Page 49 - Blade (January 2019)
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The four test karambits, clockwise from top with manufacturer’s
suggested retail prices in parentheses: Cold Steel Double
Agent ($49.99), Emerson Knives Super Karambit ($307.95),
Medford Knife & Tool Burung ($595) and Spyderco Karahawk
($304.95 satin fi nish, $334.95 black).
arambits are interesting due to their of Filipino martial arts that employs the memory, only to be recalled years later
intended purpose and the distinc- rather strange knife with a hook-shaped when he became a knifemaker.
Ktive curved shapes of the blades and blade and specially designed handle In the late 1990s he met Steve Tarani, a
handles. Since I’m not versed in karambit that promotes spinning the knife to noted authority in self-defense and knife
design history, I consulted custom knife- switch grips rapidly and instinctively. combatives. “He and I had a lot of history
maker Ernest Emerson, who also is founder “I’d never seen anything like it before in common,” Emerson recalls. “I was im-
and owner of Emerson Knives, Inc. Under and was immediately drawn to and im- pressed by his skills and expertise in the
the EKI banner, Emerson off ers several pressed by its simple yet devastating use of the karambit.” Tarani’s teachings
karambit designs. As many are aware, he is effectiveness in the hands of a skilled stress using the knife as an edged tool/
also an avid martial arts enthusiast. master,” Emerson recalls. self-defense weapon. Through the inter-
In his younger days he trained and The Pencak Silat instructor who intro- net and book and magazine articles, Ta-
learned martial arts under Richard duced Emerson to the karambit referred rani helped elevate the karambit into a
Bustillo and Dan Inosanto, two noted to the knife as a “steel tiger claw,” which valid form of martial arts bladeware. Th e
legends. Bustillo and Inosanto intro- is a very apt description. Emerson found knife fi ts in perfectly with this school of
duced Emerson to Pencak Silat, a form the design interesting and it stuck in his thought as well as contemporary tactical
JANUARY 2019 blademag.com 49
