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Heavy Kukri Drills (Read 20398 times)
Thunder Chief
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Heavy Kukri Drills
Feb 15th, 2013 at 6:05pm
 
I'm halfway through constructing a kukri out of a truck leaf spring and I can tell this thing is going to be a heavy beast.  I am currently more than strong enough to wield it effectively as a tool, but using it as a weapon, I'm slower than I'd like.  Does anybody have any drills or exercises I can do to help with this, besides just regular lifting?
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Dan
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Re: Heavy Kukri Drills
Reply #1 - Feb 15th, 2013 at 7:19pm
 
I have the ontario Kukri and I haven't done much training with it, but I'll help how I can. You could probably also make a wood trainer that's the same size and use that on a various targets to get used to the impact force on your wrist.

Also practice the 8 angles of attack with the kukri in your hand (or a slighly heavier hand weight), switch hands, step forward with your back foot, and do it with the other hand. Repeat and go up and down the length of the room or your yard.

You can also learn one of the '12 sets' (12 strikes) of Doce Pares (I think there's 12  Wink ) and do the same thing.

It gets those specific muscles used to working, just like running with ankle weights or boxing with wrist weights.
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Bill Skinner
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Re: Heavy Kukri Drills
Reply #2 - Feb 15th, 2013 at 8:25pm
 
A lot of your strikes are going to come from the wrist and forearm, so I would concentrate on those areas.

FWIW, if its too heavy to swing comfortably, it won't make that good a weapon, an ax that is good for cutting down trees is too heavy to be a first choice weapon in a hand to hand fight.  On the other hand, if, while chopping wood, a bear decides to chew on me, I would use the ax in my hands to fight him off if that's what I have.
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Thunder Chief
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Re: Heavy Kukri Drills
Reply #3 - Feb 15th, 2013 at 11:57pm
 
Bill Skinner wrote on Feb 15th, 2013 at 8:25pm:
A lot of your strikes are going to come from the wrist and forearm, so I would concentrate on those areas.

FWIW, if its too heavy to swing comfortably, it won't make that good a weapon, an ax that is good for cutting down trees is too heavy to be a first choice weapon in a hand to hand fight.  On the other hand, if, while chopping wood, a bear decides to chew on me, I would use the ax in my hands to fight him off if that's what I have.


It's not that it's too heavy to swing, it's checking the swings and recovering that's tough.  Mind you, the thing doesn't have a handle at the moment, so that might have something to do with it.
Just for comparative purposes, anybody know how much a Roman gladius weighed?

Dan, I'll check those out
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Re: Heavy Kukri Drills
Reply #4 - Feb 16th, 2013 at 12:00am
 
Gladius is around 1.5 pounds depending on which pattern you're talking about.  You don't need a heavy weapon to do serious slashing damage.  Blade presence counts for more than overall weight, and if your recovery is slow, I'd say it's too heavy to primarily be geared towards fighting.  I've got a bowie with a lot of blade presence - lightning fast recovery, but I can cut with it better than my type XII arming sword, which is heavier and has a much slower recovery.  The bowie is a beast.  Though, realistically, your odds of using your kukri in a violent confrontation are vanishingly small, so I'd just say have fun with it.
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Re: Heavy Kukri Drills
Reply #5 - Feb 16th, 2013 at 12:29am
 
Quote:
Gladius is around 1.5 pounds depending on which pattern you're talking about.  You don't need a heavy weapon to do serious slashing damage.  Blade presence counts for more than overall weight, and if your recovery is slow, I'd say it's too heavy to primarily be geared towards fighting.  I've got a bowie with a lot of blade presence - lightning fast recovery, but I can cut with it better than my type XII arming sword, which is heavier and has a much slower recovery.  The bowie is a beast.  Though, realistically, your odds of using your kukri in a violent confrontation are vanishingly small, so I'd just say have fun with it.


Blade presence being how much you can move the blade around? My kukri is pushing 2.5 pounds now.  I still have to finish the edge, but I can't see it dropping too much weight, especially once I add the scales.  I'll just get really strong to compensate...
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jlasud
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Re: Heavy Kukri Drills
Reply #6 - Feb 16th, 2013 at 2:49am
 
I'd say,a gladius is/were more like 2 pounds,or a bit more. Also it's mainly a stabbing short sword so it's better to be more lightweight,than slashing swords.
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Mauro Fiorentini
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Re: Heavy Kukri Drills
Reply #7 - Feb 16th, 2013 at 7:36am
 
You can also unburden (??) your kukri with fileworks on its back and grooves on both sides.
Then you can also add enough lead weights in the end of the handle so that the whole thing will weight more but will be more balanced, which will result in less fatigue wielding it.
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Re: Heavy Kukri Drills
Reply #8 - Feb 16th, 2013 at 9:17am
 
In addition to what mauro said,(while its going to effect the structual integrity a little bit) you could also drill some holes in it like the Kukri from Book of Eli. Keep that as a back up option though.
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Re: Heavy Kukri Drills
Reply #9 - Feb 16th, 2013 at 9:35am
 
Thunder Chief wrote on Feb 16th, 2013 at 12:29am:
Quote:
Gladius is around 1.5 pounds depending on which pattern you're talking about.  You don't need a heavy weapon to do serious slashing damage.  Blade presence counts for more than overall weight, and if your recovery is slow, I'd say it's too heavy to primarily be geared towards fighting.  I've got a bowie with a lot of blade presence - lightning fast recovery, but I can cut with it better than my type XII arming sword, which is heavier and has a much slower recovery.  The bowie is a beast.  Though, realistically, your odds of using your kukri in a violent confrontation are vanishingly small, so I'd just say have fun with it.


Blade presence being how much you can move the blade around? My kukri is pushing 2.5 pounds now.  I still have to finish the edge, but I can't see it dropping too much weight, especially once I add the scales.  I'll just get really strong to compensate...


Blade presence is the amount of perceived blade weight, which is influenced by the position of the center of balance and the center of percussion.  The center of percussion is usually about 2/3 of the way down the blade on most swords, whereas the center of balance can be anywhere, based on the mass distribution of the weapon.  The closer the CoB is to the CoP, the more "blade presence" or "heft" the weapon has, and the more power you get in the cut.  However, if you push the CoB towards the CoP and away from the handle (thus making a blade-heavy weapon), you end up with something that's more unwieldy.  So, if you're going to do that, you need a weapon that is relatively light weight to facilitate ease of handling.  This is why a 1.5 pound shamshir cuts much better than a 1.5 pound rapier, but is easier to handle than a 2.5 pound cavalry saber like a 1796 heavy cavalry.  So, my bowie has a CoB pushed out towards the blade, but it is such a light weapon, it doesn't matter.  Whereas a good sword has a CoB within about 3-6 inches of the handle.  Your kukri is a bit like a short sword, and should have a CoB that makes it blade heavy, but 2.5 pounds is way too heavy for a kukri, it should be more like 1 pound, thus facilitating smooth recovery.
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Re: Heavy Kukri Drills
Reply #10 - Feb 16th, 2013 at 9:53am
 
Quote:
Blade presence is the amount of perceived blade weight, which is influenced by the position of the center of balance and the center of percussion.  The center of percussion is usually about 2/3 of the way down the blade on most swords, whereas the center of balance can be anywhere, based on the mass distribution of the weapon.  The closer the CoB is to the CoP, the more "blade presence" or "heft" the weapon has, and the more power you get in the cut.  However, if you push the CoB towards the CoP and away from the handle (thus making a blade-heavy weapon), you end up with something that's more unwieldy.  So, if you're going to do that, you need a weapon that is relatively light weight to facilitate ease of handling.  This is why a 1.5 pound shamshir cuts much better than a 1.5 pound rapier, but is easier to handle than a 2.5 pound cavalry saber like a 1796 heavy cavalry.  So, my bowie has a CoB pushed out towards the blade, but it is such a light weapon, it doesn't matter.  Whereas a good sword has a CoB within about 3-6 inches of the handle.  Your kukri is a bit like a short sword, and should have a CoB that makes it blade heavy, but 2.5 pounds is way too heavy for a kukri, it should be more like 1 pound, thus facilitating smooth recovery.



Forgive my woeful ignorance, but center of percussion? Place where you hit things? Where it vibrates?

This blade's out of a 3/8" leaf spring, so it was destined to be overweight.  I'd really rather not drill holes in this, but I'll see what tricks I can employ top shave off some weight.  Maybe a big honking fuller...
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Re: Heavy Kukri Drills
Reply #11 - Feb 16th, 2013 at 9:58am
 
I think CoP is where the most common point of contact is, or the 'sweet spot' on the blade that you use when chopping.

2.5 lbs is heavier than a lot of Axes, I'd definitly encourage you to continue pursueing ways to lighten the blade.  Smiley
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Re: Heavy Kukri Drills
Reply #12 - Feb 16th, 2013 at 10:34am
 
Dan wrote on Feb 16th, 2013 at 9:58am:
2.5 lbs is heavier than a lot of Axes, I'd definitly encourage you to continue pursueing ways to lighten the blade.  Smiley

Couldn't agree more. 2.5lbs is vastly more massive than the Cold Steel which claims FWIW to be the heaviest on the market at 22oz.

CoP (Center of percussion) - where you strike without getting any shock reaction back on your hand, the 'sweet spot' if you like, as Dan says.
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Re: Heavy Kukri Drills
Reply #13 - Feb 16th, 2013 at 10:18pm
 
Okay, so it's much too heavy.  What can I do to make it lighter?  I suggested a fuller, Dan suggested holes.  Anybody else got anything?
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Re: Heavy Kukri Drills
Reply #14 - Feb 16th, 2013 at 10:40pm
 
Try again?!  Wink Smiley Perhaps trimming it down by making the blade narrower.


Mick
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