Once the weapon is understood as an extension of the hand, and that the shape and position of the hand reflects its best use, then any double weapon can be adapted into the form and practice. The length, balance, weight, shape and edge all define whether the wielder stresses chopping, slashing, cutting, stabbing, smashing or bludgeoning strikes. I began to train with two of just about everything available in a hardware store: hatchets, hammers, garden machetes, and even large Chinese kitchen cleavers.

The Nepalese Gurhka and American Bowie knife reflect my desire to find traditional weapons that were designed for use and actually were in use by real people in real places when knives were seen as tools to rely on and not for ceremonial or decorative use. While Cold Steel obviously spruced up these traditional knives with fancy furnishings and a choice of steel for the Gurhka knives, they stayed true to their original design and function. They prove that clearly in their Solid Proof DVDs, putting these and all their blades through cutting and stress tests I have not seen anywhere else.

These are great weapons to expand upon the base form and applications of the double weapon Butterfly Knife form, as well as belonging to a fascinating past.