Robert Mitchell Jr.

We cut our practice knives out of wood and wrap handles in orange tape. Orange identifies them as dull to casual observers and keeps them from getting lost easily.

This month at my martial arts club we’re practicing knives (specifically, knife targeting and precision).  We try to tailor our Constitutionals (the fitness part of our workouts) to mesh with whatever we’re working on technique-wise.

Now, the two fundamentals of using any weapon are (a) retention and (b) command and mastery.  In other words, you have to be comfortable holding and using the weapon, and you must retain it all times (dropping it is a serious no-no).

With that in mind, here is what we came up with. Note that this could be easily adapted for use with other weapons as well.

Constitutional Fitness Drill for Knife Fighters

All exercises must be completed while holding your dull practice weapon.  Each time you drop your weapon you must complete 50 Push-ups (on palms with the unarmed hand, on knuckles with the live hand).

1. Russian Squats (25 reps each way, knife hand forward)
2. Get-ups (25 reps, switching knife between hands each rep)
3. Sit-ups w/ Slash (50 reps, lock feet around/under object, slash an “X” at the top of each rep)
4. Help-ups (25 reps each side)
5. Push-ups (25 reps on left palm and right knuckles, 25 reps on right palm and left knuckles)
6. Sprints (25 reps out and back.  Mark off about 20′ and slash an “X” at each turn.  Switch knife hands half way through)
7. Twisters (25 reps.  Instead of touching the floor on each side at the top of the crunch, slash an “X” on the floor on each side)

This should take about 15 minutes.  And it should help you with retention, command, and mastery.