‘Articles’ Archives
Pocket Pistol Basics
Few weapons are as frequently misunderstood as the pocket pistol. Neither as effective as even compact pistols, nor as useless as the tiny-caliber toys with which they are sometimes grouped, the pocket pistol is a niche weapon, a specialty tool that serves best within very constrained parameters. The reason so few people understand the pocket [...]
SOG Aegis (Black TiNi AE-02 Model)
The SOG Aegis, in black titanium nitride blade coating, is a sleek and extremely attractive tactical knife. I was impressed by it the second I took it out of the box. It is light and feels extremely taut, which means it moves quickly and well in the hand while feeling solid in operation and application. The knife is equipped with SOG's [...]
Not(ch) What You’re Looking For
A defensive folding knife is, like all weapons, a force multiplier. It is a tool, like a lever, that amplifies force. Using a knife it is easier to apply damage to another human being. That is the function of a blade: Using an amount of pressure that would not normally cause any damage whatsoever with your fingers or your palm, you can deliver a [...]
Zaccara EDC Bowie
One of the difficulties of carrying a fixed blade for daily self-defense is that such knives are either too large to be comfortable and concealable, or too small to be of greater benefit than a more socially acceptable folding knife. Knife designer Chris Zaccara, who in years past wrote a regular column for The Martialist, has solved this problem [...]
Smith and Wesson 22-4, Reviewed by Daniel Balderas
You don’t get many do-overs in life. Second chances just don’t come around often. Recently I had the chance to buy my second first gun and I decided that, unlike last time, there would be no compromises. I would do the research and get what I wanted. Buying any firearm is a very opinionated and subjective thing, but I’m going to share with [...]
Garrison Fighting Knife
Craig Garrison, of Garrison Fighting Knives, says on his website that his Garrison Fighting Knife (GFK) is "designed and manufactured exclusively for combat use, i.e., engaging an opponent in an armed, violent encounter." The website further includes the disclaimer that simply by viewing it the potential customer "agrees to assume all risks and [...]
On the Nature of Kung Fu Brotherhood
After years of jumping aimlessly from style to style, after wasting a decade pursuing the "short attention-span theater" approach to the martial arts with little more than a well-worn yellow belt in Karate and an extensive library to show for it, I discovered Kung Fu. It was Kung Fu that allowed me to realize my full potential as a martial [...]
Examining the Kata Dante
Previously, in the martialmentary Who Was Count Dante, we examined the legacy of Count Dante, the man born John Keehan who, between 1964 and 1975, took the martial arts world by storm in crafting a provocative fictional persona. A curious mixture of showman and legitimately talented martial practitioner, Count Dante was reviled by the mainstream [...]
4Sevens Maelstrom G5 Prototype Review
The tactical light is perhaps one of the most significant innovations in personal utility and self-defense in the last two decades. As lights become brighter and smaller, and as electronic technology makes them capable of a dizzying array of features, there truly is a tactical light on the market for everyone. One of the companies that has [...]
Who Was Count Dante?
The ads in the back of comic books proclaimed him “The Deadliest Man Alive.” In them, for a mere 4 dollars and 98 cents, the reader was promised “the FORBIDDEN and SECRET training manual of the BLACK DRAGON FIGHTING SOCIETY,” the “DEADLIEST and most TERRIFYING fighting art known to man – and WITHOUT EQUAL. Its MAIMING, MUTILATING, [...]
