A recent Facebook video making the rounds enlightened me to a sport I’d never heard of before. A sport so manly, it may be second only to Finnish Wife Carrying. Enter: BladeSports.

According to their website, “BladeSports International, Inc., is a Texas non-profit corporation formed to promote knife safety, provide workshops and cutting events for its members, and to inform and educate the public with regard to the safe use of a knife as a tool.” What I have found most fascinating in watching these competition videos is the quality of knives presented and indeed I’m told many competitors actually make their own knives.

That appears to be the case with 2017 World Champion and top-standings-holder James Clifton. Mr. Clifton is the proprietor of Rooster Fish Fabrication (aka Rooster Fish Knives) in Gallatin, TN, and his own model CPMM4 is shown in the competition video above. Though most of the knives on his website appear to be of the decorative folder or everyday carry type, I find myself most interested in the end-of-the-world monster shown below:

Regarding the Bladesports competition itself, any competitor (known as a Cutter) must pass a two-day certification process, and the knives used must adhere to a rigid set of specifications including dimensions, safety features, and testing requirements. Onlookers will be encouraged to know that these competitors aren’t Bubbas swinging around flimsy hatchets all willy-nilly.