FEATURED AUTHOR
DWIGHT McLEMORE

With more than 18 years of experience in martial arts, self-defense, and gymnastics, Dwight C. McLemore ("Mac") is certified in kung-fu, has achieved expert-level knife certification with the Scientific Fighting Congress, and holds 1st Dan in kendo. Prior to retiring from active competition, he placed first in the U.S. Wushu Kung-Fu Federation (USWKA) Eastern Region and fourth in national competition in 1997.

Having earned a Master of Education from Northeast Louisiana State University, Dwight has broad teaching experience in physical fitness, gymnastics, and safety and occupational health. He is a retired U.S. Army combat arms officer with extensive knowledge of combat operations and live-fire exercises. He continues to work for the army as an operational safety manager with training and doctrine command at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Dwight is also the founder and director of The School of Two Swords in Seaford, Virginia, which provides instruction in a variety of edged weapons and close-quarter combat techniques from the 18th century through modern times. In 1999 and 2000, Dwight’s students regularly won the national and regional Weapons Sparring Competition in the USWKA in Baltimore, Maryland.

Dwight is a member of the advisory council for the American Heritage Fighting Arts Association and a member of the Association of Historical Fencing. He is in the process of developing new training support packages on the tomahawk, longknife, and Spanish navaja. Recently, Paladin had the opportunity to interview Dwight.

Entering the School of Two Swords:
An Interview with Dwight McLemore

Paladin: When did you begin your martial arts training?
McLemore: It seems like yesterday, but it has now been almost 10 years since the surge that I am on now began. I beat around in college and high school with sport boxing and a little bit of basic wrestling, but it wasn't until I was on active duty back in 1991 that I began to really get serious about things. Like so many others, I was influenced by the Highlander genre of sword movies.

Paladin: What about your formal training?
McLemore: Well, let’s just say that from 1991 to 1999 I took kendo classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays I trained in Jow Ga kung-fu with Master Hoy K. Lee. Basically, I was training six days a week. I know that’s hard to believe, but I started late in life and did not have a lot of time to waste. I guess you might say I had a hell of a work ethic.

Paladin: You did that while on active duty?
McLemore: Yep! And it continued after I retired. The heart attack sort of slowed me down, but I still follow a pretty firm training schedule.

Paladin: You had a heart attack?
McLemore: I had triple bypass surgery. The time I spent recovering I devoted to organizing my dream for The School of Two Swords. That event taught me that time is very important, so I spent hours watching videos, reading old manuals, and slowly, slowly fighting to get myself back up to speed physically. That heart attack was my toughest opponent.

Paladin: You are a noted expert in the Bowie knife. Tell me how that came about.
McLemore: Well, first of all, I’m certainly no expert – just someone who tries very hard. Although I hold the Expert Instructor rank in Hoch Hochheim’s Scientific Fighting Congress, I really study a variety of weapons. I don’t limit myself to any specific system or mold. I really enjoy exploring new material from both Asian and Western martial arts.

Paladin: Okay, but getting back to the Bowie knife . . .
McLemore: Right. Well, Jim Bowie’s ghost has been with me since I was an 11-year-old in north Louisiana. My grandmother actually knew some of Jim’s brother Rezin’s descendants. When the movie The Iron Mistress came out, I went Jim-Bowie crazy. I remember seeing it five times. Hell, I still watch the damn thing. My friends and I would get out in the backyard with pieces of broom handle and play at knife fighting. You know, just like in the movie – 12-foot circle with wrists strapped together. One of my
friends’ dad made me a big wooden Bowie, and I was the king of the block.

Paladin: Tell us how your new book, Bowie and Big Knife Fighting, developed.
McLemore: About three years ago, there were several people on the blade forums who were attacking the authenticity of James Keating's Bowie knife work, basically saying that it was all based on modern methods and had no historical basis. I sort of took on the task of proving them wrong – not that it really mattered, since everyone who’s anyone knows that Jim's methods are top of the line and really work! Up till that time I was pretty much a follower of Raymond Thorpe's little book The Bowie Knife and had not done much research into the use of the knife at all. Then William C. Davis came out with his book Three Roads to Alamo, and his work really set the record straight about Jim Bowie's fighting techniques. So that made things easy for me; I could concentrate on the actual methods used by men fighting with big knives in the 19th century. (There was a lot of cowboy literature around as well as many first-person accounts of knife fighting.) To make a long story short, what I discovered was that Bowie knife fighting of that period evolved from two specific cultures. One was the immigrants from the Scottish/English border. These were the broadsword and backsword users who were pushed out from Pennsylvania to occupy the new land in the 1700s. (By the way, this is the way the Bowie family arrived in America.) The second source for Bowie fighting techniques came up from Spanish Mexico. Every port city along the East and Southern Coasts and along the Mississippi River became a melting pot of the knife culture, New Orleans in particular.

So anyway, it was out of the extensive research I undertook, using several period manuals from the 19th century and as far back as the Renaissance, that Bowie and Big Knife Fighting System was born. The techniques detailed in that book are based on those used in Europe. The book was originally intended as a training manual for my students – something to work from and make notes in as we trained. But it sort of got out of hand when my wife and I successfully self-published it [Paradoxes of a Deadly Myth]. I had planned to put it aside after that initial success, but my wife, Jeneene, convinced me to send it to Paladin, and you know the rest of the story there. I think in the long run Bowie and Big Knife Fighting System sort of laid to rest any doubt about the validity of Jim Keating's work, and mine as well.

Paladin: What specific Bowie did you have in mind for the techniques presented in the book?
McLemore: There is an artist name Musso who owned a Bowie from the 1830s. It is now named the Musso Bowie – a big 13-inch blade with deep clip-point design. It is alleged to have been owned by Jim Bowie, but that is controversial, to say the least. Atlanta Cutlery makes a similar design and calls it a Frontier Bowie. That is the primary trainer I use. I prefer the heavier Bowies to the lighter fighting types. My Thorpe Bowie from Randall Knives also works well. I recently received one of Bill Bagwell's Hell's Belle’s, and that works well too.

Paladin: You've mentioned a lot of names. Can you tell me who has had the most influence on your work?
McLemore: There are really too many to mention, but from the knife perspective W. Hoch Hochheim and James Keating have been significant. Of course, Pete Kautz of Alliance Martial Arts has been a great friend and associate. Again, there are a hell of a lot more people I owe a debt of gratitude to . . . too many to mention.

Paladin: What are your plans for future work?
McLemore: As you know, Paladin Press has contracted for my book Trace of the Tomahawk for publication, and I'm working on another training support package for the navaja. When those are done, I may follow up with an advanced Bowie text.

BOWIE AND BIG KNIFE FIGHTING SYSTEM

THE FIGHTING TOMAHAWK