ax swingers
and limbers do not need the extra work of cutting through thicker more
bolstered wood fibers so when approaching a broadleaf they see it as a below the
branch approach [away from the tension bulge] and above the limb strategy for
the conifer.
The same reading of trees
applies when hacking though a jungle, blazing a trail—read the bulges and swing
accordingly.
Beyond the
Edge
Be it wielding knife,
ax, ‘’hawk or any other bladed implement, those before us, before the era of
weapon-tunnelling possessed many complementary skills that allowed them to bring
to bear more wisdom to the tool in hand.
Butchering strategies
are copious. Wood-Reading strategies equally so.
The eyes that can read
these terrains, both are living tissues after all, can better wield the tool in
hand.
Be that to build a
fire, to joint a deer, or to unlimb an opponent Viking style.
There is far more
beyond the edge than there is in the edge itself.
For more on Old School Edge Work, see The Black Box Volumes—this month features Pirate Boarding Ax Tactics.]
[For more Rough& Tumble
history, Indigenous Ability hacks, and for pragmatic applications of old school
tactics historically accurate and viciously verified see our RAW/Black Box Subscription Service.]
Or our brand-spankin’ new podcast The Rough and Tumble Raconteur
available on all platforms.
Comments
Post a Comment