KNIFE VS. STICK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z6_etc6Sig&feature=related

What we were talking about, grip. He drops the knife at one point.
Maija any suggestions for grip retention with weapons, please?

Blackops -
Humans have been working on grip retention for centuries, probably millenia, and still are!
The Filipinos have some pretty sophisticated designs for weapon handles including wrapping them in human hair, and shaping the handles to aid in retention. Honestly it's a big subject! Impact, sweat and blood are perennial problems.
For a general response I'd say keeping hold of your weapon depends on 1)The design of the handle ... my teacher customized EVERY blade he owned to fit his hand. 2) How you use the weapon when attacking (to avoid losing grip on contact). 3) Avoiding having the opponent knock it out of your hand (understanding that your weapon and the hand that holds it are a target to be protected).
Hope that helps

I was wondering if you noted any gains with grip strenght through your arnis work, or any particular exercises. I have a weak grip, not just knives, in training, they are flying off in the corner every five minutes, but with holding clothing or people. very easy to peel my hands off. 10 years ago i had a pull-up habit. did about 100 a day for a few years, great shoulders , back arms chest & stomach but cant remeber being particularly strong withmy grip.

Was wondering how quickly smashing a dummy with a heavy stick would build them up. Which was why i posted the slo-mo vid in the exercise thread.

Blakops, here's a vid from a BJJ guy about simple (and cheap) ways to work your grip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfzTHMOqUSc&feature=channel

Blackops -
How ever good your grip strength is, a stick or blade can be used as a lever, and the laws of physics are not easy to overcome. In fact, sometimes the tighter you grip, the more likely it is that you might lose it due to a lack of flexibility.
Obviously if you practice with 30 inch, Dog Brother sized sticks, and spend time hitting tyres, you need and will get over time, decent a grip, but if you watch their fights, I posted a compilation recently, they lose sticks all the time too.
There could be many reasons the weapon is flying out of your hand during training. As I said, it is actually a big subject that encompasses range, timing, angle, type of strike, how you hold the weapon, how you move your grip around the weapon, where you hold the weapon .... I could go on
Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

Karunamama wrote:

Blakops, here's a vid from a BJJ guy about simple (and cheap) ways to work your grip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfzTHMOqUSc&feature=channel

Before i watch this is it going to be smutty?

No, it isnt.

Some good ideas though. Used to use grips years ago. I thought them a waste of money as they tend to snap.

Thanks Karen.

Ok Maija. thankyou. Love the way you talk to me though, like an inbred retarded cousin, is it the Westcountry giving me away.

Thankyou for all your suggestions, perhaps it is simply my big six fingered hands.

Yikes Backops! Do I come across like that??? Not my intention - just trying to be clear!
Probably too much time spent explaining things to the mouth breathers on the jobsite today

No Maija. I was merely joking.

I realize that at times my questions my appear overly simple & a little idiotic.

I have no experience with weapons other than fighting in mock sword fights as a kid and a little ninjutsu. I used to take my girlfriends son, and so when thinking about it, I reasoned that retention must be of vital importance in any weapon bearing art & you are the most qualified person I know on that subject. The answers you have provided have all been excellent

I do have large long hands, that may be part of the issue. I may look at making some custom sticks to fit my grip from some hard wood branches. Lots of stormy winds in the UK recently. Plenty of branches lying about. I still fancy this tyre idea.

Do you tend to practise forms or solid impact against a target?

Are you still training with anyone or do you now teach?

On your little flashlight, did you read Mick C's article on carry of that nature & what did you think?

Sorry for all the questions.

Ah, I miss the Philippines when I see videos like this

Re: grip. Mine is getting worse and worse over the past few months. Seems that all the abuse of punching things that weren't meant to be punched as a teenager has caught up with me. Plus the weights. My hands ache for longer than the muscle group I worked. Wake up every morning with big-time achey hands. I have to massage them throughout the day. Esp the right one.

Not alot of time ..
Blackops - Great idea to make your own handles. Really, make something that fits your hand. Perhaps when I have more time I'll take some pictures of the handles my teacher fabricated. Nothing expensive, sometimes he used sawdust and superglue!!

What else ... No forms, all partner practice. Not so much hard impact stuff on targets (mostly sword), but some.
Yes I do teach - both Bagua Zhang and Eskrima.
Mick C's article on Improvised weapons is great, as are pretty much every other one I've read.

Sharif: I have a great Ji Ben Gong/ Tendon stretching set I do at least twice a week to keep my hands working well. I've had chronic tendonitis from work, to the extend I couldn't pick up the kettle!! Since then I've worked out a way to use my hands and body, and found that if I do the exercises my hands work well.

Thank you for the reply Maija.

Sharif, did you used to do the same thing I did & punch a lot of walls? Comes back to haunt us mate. At least I will have the wit to stop my son from developing that dumb habit.

A few things about grip:

1) When establishing your grip on something, always start by wrapping your little (pinky) first and then just progress
up the various fingers finishing with the thumb, seems silly but just try it.

2. Next for Blackops, if your talking about snapping those plastic gripper things you may want to look into "Captains of
Crush" grip trainers. They are more expensive but the original trainer level started around 100 lbs to close it working
up to the number four which closed at around 325 lbs of pressure plus they are damn near indestructible.

3. If you're interested in serious grip training just check out John Brokfield on any search engine. (I can't recommend
thick handle kettlebell work enough).

4. If you have pain from your grip try working the antagonistic muscles and tendons and light work. You can do this by
taking a thick rubber band and setting it on a flat surface, placing yor fingertip and thumb tip inside the band, and
opening the fingers out against resistance. Another method is manipulatiing a coin or washer through your extended
fingers like a magician (besides helping the hand it just plain looks cool to do ).

I see Maija has also brought up tendon stretching as well.

Keep safe and train hard/smart, Mark H

Blakops wrote:

Sharif, did you used to do the same thing I did & punch a lot of walls? Comes back to haunt us mate. At least I will have the wit to stop my son from developing that dumb habit.

That's exactly it. Doors too. Except that my hand would go straight through those. Man, what an idiot I was

Maija, that sounds interesting. Could be tendinitis from gripping the weights rather than arthritis from punching stuff. Maybe stretching the tendons would be more beneficial than massaging the muscles...