krabi-krabong part 1: the knife

[chalambok]

Sorry Ghostwolfe (I think I know who you are) for taking so long to expand lol

Well, Krabi-Krabong begins with footwork, and the arms come after. The first drill to practice with your partner involves the two of you standing about 6 feet apart, each of you holding a pair of staffs in your hand, but sharing the other end with your partner. I mean there are only 2 staffs for the two of you, each holding the end of each staff. (Sorry everyone, I am very tired tonight because I have been working on getting my new school in POrtland OR together) One initiates with a long, long step; pushing the staff on the stepping side forward while the partner steps way, way back and pulls. Left arm goes with left leg, right arm with right leg. As you will find, a long step requires your body to sink; try to get your thigh parallel with the ground. Do this back and forth until you cannot take it then keep going. Step long, then become tall as your feet pass each other on the way to sink your body again. Down up down up will go your heads. Do not lean the upper body or turn it just now. How this applies to the mai son (knife) is that we feel it is silly to be within 6 to 8 feet of a knife. Just like empty-hand, we want to be in our comfort zone and not allow the opponent to be within his. If you get good at this you will find you can stand outside most people's range during stick drills (or especially training knife freestyle) and thrust at will into their lower abdomen. Septic poison was historically almost always fatal, so that is the target zone or, sometimes if you are fakey, the upper thigh. Well, there is about 500 hours worth of training secrets I have given you for free. Have fun

[khmerboran]

I tried the ancientthaiarts.com address but nothing happened, Im looking for a place to train K.K in thailand any suggestions?

[OctaviousBP]

Thanks again...

That was above and beyond my wildest expectations! Thanks again chalambok. I will try and contact him shortly.

David

[chalambok]

Okay, I went and found out about the school Pedro is opening in Chiang Mai. Opening April 1, Villalobos Ancient Muay Thai Boxing Camp 669-512-7213
I hope you can connect with him and study Krabi-Krabong. Good luck Octavious

[chalambok]

Krabi-Krabong in Chiang Mai

hey Octavious, I just today got a message from Pedro Sollana (sorry Pedro if I spell your name wrong) who is opening an academy in Chiang Mai. His krabi-krabong curriculum is with instructors from the Buddhai Sawan. I will send more as I get it, but the website is ancientthaiarts.com, I believe.

[OctaviousBP]

Thread Ambush...

...and on a side note, did you ever make it up to Chiang Mai Chalambok, and if so, know any places that'll teach a falang some KK? I see kids doing it at Tha Phae gate, and there seems to be several schools, but they are all kids, and all Thai.

Thanks,

David

[ghostwolf0]

Finally, someone with enough courage and knowledge to answer. Thank you! Okay, I'll go for footwork. Would you care to expand your answer? What is different about KK footwork?

Thanks for your help

[chalambok]

to be as briefly simple as possible, a knife is just a short sword, a sword merely a long knife. The weapon is irrelevant, the key is footwork

[ghostwolf0]

Krabi Krabong Knife

Can anyone give an idea (or comparison) of how KK knife work is performed? I've seen most of the weapons work; but, never short knives (6-8")?

thanks

[ghostwolf0]

Thai knife

Nice article!

Would you care to elaborate on how the Thai knife is used for combat....i.e. in contrast to Filipino usage.

Thanks for your information.

[chalambok]

The Next Step

First, the reason I didn't start a new thread is so you will reread the beginning of this thread. If you have been practicing diligently you should be able to routinely sink your knife in your chosen target 20 times out of 25. Now it's time to think about using it in a combat situation. First thing is to make sure your knife doesn't have an edge. Rub it off, grind it down. Whatever it takes to make it dull. Also, the point needn't be sharp either. If you drop it into your hand from 12" it shouldn't nick your palm. It's time to begin throwing from the blade end. I recommend your knife be at least 1/4" thick so it won't bend very easily. Years ago I bought the #1 rated throwing knife from the editor of a well-known knife magazine, and first throw it bent. Pissed me off. My friend Bruce Raymer bought some decent throwing knives in Sisters, Oregon. They are about 14-16" long, weigh about 1 1/2 pound apiece, and are 3/8" thick. When they go in they stick, believe me. And if you have the slightest misform it will show itself immediately. Again, practice from a known, comfortable distance until you can hit consistently, then either move closer and hold nearer to the center of gravity of your knife; or move away and grasp your knife farther from the center of rotation. Experiment. Become proficient. Try to teach someone else how to throw to see how much you have really learned. Send us reports. Thanks

[chalambok]

Krabi-Krabong & the Tachy-Psyche Effect

Krabi-Krabong, though centuries old, had an early and unique view of what is currently called the Tachy-Psyche Effect. The Tachy-Psyche Effect is a kind of mesmerization that occurs under extreme stress, such as in mortal combat, i.e. gun battles or knife fights. The fighter becomes fixated upon a visual point of stimulus and seems to have tunnel vision. This is actually our raptor vision (a remnant from our early evolutionary, predator stages) coming into play, where we focus much like a predator intent upon our victim to the exclusion of everything else. This causes a lack of outside perception. As martial artists this is usually when the action begins to play out slowly. This can be a good thing when you are attacking, but must be taught out for defensive purposes. The ONLY way to break this effect is to change one's horizontal plane of vision, by moving up and down. An added advantage of this action is that the vertical movement compounds the force and weight of your blow. In Krabi-Krabong, which emphasizes vertical movements with every step (a killer to the thighs), it is not unusual for a beginning student to be knocked to the ground by a more advanced practitioner. To do this effectively and with speed, you must keep your feet pointing forward, your shoulders straight and your body over your hips. Any break from this form will cause you to slow down, much like a TaeKwonDo practitioner trying to run full speed while kicking. Hard to do, although you will see some Krabi-Krabong 'instructors' turning almost completely sideways with their strikes. They have a hard time gaining speed either forward or backwards. I have a picture made in 1850 in Japan of a then-famous swordmaster demonstrating his style, and his feet are pointing straight forward, approximately 13" apart (a distance Ajarn Samai Masamarn emphasized almost every day), his knees bent slightly to add his weight to his strike, the shoulders straight and the body over the hips. Some truisms are constant in all the war arts. One of the most feared aspects of Krabi-Krabong is the speed of the multiple-strike, continuously relentless attack. To do Krabi-Krabong properly you should be able to run forward or backward at almost your full speed while swinging your weapons. Defensively, we don't try to block the strike so much as we try to upset the opponent's timing and momentum. To practice, just walk forward much like your graduation walk, remember? Step, slide, step, slide. At first do this slowly with a long, deep step to make your thighs burn, and to practice avoiding the Tache-Psyche Effect. If you can, draw two lines on the floor approximately 13 inches apart and keep your feet outside these at all times. With practice you will be able to do this quite quickly, and you will soon find that when you keep your body, hips, feet in proper position you can either close on or withdraw from almost any opponent very quickly; unless, of course, they have been practicing good form too. Chok di - Chalambok

[LaCoste]

Thanks for sharing the information I hope you have more. I really hope one day either Master Chai or one of his students puts out some videos and or a book on KK and Muay Thai. His method and movement are really unique.

Thanks again and I'm looking forward to more stories and information about what Master Chai teaches

[OctaviousBP]

Excellent stuff! Anymore?

D

[Tim Mousel]

Great contribution! Thanks!

I've seen Ajarn Chai in action...that knife sure moves.

Tim