How can a beginner safely practice balisong without a trainer?

Question

Olivia136 · Answer

You can place tape over the edge of the blade. Masking tape or blue painter’s tape work well.
You may need to use multiple small strips, overlapping just a tiny bit, depending on the blade shape. Any curves will require this.
Depending on the specific balisong, the tape may affect the knife’s ability to “exit” or “enter” the handles. If this happens, you may need to use thinner tape, but this won’t be quite as safe as the masking or painter’s tape.
Either way, you still need to be careful. Check the taped edge frequently to ensure that it is still covered and none of the sharpened edge has cut through the tape.
This is not a 100% safe solution like a trainer balisong, but it works well with only a low chance of cutting yourself when the tape is fully intact. It is difficult to make the blade point fully covered, especially if your taped balisong cannot be opened and closed without resistance.
I use this method when learning new moves, especially aerials. I’ve only been nicked once when the blade point nicked me, but using the taped balisong has prevented quite a few nasty gashes when practicing.

Genesis · Answer

Well, the simple old school method is tape, Almost any tape will do but masking tape leaves no residue if it’s a good one is a decent choice.
Or you can blunt the knife down with a file, a method I least like.
Personally I don’t think you should do either method. But I am old school in that way too. If you tape up your blade everytime you try and do something you will miss points of contact that do cut you, so when you do a risky move for the first time without tape you will still get cut anyway. When you get cut learning the move and keep working that move you will learn much more quickly to have a better technique. Yeah it’s gonna hurt for a bit but you are playing with a knife, you should get used to the fact that you will get cut. Also if you do tape you will never fully know how good you are and you will have an unhealthy mindset of doubt creep in. The only reason I became as fast as I did in such a short time was by doing it old school, and I am rather stil proud of the fact that my record at one time was 23 different cuts…weird I know but those battle scars even a year later were invisible, completely gone. The sharper the knife the quicker it heals.
I think it was the balisong collector (chuck) on BF used to have a signature that said if you don’t bleed you’re either a beginner or a pro.
A compromise between the overly safe and fears of unsafety is to keep the knife sharp but not properly sharp, which has it’s own risks, if you are doing something where a cut might be possible and you do get cut with a blunt knife it’s because there was enough force to bite in and that will not heal as cleanly or as quickly. It’s also ore risky to use as a tool if it is blunt.
But those are the options. Pick one
I get it though, it’s a scary thought to get cut, but you are putting the idea of getting cut on a pedestal, in six months to a year cuts will be normalised and just a part of you. They won’t be the big bad scary monster you’re afraid off.
If you are training with the mindset of training, and doing so carefully, most cuts are minute tiny little things that heal over in a day or two, they are literally smaller than paper cuts. Also, with practise with a live blade there is a skill you will develop that tape users cannot. You develop a sort of instinct about when you are going to get cut and you can literally in mid move no matter how fast you flip will be able to pull the momentum all the way back to the point where you wouldn’t even get cut…Lets just say there is an energy in the live edge you learn to feel and you can learn to ride that pretty closely. I will give you an example. How many people have you seen do the bloody mary move? or the bloody ring? I think thats all the names I gave it back then. The bloody ring is the bite handle roll over, the bloody mary is the same with an extra flip and roll thrown in.
You probably haven’t even heard of it, Right? It’s an (in old noclementure, I hope it hasn’t changed that much) it’s a forward BITE handle roll over. you literally skirt the live edge around the finger the whole way, if you tape you will never learn the propreoceptive instinct that is needed to do this move. I think I am the only person I have ever seen do it. If you have never seen it, msg me and I will send you a link to it to see what I mean. Because you spin the live blade around the whole finger it is literally the most danergous move because it’s hard to get it right without getting cut. The whole purpose is to avoid the cut doing a move that would cut you. It’s a paradoxical little beauty.
If you try and rush to the big moves, you are going to be reminded to slow down tape or no tape. and if you jump into halo ariels or something before your simple otb, thats just asking for trouble. On big moves like this, it’s maybe a good bet to tape for the first few tries. but the way to do these big moves, is learn the timing but don’t add the full body moves to start with. meaning, do the move as if to catch behind the back or what ever but catch it in front whilst still doing the move, you know what I mean?, when you get the timing for that, then go to the back, but only when you instinctively get the timing in front down, because you will know before you catch whether it’s going to be a safe catch or not.

Ayla · Answer

You can’t really , because they’re designed to be dangerous objects. There are some measures you can take to reduce your risk, such as to tape the blade, or only holding only the “safe” handle (the one facing the unsharpened side of blade) but the the thing can always slip out of your hand and cut or poke you. Or you could just make a mistake.
Really, it’s a shared responsibility between the instructor and the student to train as safely as possible. The instructor would be leading him or her through a progression of movements, starting with ones that are really easy and that there’s almost no way that you can screw up or hurt yourself, but which form the foundation for more complex and really more useful movements.
EDITED: In martial arts, the word “trainer” refers to a piece of training equipment that approximates the construction, form, and weight of a weapon (usually a bladed weapon or gun) but is nonfunctional (e.g. has no sharp blade, doesn’t take bullets, etc.). Also referred to as a “drone”. I assumed this was what you meant, but it just now occurred to me that you may have meant “without an instructor”.
For the love of all that is decent, don’t fool around with a (sharp) balisong without expert instruction. For functional knife defense, a balisong is very low on anyone’s list, and not a great choice. Learn a bit about knife self-defence and figure out a good fixed blade or tactical folder. Chris Fry’s article would be helpful. Folding Knife Selection, Carry & Access | MDTSTraining.com And buy a well-made trainer to go with it so you can practice safely.
If you want to do “cheerleader stuff” (cool flips and tricks) with the balisong (and who doesnt?), get either an instructor or a trainer . I’d sooner spend the time learning card tricks. You can show it to a much wider range of people without making them nervous.

Lilybelle · Answer

Put some tape on the bite side of the blade

Sophia · Answer

I would suggest to get a real balisong, file (grind) the edge and dull the point. Tape on the blade might interfere with the openings of the balisong. It can “untape” at the wrong time. Anyway, you can’t tape the point, you have to dull it.
There are balisog openings that are relatively safe even when done with a sharp balisong. Of course there are others, like aerial openings, that are dangerous. Twirling the balisong around a finger as part of the opening process is as dangerous
Stick to the simple, safe openings should you transition from a dulled balisong to a sharp balisong.
Author : Pananandata Guide to Balisong Openings (Unique Publications, 2007); Pananandata Knife Fighting (Paladin Press, 1988):

How can a beginner safely practice balisong without a trainer?

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