At press time, Gayle Bradly was No. 1 in the
point standings of BladeSports International.
Here, Gayle shows his stuff in the 2007 BLADE
Show World Championship Cutting
Competition.


The 6th Annual BLADE Show World Championship Cutting Competition will have a new look and plenty of the rip-roaring excitement that has dominated the popular event during its colorful history.

Scheduled the Saturday of the BLADE Show May 31 in “The Courtyard” (a.k.a., the parking lot) of the show’s host hotel, the Renaissance Waverly, the championship will be conducted for the first time ever by BladeSports International. BSI oversees cutting competitions year round and conducts a cutting school that each competitor must complete satisfactorily before he/she can compete in a BSI-sanctioned cutting event.

It will be the performers with the highest point totals earned overall from those season-long competitions who will vie for the BLADE Show World Championship.

At press time, the top eight in the overall points standings were, in order: Gayle Bradley, Ted Ott, Gary Bond, Michael Eubanks, Jose Diaz, Scott Devanna, Jim Crowell and Michael Rader. (Warren Osborne was sixth in the standings but has elected not to compete and will serve as the championship’s lead official instead.) Of the current top eight, two—Bradley and Crowell—participated in last year’s BLADE Show World Championship. Crowell is a past champion, having won the event’s first title in 2003.

However, two more BSI-sanctioned cutting competitions were to be held before the world championship—the North Texas Cutting Competition April 5 in Waxahachie, Texas, and a competition at the Ozark Folk Centre in Mountain View, Arkansas, May 10—so the top eight could change by the time the title event rolls around. (See sidebar for the overall top 20 as of April 4.)

The other BSI-sanctioned cutting competitions, with the winners in parentheses, were: The Knifemakers’ Guild Show (Gayle Bradley); BLADE Show West (Ted Ott); Spirit of Steel Show (Crowell); Lone Star (Donavon Phillips); and Ellensburg, Washington (Bradley).

As in the past, the BLADE Show cutting competition winner will receive a special handmade, hand-engraved championship belt buckle. This year’s buckle will be made and engraved by Diane Scalese of Big Sandy, Montana, a member of the Firearms Engravers Guild and a past engraver of the year as named by the Academy of Western Artists. Mrs. Scalese also made and engraved the buckles for the 2003 (Crowell) and 2004 (Reggie Barker) champions.

New Cuts, Other Changes
The “new look” of the championship will revolve around the cuts themselves. In the past, the event was based on the model of the old American Bladesmith Society competitions, in which each cut—the 2x4, water-filled cans, water-filled plastic bottles, the free-hanging 1-inch rope, etc.—was performed by all five contestants before proceeding to the next cut, with all five contestants performing it, and so on. Points were awarded on the success of the cuts, with only the 2x4 being a timed cut. Also, each contestant had to a) be a knifemaker and b) make the knife that he used in the competition.

The BSI will have a different approach to the BLADE Show World Championship. In addition to more contestants in the competition—eight instead of five—the action will revolve around the “multi-station multi-cut” on five benches. A series of successive cuts will be set up in a course format, with each contestant completing the course before the next contestant takes his turn. Points will be awarded via a system that takes into account not only how well the cuts are performed but how quickly the course is completed.

What’s more, the contestants do not have to be knifemakers. They can use knives made by others. However, as noted, they must take and satisfactorily complete the BSI cutting school before they are eligible to participate in any BSI-sanctioned cutting competition.

The cuts in the multi-station multi-cut for the world championship, in order, will be the 2x4 chop; between six and eight free-hanging 1-inch ropes bound together; cutting a straw above the corrugation; cutting as many rings as possible from a cardboard tube; a six-can “pyramid” (three cans on the bottom row, two on the middle row and one on the top row, all filled with water, one cut per row); between 10 and 12 water-filled plastic bottles all in one cut; and, finally, another 2x4 chop.

In addition, there will be anywhere from three to five “surprise cuts” that were “to be determined” as BLADE® was going to press.

At least one feature that will not change from the old ABS approach is that if any knife exhibits any visible chip, crack, break or roll in the tip or cutting edge after performing, it and the applicable contestant will be disqualified from the competition.

Knife Specs
Concerning the knives themselves, they must adhere to the following specifications (these rules apply to all BSI cutting competitions, not just the BLADE Show World Championship):
•Blade length: 10 inches (measured from the front of the handle to the blade tip);
•Overall length: 15 inches (measured from the back of the handle to the blade tip);
•Blade width: 2 inches (measured at the widest part of the blade);
•All handles must have at least one visible pin that passes through the handle material and tang;
•All knives must have a secure lanyard hole with a sturdy wrist lanyard;
•All knives must have a sturdy sheath or hard case to be allowed into the event area, and;
•It is recommended that knives be built with a full or a full-tapered tang.
There are other special rules concerning hidden-tang knives, production knives and other issues. For a complete set of BSI rules, contact the BSI.

For more on the 2008 BLADE Show World Championship and BladeSports International, contact BSI, attn: Gayle Bradley, Dept. BL7, 1383 Old Gamer Rd., Weatherford, TX 76088 817.596.2894 www.bladesports.org.

At press time, the officials for the 2008 BLADE Show World Championship Cutting Competition were scheduled to be Warren Osborne, Daniel Winkler, J.R. Cook and Mike Williams. Jerry Fisk will be the announcer.