FEATURED AUTHOR
GREG WALKER

Writer . . . Author . . . Editor . . . Martial Artist . . . Instructor . . .
Green Beret . . . Combat Veteran . . . Community Activist . . .
Law Enforcement Professional

Greg Walker is perhaps best known as the founder and executive editor of Fighting Knives and Full Contact magazines. For eight years he chaired what came to be regarded as the two most innovative, interactive, and controversial specialty publications in the wide-ranging fields of custom and production cutlery and the martial arts. Of Mr. Walker’s presence in these realms, acknowledged martial arts icon and Paladin Press author Kelly Worden writes, “Greg would simply tell the readership that ‘our goal is to re-educate the public--provide honest, accurate facts and provocative insights that challenge a suppressed and misinformed society.’ It was as simple as that.”

Yet Greg Walker himself is anything but simple. Today a law enforcement professional in the Pacific Northwest, he is certified as an instructor in no less than 14 law enforcement-related fields of discipline. He is considered one of the leading specialists on domestic terrorism in his state and is active as a tactical team leader and countersniper for his department.

The U.S. Army and various law enforcement agencies have honored Mr. Walker with a number of distinguished awards and decorations for his service to country and community. He is an ardent advocate of proactive community policing and works closely with neighborhood watch groups in high-crime areas.

To date he has written or been featured in more than 350 articles covering a multitude of subjects. His work has appeared in such noted magazines and professional journals as Soldier Of Fortune, Survive, EasyRider, Counterterrorism & Security International, Intelligence Report, Blade, Knives Illustrated, Blade Trade, Knife World, Guns & Ammo, Fighting Knives, Full Contact, SWAT, U.S. News & World Report, International Combat Arms, Eagle, Gung-Ho, Jane’s International Police Review, Rider, and Behind the Lines. He has also appeared on 60 Minutes, The Today Show, and The History Channel.

Mr. Walker has written a well-received nine-book action-adventure series and coauthored two Navy SEAL biographies. His book At the Hurricane’s Eye is highly regarded within the U.S. special operations community. Greg was recently invited to serve as Richard Marcinko’s coauthor for the best-selling Rogue Warrior action-thriller series published by Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books. Mr. Walker’s popular “Battle Blades” trilogy (Battle Blades, Modern Knife Combat, and KA-BAR) is published by Paladin Press, which also produced Death from the Shadows, his informative cutlery-based video on special operations sentry stalking and neutralization.

QUOTABLE QUOTES FROM SIFU WALKER

—On close-quarters combatives and killing techniques—
“I was afforded the opportunity to study hand-to-hand and knife combatives under several blooded military instructors. In El Salvador, I had the opportunity to teach close combatives techniques to selected reconnaissance/sniper team members, techniques immediately proven effective based upon guerrilla body counts racked up by these units. I guess you could say my ‘black belt’ comes in the form of a green felt hat, which I’m very proud to have earned in the traditional manner.”

—On ranking in the martial arts—
“People study the arts for a number of reasons, and many–to include myself–are simply more interested in the skill factor as opposed to the social status conferred by a belt. But unless I continue to learn, to practice, and to reach for new levels of expertise and understanding, what real significance does ‘ranking’ have?”

—On the most negative trait among martial artists—
“The condemnation of other practitioners, styles, systems, or methods of training based on deliberate ignorance.”

—On the actual use of a knife for self-defense—
“Defensive knife fighting is a life-saving—not taking—skill. Therefore, there must be discretionary use of the blade.”

—On “the man in the arena”—
“Unfair or undue commentary or criticism aimed at a man or woman often creates a pure sense of the individual striving alone in his personal or professional quest for excellence. A man taking on the odds, fighting–in many cases against those who can’t or choose not to be of assistance–is simply seeking to reach that lofty mountaintop where only one can stand comfortably and without reservation in the presence of his achievement.”

—On training—
“A little training goes a long way.”

—More on training—
“In all applications you need to feel what you did right and what you did wrong.”

—On the perfect fighting knife—
“It is the knife you have with you at the time of the encounter.”

—On the current selection of cutlery and martial arts publications—
“They nibble at the edges and are well satisfied with what little such nibbling affords their readerships.”

—On Internet chat rooms—
“Unless monitored and edited by a responsible caretaker, or Web master, Internet sites and chat rooms become garbage dumps and cesspools filled with the droppings of the bitter, the spiteful, the uninformed, and the bogus.”

—More on cyberspace chat rooms—
“Get a life!”

—On tactical folding knives—
“Trained individuals and high-risk specialists such as professional bodyguards can pop a tactical folder open from its clipped position in their front pants pocket faster than a man going for either a shoulder-carried firearm or sheath-carried belt knife. Practice and practical carry methods develop the speed of access and unsheathing/opening skills necessary for the safe and appropriate employment of a tactical folder.”

—On knives in general—
“They are first and foremost tools. They are best kept simple in design and materials. They are the means, not the ends. Inexpensive and functional is good. Form must follow function. The ability to properly use a knife, regardless of the task or chore, is called SKILL. A knife by itself can do nothing. A knife, any knife, put into action by trained hands will always accomplish something.”

—More on knives—
“The knife is a utility item that will more likely see service coring an apple for a hungry child than slitting open a terrorist’s throat.”

—On knife writers—
“Talk the talk, walk the walk.”

—On women in the martial arts and cutlery industry—
“Invaluable. Refreshing. Intuitive. Challenging. Left out. Cut out. Consigned to minimal roles with faint voices by all too many in both fields. Why? Because if the truth is given the opportunity to be demonstrated they will seriously kick their often overstuffed male counterparts’ asses as well as egos.”

—On Life—
“Like a book. Opening page, closing page. Many chapters in between. Each is his or her own author and reader. It is as interesting as one makes it. We can choose to elevate and encourage or denigrate and discourage by how we ‘write’ our individual stories in the time allowed us.”

Q & A

Paladin: What actually happened with Fighting Knives and Full Contact magazines?
Walker: The publisher, as part of a corporate downsizing plan, discontinued both titles. It was a financial strategy meant to free up investment capital for other, perhaps more lucrative, projects. Only the subscription list for Fighting Knives was sold. The title itself, to my knowledge, is still owned by the magazine’s former publisher. Such is life in the world of magazine publishing.

Paladin: Are you still teaching close-quarter blade work and self-defense?
Walker: Yes. But on a limited basis and to carefully screened students and friends.

Paladin: Of the Paladin “Battle Blades” trilogy which is your favorite book?
Walker: As part of a trilogy, each book supports its brothers. In the first [Battle Blades] I enjoyed sharing what I’d learned about knives in general with an extended family of readers. In the second book [Modern Knife Combat] I enjoyed sharing what I’d learned about knife training with this same but growing family of readers. In the final book [KA-BAR: The Next Generation of the Ultimate Fighting Knife], I was able to accomplish two things. First, the book allows me to give proper historical credit where such credit is overdue regarding the most important U.S. production cutlery project in the last 50 years. Secondly, KA-BAR closes the circle where my knife education and training are concerned. The first two books merge into a physical representation (the 21st Century KA-BAR fighting knife) in the third and final book.

Paladin: In your professional opinion, what is the most practical tactical folder available for 2001?
Walker: In fairness, I can only share which three such folding knives I personally have found great favor with and today carry on a regular basis (this according to my needs and level of training). I am very fond of the new AMK law enforcement folding knives, both automatic and manual opening. As a true tactical folder, there is none better than Kelly Worden’s latest design from Timberline Knives. Again, this is a liner lock with an automatic version offered by AMK. Perhaps the best all-around tactical folder from a production firm is CRKT’s M16 line from designer Kit Carson. I should not leave out Bob Kasper’s excellent tactical folder, again from CRKT.

Paladin: Best fixed-blade fighting knife?
Walker: KA-BAR Next Generation or D2 Extreme.

Paladin: Best bowie knife?
Walker: Trailmaster from Cold Steel.

Paladin: Who is offering the best knife training in the United States today?
Walker: There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of unknown yet highly accomplished knife instructors in the United States today. To be fair, allow me to acknowledge their presence and skills right up front. My three preferred instructors continue to be Kelly Worden, James Keating, and Paul Vunak. You can, in my opinion, get everything you need to from either of these three.

Paladin: What is the goal(s) of any form of martial arts study or training?
Walker: Maturity and proficiency.

Paladin: Are you personally studying a martial art today?
Walker: Yes–Verbal Judo. My sifu is Dr. George Thompson, the founder of the art. Verbal Judo is the art of tactical communication. It is the art of voluntary compliance. It is both a martial and healing art.

Paladin: Both Fighting Knives and Full Contact have become underground classics to their audiences. How does this make you feel?
Walker: Pleased. We were truly renegade publications. Meaning only that we broke away from the traditional, the conventional, the accepted, and forged our own path with little thought given to how either the martial arts or cutlery industries felt about us. Our readerships proved to be astute, eager, loyal, and critical, and they enjoyed being both educated and entertained. Along the way, both titles were able to present notable rising stars in their areas of expertise. Today many of these “unknowns” are very popular and quite successful. Fighting Knives and Full Contact were quality vehicles of information.

Paladin: Who, in your opinion, is the best writer on close-quarters knife work in the magazine realm today?
Walker: Bob Kasper.

Paladin: What is the study of close-quarters knife work?
Walker: It is the process of becoming a humble and peaceful human being.

Paladin: Are you working on any knife-related projects at this time?
Walker: I would like to bring a tactical folder design out in 2002. My design is simple, straightforward, strong, agile in the hand, and visually attractive without being scary.

Paladin: Do you have a martial arts or cutlery “hero”?
Walker: Yes. In the arts it is Dr. Richard Strozzi Heckler. His book In Search of the Warrior Spirit is highly recommended. He was the most positive force in Full Contact magazine. In the world of knives and knife makers, Gil Hibben and Woody Woodcock come to mind. Both are custom knife makers, and both make superb working as well as art knives. They, in their own right, are likewise exceptionally positive forces for the art of knife making.

BATTLE BLADES
A PROFESSIONAL'S GUIDE TO COMBAT/FIGHTING KNIFE

KA-BAR
THE NEW GENERATION OF THE ULTIMATE FIGHTING KNIFE

DEATH FROM THE SHADOWS
TECHNIQUES OF SENTRY STALKING AND SILENT ELIMINATION