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Why do we flip live blades?

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FaultyPly

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Runs wtih Scissors

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Post Mon Dec 10, 2012 2:18 am

Why do we flip live blades?

Have you ever seen someone very eager to learn? Residents here will probably see this more often then most people, and most of us have been lucky enough to aide an eager mind into sharing what one has worked his ass off to learn. The feeling of helping someone else understand something that I grasp well is something that I cherish, since it tests the limits of my own knowledge when a young mind asks "why" to questions to things you may have never thought of.

Sometimes, however, this can get the best of us. Lord knows that there is no shortage of stupidity on the internet. There is even less scarcity of opinions. The pursuit of passing on my knowledge, as well as increasing my own has landed me here again. Arguing with an idiot without serious manipulation experience about the importance of using live blades during practice. Meanwhile, the intent was to educate a first time balisong purchaser on the basics of manipulation, and asked about trainers.

Don't get me wrong. It is clearly my fault for thinking that little ol' me could be such a generous person and offer my experience in knife manipulation to reason this man that live blades are a good idea, and he would have a miraculous mental awakening and the gates of heaven will shine happy rays of agreement sunshine on our mild disagreement. :happypills:

However, I am glad it all happened. The points I brought up to him and the ones he brought to my attention only solidified my beliefs more. Live blade balisong manipulation should be done whenever possible. We all understand you shouldn't flip a razor sharp Alpha Beast next to your great grandmother at Christmas dinner. I am talking about every time you are practicing manipulation and you are able to use a live blade, it is encouraged to do to.

The very first reason is one we all know very well here. Respect. Chances of getting severely hurt increase significantly when one does not properly respect their knife. This is why when most people who think they know butterfly knives, pick up ours and almost always cut themselves. Most have not handled really sharp, high quality balisongs, and flip ours around like they did with their cheap piece of shit. I'm sure most of us have taped our blades or flipped a trainer before. One of two things almost always happen: We get timid with our flipping again, or we get cut. Usually worse than if we would have dropped a live blade 20 times before we were cut. There is no shame is dropping your knife. It only means there is substantial respect for the razor sharp steel flying in our hands.

Remember when your first high quality balisong came in the mail? Remember the first few times you dropped it? I bet one of those times, you did not want your $200 knife hitting the tile, or the concrete. I bet you got one of your worst cuts, too. That was your first lesson. The feeling of when the knife falls or flies out of your hand is known by now. This brings us to our second point. Laziness. Back to my example about trainers, taped blades, even BaliYos, most of us have flipped one. Most of us have also tried a 60ft aerial, or a cock twirl, or an Anus Aerial (just me?) with one, too. These are extreme examples, but my point is even if it isn't much, there is a tendency to grab at a trainer when a trick doesn't feel right, just to keep things flowing. However, over use of a trainer will lead to poorly trained reactions. There will be a time when you think you are flipping a trainer, you are not, and you don't have enough time to think about it. You may end up with a nice hospital bill. However, this falls hand in hand with another point. Poor Technique. Grabbing at a trainer too often will train your reactions poorly on how to handle a live blade, making the risk of severe injury higher. Not to mention you look sloppy, son! Some of us know all too well that there is a fine line between sexy cherry pickers and hellbends, and finger-tip chips! That is something you will NEVER learn on a trainer, since the knives are so sharp and the angles are so low, we barely feel it! Poor Understanding of Mechanics is our next stop. This one is very simple. It takes a lot of hard mental work, diligence, and practice to understand what your knife is doing, where it is at in your hand, how it is positioned in your hand, and how you can quickly position it anywhere else in order to hit another part of your routine. This also includes knowing when to drop your knife! This is one of the hardest humps to get over in my opinion. The odds just get worse when one is using a trainer too much.

Anybody have body piercings? Ever see those sharp as hell hollow needles? Well, they aren't just for pulling jewelery through the other way. In fact, that is just an added benefit. When a hollow needle is hollow ground at a sharp angle, it becomes RIDICULOUSLY sharp. According the APP (Association of Professional Piercers), the intent is for the needle to be sharp enough to "separate" cells instead of rupturing cells. Our intent is similar here. Health is a very often overlooked side of flipping. Yeah, we get cut. We even like to brag about getting cut sometimes! But most of us don't like to admit, or comment on the proper care of their incisions or punctures. Having a very sharp blade, understanding your body, and proper care of wounds are imperative. However, I digress to live blades. When we do get cut, most of us hope for a clean incision at a low angle that heals quickly. In fact, those consists of about 90% of my cuts anymore. When we have a dull or jagged edge on our knives, these incisions get closer to lacerations (skin gets torn instead of sliced). Even when dealing with potentially severely damaging puncture wounds, If anything, we want the cleanest, the most cell seperating-est cut we can possibly have, since it gives us the best chance of a full recovery, god forbid there be any ligament or muscle damage. So SAFETY FIRST: Use a sharp blade!

So if you wanted to skip to the end, those flipping trainers, taped blades, and dull knives will be lead to more frequent and more severe cuts, and will also have impaired manipulation techniques. Or both. Or will flip a trainer for the rest of their lives.

Flip live blades. You will forever be a better flipper for it.

Shit it's almost 420 in the morning!! :happypills: :happypills:
"Well, if you live, you wanna give or get old; And if you never knew that we get old, you live it up. You live it up, you get old"
FkeSpydrFly wrote:watch out for that weed it might kill your grandpa


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carlosj116

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Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2012 3:28 am

Post Wed Dec 19, 2012 6:54 pm

Re: Why do we flip live blades?

I agree completely with this, anyone starting out on serious manipulation should definitely use a live blade if possible; in my eyes trainers should only be used appropriately in situations such as when the legality of balisongs in your area gets in the way of your practice (I live in the UK therefore cannot take a balisong outside without putting myself at serious legal risk), and in the case of extreme aerials. For example if you were going to try a meatgrinder for the first time, you aren't very likely to pick up a freshly sharpened AB or kimura. The point you made about the 60ft aerials is also very relatable, I went through a phase of practicing 3 or 4 rotation aerials with my trainer at one point, and as my trainer looks exactly like the balisong I had at the time, I picked up my live blade and did it once. Luckily I caught it, but it could have had a much worse outcome; so the advice I would give on trainers, being relatively new to flipping myself, is that you should use them exactly as you would use a live blade. One way I have used a few times to make sure I did was to cover the blade edge of the trainer with a permanent marker immediately before flipping, so that you can see lines where you would have gotten cut. Also with the point about sharp blades, I wouldn't necessarily suggest a razor sharp blade for trying new things, just a compromise between a quick healing time and a less serious cut however this is only due to the fact that I need my hands to be fully functional to be able to play piano, so others may have a different approach. Most trainers I have handled seem to have a much lower build quality than live blades, I don't know if this a general thing or if I've just been flipping shitty trainers :lol:
Been lurking for quite a while now so I thought I'd contribute something, even if it is just my opinions,
Carl
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cja245

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Post Fri Dec 21, 2012 3:53 am

Re: Why do we flip live blades?

Bottom line...flipping a trainer or taped blade turns you into a pussy. It sounds like a good idea, but in practice, it seriously hinders progress. Yeah they are awesome for the occasional try at a trick that is WAY out of your league, but regular use will make you afraid to try anything but the easiest tricks with a live blade. Anyone is welcome to disagree and flip trainers or tape, but may I make a prediction? We probably won't be seeing wicked awesome flipping footage from you anytime soon.

I like to have one around for the sake of trying an aerial I don't know how to approach, but I know when to switch back.... basically immediately.

cja
"I wanna stab someone in the mouth and tell em to "Taste the Rainbow" -MoreBeef

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exile82187

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Location: Minnesota

Post Fri Apr 19, 2013 9:04 pm

Re: Why do we flip live blades?

^ + 1 plus I will add that when you flip a taped blade and then try to switch to a live blade you become more apprehensive about doing the trick so it does turn you into a pussy.
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jade

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Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 7:44 pm

Post Tue May 21, 2013 3:46 pm

Re: Why do we flip live blades?

I find flipping a live blade part of the fun. It keeps you on the edge.

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