Reverse grip blade.

At Nemesis Athletics, we have a sub set of our Kali program that I prefer to call Pintados Blade Concept program. The emphasis in Kali Ilustrisimo on reverse grip blade is fairly minimal. PBC generally fills the void that I felt was left in this area.  In my humble opinion, KI generally emphasizes a longer range duelling dynamic, as opposed to closer range defensive or multiple opponent scenarios. While using the techniques common to Kali Ilustrisimo such as Pugong and Sinawali Blocking, we are able to develop funtional drills to incorporate reverse grip applications.


A reverse grip blade is often commonly considered more of a "defensive" grip, but we content that while a standard sabre style grip is more often used to slash,  the reverse grip emphasis (at least in the Pintados program) is primarily a thrusting style. Thrusting causes punctures that tend to reach a greater depth than slashes, and the increased potential of hitting vital targets as opposed to superficial external structures. This depth and potential lethality tends to erase the "defensive" myth. 

Hooking and trapping techniques with reverse grip blade have a greater increase of succeeding on non compliant opposition than those with a standard grip. These obviously are more functional with a straighter blade than with a curved or hooked blade such as a Karambit.


"The karambit or kerambit is a small hand-held, curved blade from Southeast Asia, particularly the Malay Archipelago. Called karambit in the Philippines, it is known as akerambit in both Indonesia and Malaysia....The weapon is held by inserting the first finger into the hole at the top of the handle so that its blade curves forward from the bottom of the fist. It is primarily used in a slashing or hooking motion. The finger guard makes it difficult to disarm and allows the knife to be maneuvered in the fingers without losing one's grip.." -WIKIPEDIA

Conveniently, the Pintados Blade Concept program transfers easily to applications using this specialized weapon, and turns the esoteric tool into a knife as usable as any reverse grip blade. Relying on K.I.S.S. (Keeping It Simple and Smart), we try to remove the exceptionally unrealistic show business and keep reverse grip training as functional and realistic as possible.