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| | | News and Updates- Posted 12 March 2007: Cold steel Okapi?
Piper’s influence on the martial arts mainstream has been clearly acknowledged, now that Cold Steel knives has just produced a replica of the obscure Okapi knife.
This was found on the Cold Steel web site, re a knife called the Kudu, a replica of the Okapi that is commonly used here in South Africa. There is one strangely glaring contradictory statement highlighted below.
“In South Africa, an inexpensive ring lock folder is sold everywhere. It’s a good design, but it’s constructed from sub-standard materials, is poorly made, and is horribly overpriced. And yet, millions of these knives are sold there each year. Well, we thought we could do better, in the quality of materials, cutting performance, and in price.”
Does this mean Cold Steel, known for making superb knives, will offer the Kudu for sale in South Africa? It would prove to be, at the very least, twice as expensive as an Okapi at the going price, however I don’t doubt they would do an excellent job of producing it, with their reputation.
The people using the Okapi knife who are largely responsible for its notoriety have probably never heard of Cold Steel knives, and use the Okapi for very specific reasons, which are not obvious at first glance. I realise we’ve never discussed the Okapi at any length, but I think we can tackle that in another post soon.
It is nice to see the “Okapi” moving up in the world and becoming a tad more “up market”. Its popularity should definitely rise now. Well done, Cold Steel.
The original Okapi knife web site is here: http://www.okapi-knives.com
- Posted 12 march 2007: Have a look at the discussion going on here: http://www.usualsuspect.net/forums/showthread.php?t=180464
It was a fairly good discussion, until the Admin (Zzzen Dog, who is apparently rock solid in every respect. No really, it’s part of his credentials on the site) got intimidated ala:
[QUOTE] “Apologies to Barry and Brian... you guys have been doing a great job about keeping this thing moderated. But I'm calling bullshit on Lloyd.
I don't care whether your stuff works or not. You don't come into our house and spout your hyped up marketing crap.
Not welcomed, not wanted. Belladeau1, you should know better than to bring this into the USN, or at the very least been the first person shutting Lloyd's marketing hype down.” [/QUOTE]
Now interestingly, I had posted the following comment a page or two PRIOR, in response to allegations of “marketing”, as referenced below. I must add that the individual quoted below wasn’t himself making a claim about us marketing (he seems like a decent guy that I have spoken with on other forums, and he does come out in my defence in the posts), he was referring to others’ claims of our marketing.
[QUOTE by Belladeau1] “I hadn’t seen Piper myself in spite of a huge effort to find it, until recently. So when I found it I wanted to share it with my brothers and sisters here, some people don't care for the marketing that’s why I put the disclaimer up. I've never discounted a system or style because I didn't like its pedigree.” [/QUOTE]
[My response]: “I guess our ‘marketing’ wasn’t too efficient then ;-)
* Again, which "marketing" is this exactly? We don't sell a single product. Not a book, not a magazine, not a knife, not a training blade, not a seminar, not even classes... So what "marketing" is this that's referred to?
(So what are people actually objecting to, and why?) [/QUOTE]
I rest my case.
- Posted 07 March 2007: The final interview is up, that would be with me. Check the Media page for the other interviews and clips. In other news, Erik will be publishing a new Piper site in the near future. We’ll keep you posted.
The pictures have also been updated with pictures 15-23. These were taken by Paul Blomgren, Swedish journalist and Capoeira teacher that Nigel and I studied with during his time in South Africa. He also wrote an article on Piper that you can find on the Urban Shield site - see the Articles page, Interview with Fighter magazine.
- Posted 03 March 2007: There’s been a great deal of attention focused on Piper of late. Of course there is the high level of controversy as accompaniment. There’s always a bunch of di..., er, knowledgeable individuals who think it’s FMA, or just like FMA, or just like what they do, or whatever.
On the positive side you can read some fascinating Piper-related blog posts by prominent martial artists here:
Author Steve Perry has written an excellent post over at:
http://themanwhonevermissed.blogspot.com/2007/02/cut-and-run.html
Mushtaq Ali has a review of the Piper Forum here:
http://tracelesswarrior.blogspot.com/2007/02/theres-new-forum-in-town-boys.html
Mike Blackgrave of BaHad Zu’Bu has written this post:
http://sunkete.blogspot.com/2007/02/piper.html
The irreverent, undeniably humorous and clearly knowledgeable Bobbe Edmonds has this to say:
http://currythief.blogspot.com/2007/02/piper-knife-system.html
Be sure to read the comments at Steve Perry’s blog too, it generated some good discussion.
There’s been some serious talk here: http://www.selfdefenseforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13520&highlight=piper
Of course more clips are going up all the time right now. The links above are repeated on the Piper Links page on our blog, and both Nigel’s and Jason’s interviews are now online.
- Posted 15 February 2007: The Piper Forum is online and open all to speak about Piper or whatever else is on their minds. Go to http://forum.pipersystem.com to register and start talking.
Check out the Media page to download the new clips and interviews.
- Posted 12 February 2007: The blog has grown and is doing really well. Go to http://blog.pipersystem.com to read what is currently 29 articles. Please post any comments you have, we do answer. The Media page will be growing shortly, I’m preparing to add 14 or 15 new .AVI video clips. There’s a new one of Nigel doing some close-in swapping and spiking in .3gp format.
Are any of you in Dubai? I’m going to be there later this month for a while. E-mail me. I’ve hurt my arm, so nothing too strenuous is on the cards till it heals, which will take a while longer with me filming the clips against doctor’s orders.
I’ve rewritten the front page somewhat. And I’m still waiting for Mushtaq to add his long-awaited post. Check out the new pics in the Articles section - linked to the page “Why Cops Shoot”. Warning, they’re not pretty.
- Posted on 17 November 2006: I have added a couple of new pictures to the images page. They are of a ‘26’, a Numbers gang member showing his tattoos and one of him holding a Sable. I have a larger image of him holding the knife here. I’ve added them to the Images page on the blog at http://pipersystem.com/blog/images/
Again, have a look at the The Traceless Warrior blog. A new Piper post has gone up, and it’s a conversation with Musashi Flex author, Steve Perry.
Japi Cilliers has written a post which I’ve added to the blog. I was going to add it as a Bio/History on the site - but it’s a great blog. Check it out on our blog link.
- Posted on 10 November 2006: Our blog, A Pointed Truth, can be seen at http://blog.pipersystem.com
Nikko will be in New York in the next few days. Contact him and learn more about Piper.
The Traceless Warrior has posted a fascinating new blog re Piper, as well as a powerful post on Scott Sonnon’s forum. As always, the articles are well-written, absorbing, are entertaining narratives, critical perspectives and entertaining reading. That’s 5 articles now... we are honoured to be so favoured by him. While you’re there, read through his blog - you’ll find his other material compelling, thought-provoking reading.
- Posted on 1 November 2006: We’ve uploaded a clip made a couple of years ago by an enterprising kid named Aviv. It’s converted to .3gp format, in other words it will run on a cell phone, or an application like Nokia Multimedia Converter. The file can be found on the Media Page, or you can just grab it from here << This link removed temporarily (Wed, 25 July 2007). It’s the first file in the list. Not bad for a 17yr old we say.
- Posted on 27 October 2006: There has been another blog added to http://tracelesswarrior.blogspot.com on the subject of Piper and Cape/South African knife fighting. I found the author’s honesty and forthrightness refreshing, and in one case, surprising. I cracked up laughing early on. While some may lose a night’s sleep over it, others will get a kick out of it. Browse on over and enjoy.
We are awaiting the final edit of interviews conducted by John Morales during his stay here in Cape Town. Once completed we will host the clips online for public download. Kaya, as he is known, interviewed Nigel February, Jason Williams and myself. Nigel and Jason give excellent narratives on what we’re all about. I merely rambled on in front of the camera as far as I can tell. We’ll update you as we have word.
Both Kaya and Nikko have shared with us some of their experiences with regard to how Piper was received after demonstrating it to others, sparring with others and teaching it to interested parties - those others being soldiers, seasoned Martial Artists and security professionals. We will ask them to write us a brief report about it and post it on the site.
- Posted on 25 October 2006: Nikko and Kaya recently returned to the US and Afghanistan after spending 3 weeks training with Nigel. It was a fantastic experience having them here. They are two of the most genuine guys one could hope to meet, and we’re proud to call them friends - and sad to see them go. They’re both security professionals and are now recognised as Guardians of the Piper System.
There are some interesting narratives on http://tracelesswarrior.blogspot.com re Piper. The author has had some first hand exposure to Cape Town knife while visiting Africa. The blog is well-written and informative, and the 3 Piper mentions make for compelling reading.
There is an interesting discussion by Bandile Dlabantu and others, including Marc MacYoung, on the Eskrima Digest forum. Click this link to go to the search page. Search on the term ‘Piper System’. I found 7 fascinating articles ranging from Okapi knives, Black tribal history that many will find enlightening as it kills a few sacred bulls, information on South African township culture and more. Bandile is an intelligent, accomplished Martial Artist whom I met some years ago when he invited me to teach a seminar at his MA school in Grahamstown. Marc MacYoung is the author of several superb books and videos on criminality and personal safety, and we have drawn on the knowledge and experience he has shared with us in our own learning.
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| | | This web site is Copyright © 2004 Lloyd De Jongh (Urban Shield cc)
‘The Piper System©’ is an original name chosen by Nigel February for the system he created
Please E-mail Lloyd on lloyd at pipersystem.com with questions or comments
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