May membership drive: three ways to win!

START A ROUGH ‘N’ TUMBLE CLUB IN YOUR TOWN. No experience necessary! We’ll give you advice, send you templates for flyers, and so on. But if you do it this month, we’ll even send you a get started box with business cards, t-shirts, a Heritage Arts flag, and a table banner for events! Email mitch@heritageartsinc.com to get started!

BRING A FRIEND, EARN A FEAT AND GET A FREE SHIRT. Distance learners: if you get a friend to sign up, you’ll earn a feat in the program and you’ll both get a free shirt. Just tell them to put your name in the “referred by” slot on the application. Members in the RVA club, bring a friend and the same goes for you!

HOMECOMING BONUS. Attention previous distance learners who had to drop out: re-start this month and you can pick up right where you left off. If you were in the program before we had bandana ranks, we’ll evaluate your progress since then, award you the appropriate bandana rank, and get you back into the program. And we’ll send you a free shirt to boot! Email mitch@heritageartsinc.com to get re-started!

METTLE MAKER #498: Knives for Self-Defense?

I enjoy watching Icy Mike and Sensei Seth. They are smart, skilled, and funny. I would say I agree with their conclusions and opinions far mare than I don’t. But Icy Mike’s recent knife video got a lot wrong.

It was tactically correct, but it was strategically wrong and morally reprehensible.

Watch the video on the right for the fun version.

Here are the full details.

Court cases involving knife use for self-defense center on three main legal hurdles: deadly force classification, proportionality, and imminent threat.
Courts almost always classify defensive use of a knife—even if you just wave it around! — as deadly force. This means the legal bar for justification is significantly higher than for non-lethal tools like tactical pens, flashlights, canes, pepper spray, etc.
Sure, as a technical matter, you can typically only use a knife if you reasonably believe you are in immediate danger of death or great bodily harm.
But that said, using a knife against an unarmed attacker who is only using fists often leads to convictions for aggravated assault or manslaughter, as the force is ruled disproportionate.
The court will attempt to determine if you escalated or de-escalated the situation. If you "brought a knife to a fistfight” you may be viewed as the aggressor. That’s called “excessive force.” TLDR: you’re going to jail.
Even if the use of force is ruled justified, many defendants still face criminal convictions for the weapon itself. If the knife's blade length, opening mechanism (e.g., switchblade), or concealment violates local statutes, you could be acquitted of assault but still sentenced for unlawful possession of a weapon.
In states without "Stand Your Ground" laws, your failure to run away before using the knife can result in a guilty verdict, regardless of how dangerous the attacker was.
Because "knife fights" are messy and evidence is often ambiguous (both parties are frequently injured), many cases end in plea bargains for lesser assault charges to avoid the risk of a murder trial. You plead guilty to a felony, then you lose your job and become mostly unemployable.
Even with a "not guilty" verdict in criminal court, defendants are frequently sued in civil court, where the burden of proof is lower and "wrongful death" or "personal injury" claims can lead to massive financial judgments. Ouch.
Using a knife for defense is legally equivalent to using a firearm but lacks the same "defensive tool" public perception, often making it harder to prove "reasonable" intent to a jury.
Finally, and most importantly, there is the moral dimension. KILLING IS WRONG.

So use a tactical pen, flashlight, or walking stick instead.

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Sacred Reading for pentecost sunday 5/24/26

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