Kiado-Ryu Karate



Sep 14, 2009 - Photo of the Week

Scary Eyes & Cultivator Blade

If Kim “Cultivator” Thomas didn’t scare anybody with those eyes of his, that knife with its curved beak certainly would. And notice that huge right hand holding the knife! One of Cultivator’s trademarks are his enormously strong mitts, developed over many decades during his career as a landscape architect. This shot was taken during his second dan Black Belt test, in which he performed an open blade knife kata—the use of a real blade being a KIA requirement—as well as two other weapon sets: short stick—his favorite—and nunchaku. Cultivator, a nickname originating from his profession, is obviously quite competent with his hands in more ways than one!