Strength & Speed

Despite being in the military for almost 20 years and spending almost four of that deployed, I don’t have that much experience in the handheld weapon range. Most of my experience is in the projectile range since it is far more likely threat in the military, but I figured it was time to learn a little more about a tool/weapon that I carry every day, the knife. After hearing about Tiga Tactics and seeing their articles popping up in Black Belt Magazine, I signed up for their Every Day Carry (EDC) Karambit Course Online and here’s what I thought of it, what you can expect if you sign up and if you should invest the time/effort:

Length: The course has a free three part section that you can watch online right now, but the full course is 22 sections long and requires payment. Twenty two sections? What does that mean? It’s 22 mini lessons varying in length between 2 minutes and 12 minutes per section focusing on a different topic. Overall, it’s about a 90-minute course.

Format: After each section the video pauses and you “click to continue”. While I wasn’t a fan of this format at first, I completely love it now. I wish all my videos did this for three reasons. The first is it allows you to learn a move, practice it and rewatch the section if needed until you are comfortable moving on. The second is it allows you to easily go back and find the exact part you needed more work on for future training. Third, I often watch the video for the first time while going to bed at night (weird right?) and I often fall asleep resulting in me having no clue where I left off, but not with this format which automatically pauses after each section. Once I watch it once at night, then I go through the videos again actually practicing all the moves and a third or more time for specific sections to refine skills.

Content: Alright let’s get down to it. What are you going to learn? What I liked most was that at an hour and a half long, the course gets down to basics and focuses on what you would need in a self defense situation. Common strikes, a couple of short combos and most importantly, the importance of practicing drawing your weapon. Despite it being labeled a Karambit course, the same principles can be applied to any edged weapon making it valuable to anyone that carries a knife.

As a member of the military, I also enjoyed their input on carrying a knife in relation to your primary (or secondary weapon). While not heavily focused on this, it brings up important points for those in law enforcement, in the military or civilians that carry concealed.

If you are already experienced with bladed weapons this course may seem too simplistic to you at first glance. However, I would argue that is a good reminder for some basic skills you’ll need in a high threat situation where you will likely end up reverting to gross motor skills. If you have little or no training in edged weapons, you’ll definitely want his course because it is a great value. Important points are taught, emphasized and repeated to ensure you grasp the knowledge completely.

Presentation: Patrick Vuong and Dr. Conrad Bui, bring the course material in an easy to understand and fun manner. The two of them have an insane amount of experience and qualifications. The video was shot simply, but well (camera is stationary but instructors move around showing you things from different angles). The instructors occasionally mix in some jokes to keep things light while still effectively conveying the course material. As someone who regularly buys martial arts training content in digital format, this is one of the best ones I have seen.

Overall: I enjoyed Tiga Tactics EDC Karambit course. With limited access to anyone that teaches similar stuff in my local area and the expertise brought by the two instructors, Patrick Vuong and Dr. Conrad Bui, you are in good hands. I’m definitely interested in check out some of their other online courses when I have more free time to pick their brains on their unique skillsets and would eventually like to travel to one of their live seminars when it fits into my schedule. The bottom line is if you carry a knife, instead of buying another blade for your collection take some time to spend the money to figure out how to actually use it in a self defense situation.

5/5 stars, I would highly recommend

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Plus don't miss co-owner Patrick Vuong on the Strength & Speed podcast