Tomahawk Training: Books, Equipment, Hands-On, & VHS/DVDs

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Thanks for this thread FSCJedi, lot of good information all in one place for people looking at useing a tomahawk as a serious weapon and tool. Hard to see why it is not a sticky as it takes a bit of effort to find it.
 
Anyone interested (possibly in a seperate thread?) in discussing training materials for more traditional axe use or lumberjack competition? There is some great stuff out there and I thought it might have some crossover appeal.
 
thechuck said:
Anyone interested (possibly in a seperate thread?) in discussing training materials for more traditional axe use or lumberjack competition? There is some great stuff out there and I thought it might have some crossover appeal.
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Sounds like a great idea, chuck. You should start a new thread up since you seem to have a lot of knowledge up there in that head o' yours. :thumbup:
 
I made my own tomahawk trainers and have used them extensively. You will learn more about what works and what doesn't work by fighting with them for an hour, than by watching anybody's video. I used to practice for hours with friends, one on one and in melee. If you think knife fighting is rough, try some full on contact axe/hawk practice with no rules. BTW, wear eye protection. A cup wouldn't be a bad idea either.
 
fudo do you face an opponent with another hawk or with a different weapon? just kind of curious how a hawk stacked up against other weapons.
 
We practice with one hawk each,maces, and various knives, and mixed light weapons using single weapons and using a weapon in each hand.
 
You will learn more about what works and what doesn't work by fighting with them for an hour, than by watching anybody's video. I used to practice for hours with friends, one on one and in melee.

Although there is somewhat of a point here, the important thing to remember you can also reinforce some really bad habits by jumping into full-speed sparing too early without a good instructor. Not reading books, or watching videos about tomahawk fighting is just not taking advantage all that is available to give one an edge. Yes, Yes, the 'school of hard knocks' is important and the tomahawk definitely has some lessons to teach but not without some background and transition training. Remember that 'Dog Brothers' has a pretty good transition program for beginners. You need to see how things are done.

" Life is tough! It's tougher when your are stupid "

John Wayne.

Best
Dwight
 
fudo said:
I made my own tomahawk trainers and have used them extensively. You will learn more about what works and what doesn't work by fighting with them for an hour, than by watching anybody's video. I used to practice for hours with friends, one on one and in melee. If you think knife fighting is rough, try some full on contact axe/hawk practice with no rules. BTW, wear eye protection. A cup wouldn't be a bad idea either.
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Clearly, having an experienced instructor is very useful. The key is teaching from actual practice, not just theory.Any source of knowledge should be investigated. Some of what is out there is either wrong or misguided. e.g. the DVD under discussion, which shows a fundamental lack of understanding of the proper use of a tomahawk in combat.Actual physical combat exercises with experienced people are IMHO, the best method of training.
 
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Some of what is out there is either wrong or misguided. e.g. the DVD under discussion, which shows a fundamental lack of understanding of the proper use of a tomahawk in combat

Thanks for the insights, I'll pass this on to the parties concerned.

Best Dwight
 
Dwight- you sound like you are trying to pick a fight. Did you read my review and the reasons why I wrote that the video shows a fundamental misunderstanding? You have no need to "pass this on to the parties involved." Send them the link to my review and they can read it for themselves.
 
Now fella's, as much as I like a little competitive dialogue between those "in the know", I'd like to refrain from specifying a particular instructional DVD on a thread meant to reach a broad spectrum of instructional information. If you wish to discuss a certain DVD, please carry it over to that review thread. I, obviously, can't do much about it other than ask, but I think it might be more helpful and conducive to discussion over there where others are more likely to get something from it. Thanks! :)

-Ryan
 
Works for me. I'm not looking for a fight. I just gave an honest review of the pass around DVD.
 
James' video rocks. And it was a Cold Steel hawk.

I took Dwight's class on Long Knife & Tomahawk fighting and loved it. HTH combat with the hawk is great fun but kinda impractical unless you're in the back country because you're not allowed to carry them openly in most cities. That's not to say they're not being carried, especially if you have one of Survival Sheaths rigs because then no one will know you have it.

Lynn's video is also informative and interesting.
 
With Dwight mentioning that he's gearing up for a video of his own (and accompanying book), I thought it might be nice to resurrect this thread back from the dead again. There's been some questions asked lately that could probably have been answered by the links and opinions in this thread.
 
Thanks FSCJedi.
Glad you did that, I went back and read it all again and got some more ideas. I finally looked at the Sama Sama event. I certainly enjoyed the stuff. The sparing was interesting, and while I'm all for it, someone needs to stop the action after the opponents have stabbed each other 15-20 times. Otherwise no negatives for me. Love the target work and I really liked the idea of being outside and the 'field orientation' of the event. There seems to be some 'Heart' put into this curriculum that you don't see often.
FYI we start training tomorrow on the fight sets and technique sequences for the video. Meeting with Paladin's Video was 100% success. Storyboards and layout for the book are complete (as I'm going get them...ideas keep jumping up) We have a dialoque/script but God knows, we'll never follow it, the whole thing will probably end up like watching 'American Chopper' with everyone yelling at each other. At request I've included some footwork both European and some conceptual stuff based on the American Indian War-Dance and Animal movement. I am trying to stick to some core fundamentals and less to the whiz bang advanced stuff. If you would like I'll keep you guys posted. Just remember there are no guarntees on how this thing will turn out. The book that will be published along the same time will pretty much follow the dvd with lots of sequences. I've been advised that I should not be sharing this stuff on the net but the sincerity and professionalism of this forum . Keep your fingers crossed that we pull this one off, successfully.

All My Best
Dwight

All My Best
Dwight
 
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