Bhassler wrote:
I worked landscaping in the past, and ever since then have felt that the short handled drain spade is just about the most formidable non-weapon weapon I can think of...
I was going to write that a carpenter who spends 40+ hours working with a hammer will be a formidable adversary, as would an ironworker with a spud wrench, or a welder with a chip hammer, or a bricklayer with his trowel, or sugarcane worker with a cane knife.
Imo, it's very much like a Gurkha with a kukri. The big difference being that a Gurkha kid will grow using their knives. Constant Practice with even the most common implements will lead to some skill. Of course, there's the cook or butcher with a knife that doesn't dull because he never hits bone. Quite an important skill or knowledge when it comes to blades, jmo.
Anyway, in cultures that use knives extensively, there'll always be techniques developed out of the need to defeat techniques used by known adversaries. We may have potential or random adversaries, but we don't really want them to attack or want to attack them. Probably the best place to learn would be where the techniques were developed out of necessity. But, it'd be possible, imo, to adapt fma two person exercises to a ph-like format.