The Piper Knife System

...Or, "Oh my fuck, he has a knife!!"

My good friend and teacher Mushtaq Ali is visiting me this weekend, and he brought some video clips of the Piper Knife system from South Africa. For those of you unknowing, Piper is a derivative of the myriad criminal element and gang fighting styles of South Africa, grouped and systemized by Nigel February, Lloyd De Jongh, Erik Petermann and Jason Williams. I have corresponded with the guys a bit, and being unfamiliar with the African Martial Arts, I was really interested in what they had to offer.

Mushtaq brought the clips on a data DVD that wouldn’t work on a regular player, but I couldn’t wait so I ripped them to a playable DVD immediately for us to watch.

Goddam, but these guys are fast.

Nigel moves like a mongoose on crack. Lloyd could make you his bitch and not blink while doing it.

Piper is singularly unorthodox, you can’t really compare it to anything. It doesn’t look like Pencak Silat. The rhythm is different from Kali & other Filipino Martial Arts. It sure as hell isn’t any of the plethora of one-off Jeet Kune Do branches that have gotten so wildly out of control. Personally speaking, I am recognized in some circles as something of a knife combat aficionado, and if I saw Nigel coming for me with a knife I’d just slit my own throat and flip him the finger to rob him of the pleasure of doing it himself. The timing and rhythm/tempo in Piper is indigenous to the art itself, and unless you have a background in dance it won’t be immediately obvious to you. That sounds a little weird, but you really have to see it to believe it. The style of body English is much more reminiscent of dance than fighting, and “traditional” stance and footwork won’t assist you much in trying to decipher it. And don’t get me started on the stab patterns.

Is it really as bad as I’m making it sound? I’m afraid it’s even worse. Seeing these guys going at it full-tilt with live knives is a damn sobering sight. Most of what Mushtaq gave me can be found on their website HERE. In particular, check out Nigel rocking the house on Clip 5 in the "clips" section, it’s my favorite.

Watching their training methods, I realized something: They are truly the emerging modern knife martial art, and for once it’s an art that seems unencumbered by ceremony and convention. It’s MOTION, pure and simple, in a complex flow system.

Nigel & the boys deserve a better review than the one I’m giving them, but I don’t have a good enough command of the English language to do them justice.

Now Piper does have one glaring weakness: It is useless against cement trucks. Like the one I’m buying tomorrow…

I’m going to make a prediction about Piper: Most Americans won't understand it at first. It doesn't have the look and feel of the familiar kung fu we have known for the past three decades. But trust me, it will scare the living hell out of you, and it will NOT be accepted by the current “Martial Arts” consensus. It’s not conventional. There isn’t any bowing. No belts to tie. It doesn’t “Fit” into any category other than it’s own. The concepts and training methods are unique, and to be perfectly honest, awe-inspiring.

People already badmouth this system due to it’s highly unorthodox methods and criminal origin. But Piper has found a growing following among dedicated martial artists who recognize it’s combat prowess. And, like Wing Chun, Kali and Pencak Silat before it, Piper will finally be slowly assimilated into mainstream martial systems due to it’s undeniable efficiency. But there still will always be the naysayers who decry the lack of morals and tradition to be a stumbling block instead of a stepping stone.

Which is just fine with me. I’ll have it & you WON’T.

Guess which side of dead that makes you?