Getting Back In The Swing... Plus a "Knife Nut" Update

Still recovering from Mom's passing (as well as the death of a former teacher and local music icon, and a family friend over in Kenya)-- March has indeed "Come in like a Lion," but so far, no lamb. Then again, Easter is on the way (so is Spring, I hear, but don't tell any Buffalonians; it's been snowing and in the 20's for weeks). I've been trying to struggle through what some of our African friends call "dead body business," as well as dealing with slow recovery from injury, working a new job, and the Carb-Night Solution diet/life-style/what-have-you taking a bit longer than I had hoped to produce the physique I'm going for... All this stuff has slowed down my martial arts progress as well as overall training, but I decided enough is enough. I got back into the gym yesterday after several weeks off, and did some calisthenics, biking, light cardio, weight training, a little blade work with my saber, some bag rounds, and weapon and empty hand drills and kata for MA practice. It felt great (once I forced myself to kick-start my body into workout mode again). I missed Judo and fencing class this week, but I'm determined to get back into a proper rhythm from now on, even if I have to modify my schedule a bit and not put as much time into training as I'd like to right now. I've had to drop Systema class for the time being, due to my new night job and other commitments.

Saturday night was my fourth or fifth carb night. I've lost track at this point, but I really do look forward to it, and so do my kids. They are celebrating along with me, as they know that when Saturday night rolls along, we are going to get down with some goodies. My nine year old daughter has been waking up on Saturday morning and exclaiming loudly-- "Yay!! It's Carb Night!!" I went to the store and picked-up some good stuff, and I personally ingested: 5 Hostess Ho-Ho's, 2 chocolate chip cookies (home made, LARGE cookies), a plate of rice with butter and salt, two hamburgers (with hand-selected rolls this time!), 2 glasses of Coke, a small bowl of raspberries and blackberries, a large bowl of raspberries, blackberries and strawberries, 3 slices of cinnamon-raisin toast with butter, 7 saltine crackers, a small (side-salad size) bowl of Honeycomb cereal (with regular milk), plus my usual Whey protein shake and a couple of glasses of diet Snapple half & half (which I thought was regular/sugar-filled when I bought it...). I'm really digging carb night, and today I didn't even feel any real let-down/crash, although that may be simply because I had the opportunity to just lay around (mostly) today. It's getting easier to get right back on the low-carb diet the next day as well. I can tell that the program is working by my body shape. I did get on the scale the other day (even though I've been warned not to), and I noted that I lost five pounds. Only five, but it was fat, not muscle, so things are going in the right direction sloooowwly but surely. Onward and upward...

I've been checking my site stats, and it seems a large portion of my (relatively tiny) international readership is gravitating towards not the fitness posts, or the martial arts-specific posts, or even the personal stories; no, they are really into the "Blade Enthusiast or Knife Nut?" features. So to completely pander to the audience in every way, here is another installment. It just so happens that I went a bit crazy with new knife purchases for the collection this past month, so enjoy these photos and captions, my illustrious readers from France, Germany, Brazil and Belgium.


Here are a few "classic" pocket knives; the top is from Boker, the middle is an Irish fisherman's knife from Sabre, and the last one is a vintage "Kamp King" I grabbed at an antique store in Springville.


Some modern variations on the classic pocket knife. Three are from Frost Cutlery's "Steel Warrior" line; all nice blades with real horn or bone handle scales and some nice detailing. The larger one in the middle is cool because the master blade is a lock-back. You don't find that feature on a lot of traditional pocket knives. The other two on the bottom are from Elk Ridge. The scales are synthetic, but they do a nice job of simulating jigged/burnt horn. Unfortunately one of them has some real blade issues; I think quality control at Elk Ridge could be improved quite a bit.


Some nifty folders. On top we have a Cold Steel "Kudu," which I could see becoming one of my favorite folding knives. The design is based on a popular one used in South Africa, with some improvements and panache added by Cold Steel. Definitely a fine and sturdy blade that is aesthetically pleasing as well. Kudu-type folding knives are the primary implement of the South African-based martial art known as Piper Knife Fighting (or the Piper System). Underneath that is Frost Cutlery's "Avenger" tactical folder, featuring some colorful wood handles (dubbed "Frostwood"). Next is the Sheffield "Haze" I posted about in an earlier entry (except at that time I used a stock photo; this one is actually mine). The one on the bottom I got at the Army/Navy store; it is by Tac-Force, and it's a spring-assisted straight-razor called the "Hot Rod."


A few views of two of my new favorite fixed blades. One is an older Imperial oddity that I added my own paracord handle to, the other is by Boker and is called (surprise!) the "Twister."


Finally, a few pieces of Militaria; the bayonet on the bottom I've already posted about, but now it has a new reissue/replica scabbard from Solingen, Germany. A very accurate re-creation. The one on top is a vintage U.S. Navy Camillus Steel Mark 1 fighting knife. The sheath, as far as I can tell, is not original, just one the person that sold it to me had on-hand. But the knife is the real deal; a bit worn, but what do you expect for a WWII item? It's actually in quite decent (if not "mint") shape.

Well, I suppose that's it for now. Keeping on keeping on, fighting the good fight; yadda-yadda-yadda. More later. If all goes well, the next "Knife Nut" update will feature a lovely little Sykes-Fairbairn fighting knife that I've got my eye on. Until then...

White Belt Out