This is me holding a screwdriver. This is what a martial artist’s hand looks like when it is holding a tool in a workmanlike fashion. Note callouses and white-knuckled grip with thumb fully wrapped.
Reading a popular martial arts magazine yesterday I came across an article about two lifetime achievement award winners. They are both martial arts legends.
I cringed.
Look at the way they are holding their weapons in the photos below. Is this how martial arts masters hold weapons which are about to be used to cut, smash, choke, etc.?
“It’s just a magazine photo,” you may object. “They’re not actually demonstrating how to fight with the weapon!” To which I reply, “Does a firearm instructor wave guns around in a careless manner? Or does he treat all guns as if loaded and deadly?”
These loose grips (a) show a lack of respect for the weapon and (b) will not retain a weapon under stress. This is not how weapons are held in life or death situations by people who have any idea what they are doing.
At Bobcat Martial Arts, I teach my students to treat every Bowie knife, tomahawk and walking stick with respect and to grip it with sincerity and intent at all times. This is basic martial arts.
I would expect better than this from a student after just 90 days.
Robert Mitchell Jr. 
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