Every journey begins and ends with a single step. In between is a story, in this case the story of knife fighting and the warrior path. It is a story told in motion, adventure, and knowledge. Like the river itself, moving ever into the future and sharing its gifts with all in its path, was the Riddle of Steel.

From near and far, across oceans and across the States, thirty-seven men gathered in Clarkston, Washington for a trip up the Snake River into famed Hell's Canyon, the deepest river gorge in North America. We were a motley crew, a diverse bunch of knife-makers, bikers, doctors and professional warriors. We came together for a single purpose: the “tactical buffet” that is the Riddle of Steel and the experience of training under Master At Arms James A. Keating.

Master At Arms James A. Keating and the author.

The seventy-mile trip south on the North-flowing Snake River was beautiful. Going deeper and deeper into the heart of the Earth, the land around us changed. The lava flow deposits were left behind for the hard up-thrust rock terrain created when tectonic plates crashed together millions of years ago, driving rock upwards and carving the landscape for the future.

The rugged terrain that is Hell's Canyon and the Snake River.

The future was a theme for the training and events of ROS 2003 from the very beginning. The motto was, “Be Trained or Be Chained.” It fit. The world is changing and we have to change with it.  We must be ready but also know how to blend in, to “conceal our treasures,” as they say. Such discretion was key at the hotel on the evening before and the morning of our departure. Our claws were hidden out of sight and we did our best to look like normal folks going up the river on any old tour.

Many times over the following days we spoke of the future and the need to be trained, to be prepared on all levels. Red Dawn it is not, but we are indeed living in interesting and demanding times. James Keating made sure we could fill our plates with a great selection of the skills and knowledge to meet those demands.

When we arrived at Copper Creek, our lodge for the days up-river, we formed a chain and moved the luggage up from the boat to the hill.  There, our hosts, Russ and Cindy, the Copper Creek caretakers, had a tractor waiting to transport the luggage up to the camp proper. This was a big help, as the spinal injuries sustained by our knife and sheath makers transporting their gear up that steep hill would needlessly have taken some great talents from the world.

When we got our luggage sorted out, we all trucked off to find our rooms. Once I found my quarters and got my stuff stowed away, I went back out and helped others get their stuff up to their rooms. Everyone found rooms pretty easily, except for Jim – who ended up tucked into a spare room being used for storage, but took it with a smile.

Once we’d all gotten our quarters and luggage squared away, we gathered again for a packed lunch of sandwiches and sodas. Introductions not made at the hotel or on the docks were made there as we ate.  Then we all headed to the clearing above the river for a basic introductory talk and safety lecture from James. He reminded us of the responsibilities and possible dangers we take on while being in the wild. We were in bear and big cat country and were instructed to keep our eyes and ears open accordingly. The basics of how things were to be done was gone over. James explained to us that it wasn’t a terribly strict schedule and we were welcome to attend the sessions we wanted and take off from the ones in which we weren’t interested, going for walks, or just kicking back in our rooms or in the chow-hall to have a cup of coffee.

After wrapping up that initial talk, things moved pretty quickly. James produced a box of goodies from Spyderco and out came thirty-five brand new Temperance Trainers – gifts from Sal Glesser, Spyderco head honcho and past Riddler. There were two Spydercos too few, so two guys were left out of the initial freebie fun, but those of us who really needed better trainers than what we had brought greatly appreciated Sal’s gesture and the kindness of the two who stepped back and let the rest of us at the items.

Spyderco Temperance Trainer.  Photo by Phil Elmore.

The trainers were very nice, mimicking the weight and feel of live Temperance blades.  They were complete with well done Kydex sheaths fitted with BladeTech Tek-Loks. We used these tools more than any other during the event and everyone seemed pleased with them as general trainers.

Once trainers had been handed out, James gave Shomer-Tec catalogs to all who wanted them. We then moved right into our first training session. Our first practice was transitioning the knife from forward grip to reverse grip by means of spinning between index finger and thumb. After we had gotten that down we moved into a different type of grip transition, flipping the knife between our middle and ring fingers to go from forward into reverse. Once we got those down James and his instructing partner demonstrated a six-point drill using the two transition methods. Then everyone found a partner and we started working that drill. It was slow at first, but everyone got into the swing of things very quickly and easily.

There was a roughly even mix of new guys and more experienced folks, many instructors in their own rights, so those of us doing these things for the first time were always able to get help and improve very quickly with the guidance of our more experienced partners or instructors acting as observers.

From that six-point drill we moved into Enganyo, Gunting and Tsumketi. We closed out the afternoon session with a brief run-down of Redondo and then took a short break before moving into evening pre-dinner exercises.

James brought a special friend of his, Santos Garcia, to lead us in some meditations and show us some new things in that area. Every afternoon was closed out with such exercises. Personal opinions will vary, but it was a relaxing experience and helped me at least to remember the day’s lessons.  I could transfer from training mode to a more kicked back attitude for dinner and the relaxed happenings of the nights. I found myself very glad Santos was there and always enjoyed talking with him. Being so far from home, it was nice to meet someone who was from my part of the world originally and knew where my little home town was when I said its name.

Dinners were prepared by the Copper Creek caretakers, Russ and Cindy, and were always very good. The first night we were greeted with hors d'oeuvres and then a very full meal of prime rib. Every night promised and delivered the best eats and the best conversation. True to James’ words, we ate very well.

As the dinner gathering dissolved, some of us moved off to the game room where Wendell Fox had taken over a table in the corner and Robert Humelbaugh had spread out across the pool table. Rob Patton rounded out this trifecta before the evening was out, taking over a small end of the pool table. Some may argue that such a collection of beautiful and deadly items in such a small space would be dangerous to people with weak hearts, but I opine that it is only dangerous to those of us with weak wills and full wallets.

Wendell Fox’s wares: working knives, axes and fighters, oh my!

Wendell Fox, in addition to being a really nice guy, makes some of the nicest blades out there. He has a “martial sense” to his defensive and fighting tools that is rare and has a great ability to shape a handle and blade to create a good looking, well moving piece that is comfortable in the hand. He had several small and medium fighters, wonderful little mini-Bowies with textured G-10 handles, several working knives, hunters, and skinners that exhibited a great deal of common sense with regard to dressing game, and some larger pieces that included a couple of Bowies, a wonderful fighting bolo, and a couple of axes. Wendell can do some of the most beautiful work and the finest of finishes with great skill, but he presented a great variety of user-grade knives too.

This sense of “user grade” knife doesn’t have extremely high finish and there are tooling marks left on the blades, but in my opinion this is an honest thing, not a lack of effort on the part of the maker. The work is top notch, with not a flaw on it, but the understanding that a user knife doesn’t need a perfect finish, that such will only make it harder to get it out and do stuff with it, is distinctly present. Despite being a young guy, I’ve been raised around people who hold opinions on knives like that – so I appreciate that more old-school thought because I apply it often in my own work.

Of course, the ability to finish a knife off to an absolute perfect T, in the areas of comfort, feel, and appearance, demands its own respect. Respect is exactly what the awe-inspiring creations of Rob Patton demanded and received. Rob didn’t have a large spread of knives, but he had more than enough. Everything he presented was impressive, from a blade with his signature “Mini-Gun Damascus” forged from shot-out Mini-Gun barrels, to an impeccably well-balanced large fighting knife that most of us were calling a short sword. In between were 180s, Rob’s wonderful little pikal knives, their conventionally oriented brother the 360, a guarded Mariah fighter, a very nice single-edged camp knife that balanced nicely to double as a fighter, and a Mandrita fighting Bowie. Of them all I was most taken with the short sword, the Mandrita and, being a pikal guy, the 180s.

Rob’s work is truly flawless, fit and finish are perfect, his handle shapes and contours are wonderfully hand filling, and he can balance a blade as good as any I’ve ever seen. The short sword was very much, in style, like a much longer fighting Bowie with a hand and a half grip, but beyond its appearance it handled like a smaller blade – light, fast and with a lot of power; a real flesh eater. The Mandrita handled equally as well, very comfortable in the hand, feeling like a smaller knife, light and fast moving, but with the power of a Bowie. All Rob’s fighters led themselves into each movement but were still light enough to re-direct in a heartbeat.

Robert Humelbaugh laid out a wide selection of blades and tactical tools mounted in his sheaths and carry rigs. There were several Gryphon M10 boot knives, in belt or shoulder harnesses, several Ontario pieces including an RTAK in a shoulder rig, a couple of American Tomahawk Co. Vietnam Tacticals, a Brend tactical, and more small goodies than could be counted.  There were “Crook Hooks” from Szabo Inc., Ti-Bops and titanium ice picks from Shomer-Tec, packs of QuickClot, and several FrontSight HideAway knives.

Kevin Sakai also came in with a few of his little pieces, some very cool little neck or hide-out knives with rubberized handles and well made Kydex sheaths. Kevin is a bit of a newcomer to the knife-making world, but I think he will go far. Right now his knives are on par with many I have seen from more established makers.

It was fun hanging out with these gentlemen and those who came to look and pick up some new pieces of gear that evening and the evenings that followed. I learned a lot just looking and handling, but also from talking to these masters of their craft. Anyone who spent time in that room walked away with as much value in tools as those who bought things, but ours was conceptual rather than physical. I finally ended up buying a shoulder rig, complete with 21” ASP baton, from Robert and have been much satisfied with it. Anyone looking for defensive tools, utility tools, and top-notch carry gear need look no farther than the above-mentioned gents.

Sleep came easily after a long, exciting day. After a few minutes of final note taking for the day I was dead to the world. There was no “wake-up” bell or anything, as James had told us the first day things were pretty relaxed and if you needed that extra bit of sleep you should go ahead and take it. Nonetheless, most everyone was up by 0630, although many were up several hours before that. We’d gather out in the clearing where we did our training and just kind of stand around, talking, doing drills and engaging in morning stretching exercises, until James and Santos showed up.

James and Santos would lead us in some morning exercises to center and calm ourselves, fully shaking off the lingering fog of sleep. We would then move right into the first session of the morning. The opening of each session was punctuated by 35 sharp “click” sounds shattering the still of the camp as those of us who had them drew our new Spyderco Temperance Trainers from their Kydex sheaths.

Morning training has always been one of my favorite things: wake early, get outside, and work some drills. It really wakes you up and gets things flowing. That said, at breakfast every morning the coffee was a welcome part of a complete meal. Breakfast itself was always a delight and served us well to nourish our bodies for the training ahead.

The second day was in many ways the best day, at least on a personal level. I learned so many new things and had such a great time that it is hard to remember it all, but several things stick out in my mind. Based on drills from the first day and earlier in the second day, we moved into some “combat sets” that involved knife on knife work, where we would perform a disarm and then take our “opponent” down with a blade around the neck, controlling the upper body via the former knife arm.  We covered variations on that theme, including taking our opponent as a “human shield.” I had a lot of fun with these and learned a lot as well. These exercises would be much talked about over the following two days. As with all things we learned from a conceptual platform. The more it was discussed and played with, the more we learned from it.

James Keating and his assistant demonstrate drills while Riddlers observe.

The second day also included a really nice hike above the lodge and down-river a ways via the trail. James told us a lot about the history of the area, as well as sharing interesting tidbits with us about exploration, geology and local flora and fauna. We got to see some really pretty views as we went along. The landscape changed as we moved one way or another, higher or lower. It is truly a powerful place to be and I found myself in awe of my natural surroundings more than once. We looked into a few caves and overhangs, took time to look and learn as Jim taught us about native herbs, and generally had a really good time on the walk. It was as uplifting and enlightening as the training itself.

Jim explains one of the local herbs to the hikers.

We returned to the lodge for a bit and then proceeded down a different trail to a small sandbar out in the river. The way was rocky and one had to watch for prickly pear cactus, but it was definitely a neat little place. Somewhat secluded against the side of the hills, down river from the lodge, we spent a while down there kicking around, skipping rocks and watching Robert Humelbaugh sling rocks with his sling. The slings were a popular pastime at river's edge between sessions. Many of the Riddlers tried their hands at it, with many more of us happy to just watch – from a distance.

Robert Humelbaugh working with a sling on the sandbar.

It was decided that we would return to the sandbar for some Bowie training later in the event. It seemed only fitting to all of us that our Bowie work be done on a sandbar, so with fond thoughts of large steel we all headed back up to the lodge.

Perhaps the most interesting training experience of the day came that night after dinner when James got a group of us back out to the clearing where we trained and broke out the light-sticks. The idea was to work some of the passing drills we had worked earlier in the day, but to do it in the dark with just the light-sticks.  That way the only cue we would have to track on would be the moving slash of green light. Unfortunately, the clouds pulled back and the full moon cast a bright white light over everything. Even in the shadows of the trees it was difficult not to see your partner. Nonetheless it was a very cool idea and something I’d like to pursue with my own training partners in the future. Everyone had a great deal of fun, the humor of the moon coming out and trying to ruin our exercise lightened the mood a lot, and afterwards we gathered around to talk with James and each other about the lessons, training ideas, and knives. It was a relaxing and fun way to close out the evening, with everyone in a good mood and just standing around outside talking and sharing.

The third day contained a wonderful trip farther up-river. It included the two sessions that sparked the most immediate thought and conceptual development on my part:  Scott Homschek and Dr. Mike Kaye’s flexible weapons session, and the Bowie Knife session.

The trip up the river was beautiful and enlightening. Hell's Canyon is one of the most unique and naturally wondrous places I’ve ever seen. I live in the heart of the untouched high desert Southwest, arguably some of the most beautiful country in the United States, but I found myself in awe of the canyon on several occasions. Different directions, different casts of light... all revealed new things or led to further discovery of the true beauty of things overlooked. From such chaos comes great beauty, a truly fierce landscape with a sense of peaceful power to it.

We traveled another 25 miles up-river on the jet boat, taking pictures and learning more about the canyon from Dan, our pilot. We stopped in a couple of places to get an up-close look at the canyon's historical offerings.  These included Native American glyphs carved into or painted onto the rocks, as well as a historic homestead site that belonged to one of Idaho’s governors. Both were very interesting learning experiences and opportunities to see the river from the Idaho side.

A natural alum pit up-river from Copper Creek Lodge.

The sun over the hilltops of Hell's Canyon Gorge.

Scott Homschek and Dr. Mike Kaye did a wonderful job with the flexible weapons segment. I really appreciated the stuff they showed us. They used soft nylon ropes for “trainers,” so we wouldn’t hurt our partners using short whips or other “live” weapons. This worked out very well. They showed us the basics of popping things with a short whip and then got us to practice our targeting.  We did this first by having our partners hold their ropes dangling at arm's length, while we tried to snap the bottom ends with our own whips. Some folks took to it right away, while others (myself included) had to miss a few more times before we started getting hits. Once the technique was understood fully, it became quite easy.

Scott Homschek snapping the end of the dangling rope in Dr. Kaye’s hand.

The next exercise was a bit more difficult. Small foam blocks about two inches square were handed out to partners. While one person threw the blocks into the air, the other tried to pop them with the end of the rope. This was harder to get the hang of, but it was still a lot of fun. Next we worked on some basic concepts of redirecting incoming blows, hitting with a taught or loose rope to move an assailant’s arm off the centerline. We moved that right into trapping that arm and then both arms, a position from which we could do a number of things. Then we did disarming with flexible weapons, catching exposed pommels and levering the knives from our partners' hands. Like James, Scott and Dr. Kaye taught using a conceptual model. The drills they showed us were easy to imagine in a realistic context and gave me a new direction in which to take flexible weapons training on my own.

Riddlers practicing flexible weapons work.

As planned, we all repaired to the sandbar for the Bowie Knife segment. Those who were able and who felt like walking down the rocky hill did so. The boat brought the rest around so no one was left out of the fun. Between us there seemed to be enough large trainers to go around, so no one was forced to practice with Temperance trainers for the Bowie segment.

James started out by getting us working the back cut and the pasatta soto using the back cut. Once we had that down, he advanced us into an additional technique on the end of the pasatta soto. In this, after stabbing the opponent in the side, we drove one leg between the opponent's legs, brought up the knee, and – while the outside leg curled in – we rolled the knee into the opponent's leg, taking him to the ground.  There we sat up and took a shot at the upper body, face, neck, and so on. It was an interesting drill and a lot of fun to work.

Riddlers unloading on the Sandbar.

While we were down on the sandbar, James also showed us some of his ideas on pistol craft using dummy (hard rubber) Colt Peacemakers.  He talked with us about various aspects of Bowie work and knife work in general. We then broke up into little groups, trained some more, and talked about what we had learned.

At dinner that night our hosts presented us with a special treat of jumbo shrimp to thank us for being such a polite and well-behaved group. This added yet another level to the already good eating we had enjoyed, not to mention the feeling of warmth and hospitality extended by our wonderful hosts.

As dinner wrapped up a lot of us gathered to mull over the past days' events, just talking in general, knowing that the next day would be all hustle and bustle before we were off to our respective corners of the world. I made a couple more gear acquisitions from fellow Riddlers and sat in on the sharpening class given by Robin “Brownie” Brown in the mess hall.  I then retired early to meet the 6 a.m. wake-up call James requested of us.

Morning dawned earlier than brighter, as the sun did not rise until past eight each morning. A reserve fell over the group on this last day, as we knew that things were wrapping up and we would soon be returning to our private lives.  We would be leaving behind the excitement and fun of the Riddle, as well as the company of like minds. Nonetheless we all pitched in, knocking out a final review session of sorts, “helping” James get rid of the last of his give-away goodies, and getting our luggage packed up and ready to go down to the boat.

Jim giving away the last of the freebies.

The certificates were given out, congratulations given, hands shaken, and friendships sealed. Everyone had given it their all and then some, coming from great distances, overcoming many challenges to be there and to take part. Ego and agendas found no place in this group. All acted with kindness and professionalism as true gentlemen warriors. I give my thanks to all these men, for without such a team effort, without such a great bunch, things would have had an entirely different atmosphere.

Two young men in particular stood out for their great spirits and strong wills. Steven and Justin were inspirations to us all and I thank them for the examples they set. I am very proud and deeply honored to have stood with these men, people of such caliber. I thank them all for their insights, wisdom, and guidance. I look forward to seeing all these individuals again at other events and hopefully future Riddles.

Heading down to the docks with Riddle of Steel 2003 behind us.

My thanks above all to Master at Arms James Keating for allowing me this opportunity, for sharing with me and teaching me so much. It was an honor and a pleasure, Sir, and I look forward very much to training with you again.

Sixteen days after coming down-river and returning to the world I had my eighteenth birthday. Looking at it from here I will never truly be able to see that day as the supposed right of passage imposed by culture and law. We don’t get "turned into" men; we become on our own. Without the examples set for us and without teachers, however, we would be lost. If there is anything I will ever call my “right of passage,” it is the Riddle of Steel.

I hope to return to Hell's Canyon many times in my life. It is a special place apart from the Riddle, but for those of us who have experienced the Riddle it will always be even more so. I hope I can take some journeys just for myself, but I also hope that the future will hold more Riddles – more journeys into the bosom of the earth with Master At Arms James Keating.

The day before we left, it rained.  It was a slow, soft drizzle that filled the air, played through the trees, and danced off the river as if the canyon was crying to see us go.