Knife Fighting by Michael Janich - Knife Bullshido?

**aderinaru** · Posted On: 12/26/2006 2:04am

I am sorry to say this but I read the comments and I am not better informed. Has someone practiced with him, fought him, or taught him? I know Mr. Janich is part of the International Close Combat Instructors Associataion, same as Charles Nelson, the late Rex Applegate, Mr. Leonard Holifield, and Motosada Mori.

http://www.closecombatinstructors.co...ssociation.htm

But, does this tell us anything of Mr. Janich per se? Part of me believes SpiderCo. has plans with Mr. Janich, which can speak either way of his skills. So is there factual information on Him?

**Doctor X** · Posted On: 12/26/2006 2:40am

After six months?

Does anyone care?

What is it? The holidays? Brings about . . .

:eatbaby: t3h D34dly Thr34d N3crom4ncy!!! :eatbaby:

--J.D.

**hoodedmonk** · Posted On: 12/26/2006 2:52am

Originally Posted by Shinkengata

Now why does that photo theme strike me as familiar?

looks like wing chun with knife!:surprised

**Doctor X** · Posted On: 12/26/2006 3:00am

Thought resurrections were more of an Easter or Yom Kipur sort of thing?

--J.D.

**El-Wood** · Posted On: 12/26/2006 6:51am

Originally Posted by aderinaru

But, does this tell us anything of Mr. Janich per se? Part of me believes SpiderCo. has plans with Mr. Janich, which can speak either way of his skills. So is there factual information on Him?

After all, who would question a company who is trying to sell more knives endorsing someone who could help them sell more knives?

**wackamole** · Posted On: 12/26/2006 2:27pm

There are (much) better systems out there, but Janich's book is probably one of the better ones in print. He gives some decent drills against resistance. The best printed material I've seen on knife was probably the late Sonny Umpad's old "Balisong" book, but I've never seen that in a store. And even that book sort of paled in comparison to what the Corto Cadena folks actually do in training.

As to the other stuff out there one of the Pekiti groups had some knife tapes that I heard were pretty good, but Bill McGrath pulled them after cops found copies of the tapes at the site of a biker gang raid.

**Spezza** · Posted On: 12/26/2006 4:37pm

I have read a couple of his books. As mentioned, he has some good info and some stuff I would never train.

His material has the same problem as 95% of "knife training" out there; it's too complicated to work (to "martial artsy") and doesn't take into account "realistic" training methods.

**Don Gwinn** · Posted On: 12/26/2006 6:39pm

I'll vouch for Spyderco and Sal Glesser until someone shows me reason to do otherwise. Sal is the real deal when it comes to engineering knives and tools. Spyderco has created the most difficult and most revolutionary kind of innovations--the ones that look so simple after someone else comes up with them that you feel stupid for not seeing it before. Stuff like drilling a large hole in a humpbacked folding knife blade.

Sal's motto at Spyderco is "Integrity means doing the right thing even when nobody is looking" and to my knowledge that's the way most in the industry would agree he runs things. Spyderco's involvement with Michael Janich tells me (with my admitted bias toward taking Spyderco's word for it) that people at Spyderco think Janich is the real deal. They could be wrong, but they don't think he's Bullshido.

I believe Janich is a proponent of "bio-mechanical cutting." I'm skeptical as to whether I could make this work, but I don't know that he can't make it work. Coincidentally, he's got an article in SWAT this month. I haven't read it, but it has pictures of "our hero" using a small fixed blade against a large monkey-wrench and attacking the limb.

My kid got a telescope for Christmas so now we're going to go look at Jupiter. Later maybe I can post a bit of what Janich is writing today. Still won't tell us what some of you want to know, though.

**polishillusion** · Posted On: 12/26/2006 9:04pm

if the guy looks like a computer programmer with a wrist slitting problem, i wouldn't trust it. if a Gracie can be fucking over 40 and not look like a total old man who is worthless, why cant these "supreme, non-sport fighters" do it?

**Don Gwinn** · Posted On: 12/27/2006 12:50am

Just for the sake of argument, suppose he just plain doesn't care?

In fact, take it a little further. Suppose Josh Bartlett was bald on top . . . . or suppose next year Fedor decides to grow his hair out and nothing comes in on top. He'll just look like a slightly pudgy, humorless gym teacher in street clothes.

Actually, since you brought up the Gracies, we should consider Carlson Gracie and Carlson Jr. I have one of the old Extreme Fighting events on DVD where Carlson Jr. fought. He looked soft and pudgy compared to the other fighters in that event and also had the awesome reverse mohawk going on.

Now I'm off to the bathroom to shave my head. That way I can be a badass--I'll have a bald head (not balding, that's sissy stuff), no glasses, prickly beard . . . . I still need tattoos and some Tapout shirts, maybe a TUF beanie, but everybody has room to grow as a fighter. Hopefully the blue belts will cut me some slack when they see what a badass I am.