Before arming yourself with a fighting knife, arm yourself with the facts. Colonel Applegate, the world's foremost authority on close combat, wrote this book to instill in readers the skills necessary for contemporary knife fighting. Now you, too, can benefit from the same instructions that generations of military and intelligence personnel have.

Greg Walker evaluates daggers, bowies, switchblades and utility blades according to their design, performance, reliability and cost. He pays tribute to the legendary designers -- Fairbairn and Sykes, Randall, Gerber, Applegate and Al Mar -- and gives you an insider's peek at the best up-and-coming bladesmiths. He examines the pros and cons of benchmade vs. custom-made and forged vs. ground blades, as well as answering questions about steels, throwing knives, bowies, bayonets, training knives and much more.

Whether a side-street skirmish or an all-out war, fight scenes bring action to the pages of every kind of fiction. But a poorly done or unbelievable fight scene can ruin a great book in an instant. In Fight Write you'll learn practical tips, terminology, and the science behind crafting realistic fight scenes for your fiction. Broken up into "Rounds," trained fighter and writer Carla Hoch guides you through the many factors you'll need to consider when developing battles and brawls. • In Round 1, you will consider how the Who, When, Where, and Why questions affect what type of fight scene you want to craft. • Round 2 delves into the human factors of biology (think fight or flight and adrenaline) and psychology (aggression and response to injuring or killing another person). • Round 3 explores different fighting styles that are appropriate for different situations: How would a character fight from a prone position versus being attacked in the street? What is the vocabulary used to describe these styles? • Round 4 considers weaponry and will guide you to select the best weapon for your characters, including nontraditional weapons of opportunity, while also thinking about the nitty-gritty details of using them. • In Round 5, you'll learn how to accurately describe realistic injuries sustained from the fights and certain weapons, and what kind of injuries will kill a character or render them unable to fight further. By taking into account where your character is in the world, when in history the fight is happening, what the character's motivation for fighting is, and much more, you'll be able write fight scenes unique to your plot and characters, all while satisfying your reader's discerning eye.

Provides an historical analysis of the range of weapons used in hand-to-hand combat from prehistoric flint knives to eared daggers of the mid-sixteenth century, to nineteenth-century British and American naval dirks.

The low-tech, high-impact tomahawk has been carried in every American war, including Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. Here the author traces the origins of the tomahawk and uses his dynamic drawings to show how it can be utilized singly or with the long knife in both offensive and defensive encounters. Includes fighting scenarios, throwing lessons and applications of the war club.

For the outdoorsman or soldier, a knife is not a luxury, it is a necessity. One of man's most basic tools, a knife can gather and prepare food, build and tend a fire, create a shelter and signal for rescue; and when the chips are down, it will do duty as a lethal close combat weapon. Knives: Military Edged Tools & Weapons covers the whole range of blades available to the modern soldier, from fighting knives and bayonets, through combat and survival knives, to the versatile multi-tools and folders, not forgetting special purpose blades such as the machete, special forces shovel, combat tomahawk and even the assegai. It is often erroneously thought that these knives are designed solely for killing; this book seeks to show that they are in fact truly multi-purpose tools.

The Fairbairn-Sykes Commando dagger has become iconic as the most widely recognized fighting knife in the world. The origins of the dagger can be traced to Shanghai in the 1930s where W. E. Fairbairn and US Marine officers including Sam Yeaton carried out experiments to develop what they considered the perfect knife for close combat. When Fairbairn and Sykes became instructors for the Commandos, they refined the design which would evolve into the classic Fairbairn-Sykes dagger. The dagger was first used during early Commando raids into occupied Europe but saw action in every theatre of World War II. US Rangers and Marines who had trained with the Commandos took their Fairbairn-Sykes daggers home, and this also influenced the development of American Special Forces daggers. The Fairbairn-Sykes remained in use with many units after the war. It has become a symbol of Commando and special forces units throughout the world.

This is the remarkable story of how Col. Rex Applegate, William Fairbairn, Eric Sykes and Wild Bill Donovan trained and employed OSS and MID commandos during WWII. Includes the facts behind the development of point shooting, knife fighting, hand-to-hand combat and a staggering number of other fighting skills as taught by the top instructors of the era. Contains rare archival photos and the Colonel's graphic original lesson plans.

Be Prepared for the Fast, Furious and Fatal World of Knife Fighting Written by world renowned martial arts expert Sammy Franco, Knife Fighting: A Step-by-Step Guide to Practical Knife Fighting for Self-Defense prepares you for the deadly world of knife fighting. Complete and Comprehensive Knife Fighting Instruction With over 200 photographs and easy-to-follow instructions, this comprehensive book cuts through the guess work and teaches you the most practical and effective knife fighting techniques for real-world survival. Knife Fighting Will Teach You: • How to choose the best combat knife • Knife carry, quick draw and concealment strategies • Knife grips, stances, ranges and footwork • How to control fear during a knife fight • Knife targeting and reaction dynamics • Knife cuts and angles of attack • Franco’s knife fighting blueprint • Knife fighting defensive skills • Knife fighting training drills and exercises • And much, much more 35+ Years of Real-World Knife Fighting Experience Whether you are a beginner or seasoned knife fighting expert, Knife Fighting: A Step-by-Step Guide to Practical Knife Fighting for Self-Defense teaches you battle-tested knife fighting skills that will get you home alive and in one piece.