Surviving Edged Weapons
Calibre Press, Inc.
85 minutes
Directed by Dennis Anderson
Featuring: Leo Gage, Jr. and Dan Inosanto

Surviving Edged Weapons, by Calibre Press, is a video designed for law enforcement officials. As such it attempts to highlight what really happens "on the street." It does this extremely well. Director Dennis Anderson strives for a very realistic production and he achieves this easily. His demonstrations are both rehearsed as well as unrehearsed; he also includes a lot of footage of real encounters between officers and their suspects.

This is an extremely good video. It's production values are no less than those of any film coming out of the big studios in Hollywood. The narration is very clear, and the footage is filmed well. The tape begins with several officers describing what happened to them when they were attacked by a knife-wielding opponent. We learn that each officer interviewed was cut or stabbed; two almost bled out because of their wounds. This leads into an exciting demonstration by Master Gage, who shows how fast someone can draw a hidden blade and use it. The producers are forced to re-run this footage in slow-mo so that we can see what he does! It is an excellent eye opener for those who think that they could "see it coming."

Next the tape moves on to what happens in a real knife fight. This is where the tape gets really good. Unfotunately, it also get really graphic. To get their point across, the producers begin to show evidence photographs of people (usually other police officers) who were killed by knife attacks. The footage is extremely graphic; don't eat your Swanson's in front of the TV now! While very enlightening, it sets up a "queainess factor" that lasts the rest of the tape.

We move on to a discussion of proper defenses against a knife and the distance needed to properly defend against an attacker. Here, we see several unrehearsed demonstrations of officers attempting to ascertain the actions of a suspect found in a warehouse. These officers were told to find out what this man is doing in this warehouse. The man is Jeet Kune Do's Dan Inosanto. His job is to attack the officers with a fake knife, and see how they respond. This is the best part of the tape. Mr. Inosanto "kills" all the officers, several of which never get a chance to move. He does this from several distances; both up close, and also from across the room. Only one officer gets a chance to win; he falls down on his backside as Mr. Inosanto runs from across the room. As this officer draws his gun, Mr. Inosanto cuts his throat and races past, out the door!

This is an excellent tape for both law enforcement and martial artists. Many students practice knife fighting in class, but never learn the real effects of what they are doing. They never see what happens to a person when he is cut. They also never see how easy it is to lose to a knife attack. This video goes on to prove how an unprepared defender must have at least 21 feet between himself and the attacker if he is to be able to defend properly. As I already said, it is a real eye-opener. This tape is available through many martial arts catgs, or you can call Calibre Press at 1-800-323-0037.

Michael Fazekas is a 4th Dan and a Shidoshi-ho training at the Bujinkan Akahige Dojo near Cincinnati, Ohio. He began his training in Ninpo in 1982 under Stephen Hayes. He also holds a 3rd Dan in the Korean martial art of Hapkido. He can be reached at MFazekas@aol.com.