Aryana Libris

Author : Applegate Rex
Title : Combat use of the double-edged fighting knife
Year : 1993

Link download : Applegate_Rex_-_Combat_use_of_the_double-edged_fighting_knife.zip

Training in knife fighting as a specific skill was first introduced during World War II. It was first taught to the British Commandos and other Allied special forces. Later, Office of Strategic Services (OSS) personnel, U.S. Army Rangers, U.S. Marine Corps Raiders, airborne troops, and other elite American units received such instruction. The knife-fighting techniques advocated were generally based on the methods described in the books Get Tough (W.E. Fairbairn, 1942) and Kill or Get Killed (Rex Applegate, 1943), covering the combat use of the Fairbairn- Sykes Commando knife. After training and close association with both W.E. Fauba1rn and E.A. Sykes while assigned to the OSS in 1943, this writer was ordered to duty at the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie, Maryland. The purpose of the assignment was to organize and direct the Combat Section of this new center, where intensive close-quarter armed and unarmed combat instruction was the training mission. Over the ensuing two years, approximately ten thousand trainees from all walks oflife and with many foreign language capabilities were processed there. During this time my instructional staff and I were exposed to trainees who, because of their various ethnic backgrounds, had a great deal of experience in use of the knife as a primary fighting instrument. We evaluated practically all of the world's knife-fighting techniques with single- and double-edged blades; however, nothing evolved superior to the basic Fairbairn-Sykes technique with the double-edged knife. Currently, there are a number of commercially available double- edged knives that the modern student of knife fighting can employ in the manner to be discussed. Their effectiveness depends on blade design, balance, handle shape, etc., as well as the skill of the user. The Randall #2, the Gerber Mark I and II (with variations), the Kershaw Trooper, the A1 Mar Shadow, the Applegate-Fairbairn (A-F) models, some EK models, and similar types fall in this category. U.S. Army Trench Knife M3 and bayonets M4, 5, 6, and 7 can all be used to a lesser degree in the system to follow. This writer favors the current custom and commercial models of the A-F for stated, practical, and combat-proven reasons. ...