Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/840553
Bob Kasper Bob Kasper is the man, from whom a history of the CRKT Companion has begun. In 1969–1973 he served in the United States Marine Corps. After the Corps, his interest in martial arts grown. At the beginning he has trained karate shito-ryu and judo with Yoshisada Yonezuka, the United States Olympic Judo Team coach. Nevertheless, a lack of conviction to efficiency of the Asian martian arts in a real life scenarios has induced Kasper to look for a different solutions. The meeting with Charles Nelson, instructor of military combatives, who has trained soldiers during the WW2 has turned out to be a break-through point. After an initial discussion about the expectations related to the training, this inconspicuous older man has handed over a handkerchief and a knife dummy to Kasper and has encouraged him to attack. Bob has made a few not too aggressive attempts, and finally, while noticing an explicit "Charlie's" irritation he has attacked him with the full violence. Nelson has spit him in the face and by kicking in the groin has laid him down on the ground. After a while he has reached his hand and, helping Kasper to stand up, he has said: "And now use the handkerchief and wipe yourself off." This dirty move in the shabby New York gym has convinced Kasper more than Far East sophistication and since then, the WW2 Combative techniques have become a bedrock of his training. The system consisted of four elements – a fight with a stick, knife, pistol and bare hands. Its assumptions have consisted in a maximum simplicity and effectiveness; it has been also postulated to avoid a confrontation, when it is not absolutely necessary. The experiences gained both during the service and work with Nelson has resulted in beginning, at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, his own combatives training business, which culminated with the Gung Ho Chuan Association (GHCA), founded by Kasper and two other ex- Marines in 1992. At the beginning, the school has been training USMC and the other services, and further its activity has been extended with classes for civilians. Kni-Com Using knowledge and skills developed since the 1970s and experience gained during his work for DynCorp in Bosnia and for Blackwater in Mexico, Israel and Afghanistan, Kasper has created knife combat system. The Kni-Com consisted of both the Western military techniques, in which it has been emphasized a prevalence of the pushes over cuts, and the techniques observed among criminals. The system, which has been characterized by a desire to achieve a maximum strength of attack, has also put a great deal of emphasis on the quick drawing weapons from the various positions. It www.fragoutmag.com