This still camera position was set up so that Erique and Sean could review their knife sparring. They were intentionally keeping hand speed down. At 2:50 you can hear me coach Sean on not bouncing around on his toes so much. We have found that when knife sparring gets highly competitive that ankle injuries on various surfaces become common and are very debilitating. This is “work” and they are both seeking target access and range control through use of rhythm, and angular movement.

With a knife, a man of Erique’s build is really at a disadvantage in dueling range. Head and neck access can be had by the taller man without having to clear the shorter man’s weapon.

In such sparring sessions communicating verbally while sparring is very useful. Feedback while in motion is useful for a fighter’s development. When you score on your partner in such a session keep giving him that seem stroke so he can work out a solution or counter.

Erique must work on getting offline. His Wing Chun practice is setting him up to get stabbed because of that art’s centerline doctrine and the fact that they stay so close on the imaginary line of contact. Applying empty hand arts to weapon arts is dicey business. At this height disadvantage an inside boxing approach gets a knife duelist shanked.

Sean needs to work on feinting the thrust and backing it up with slash combinations otherwise his arm will get carved up once Erique adjusts and gets off line while checking and slashing.