http://todayinsingapore.wordpress.com/2009/05/25/whats-wrong-with-this-picture/
In the first place, no sane person, even in a stricken mode, will grab a knife blade with his bare hand.
A more normal response, executed under duress or in the face of sudden extreme danger, will be to parry the sharp edge, with an unprotected hand or arm if need be. And if a superhuman hand did grip the blade in the fashion as indicated in the newspaper illustration, all four fingers contacting the cutting edge will be larcerated. Down to the bone, if the human reflexes fail to be activated by the excruciating pain. The rush of andrenalin in extreme circumstances may dull sensory inputs, but human skin and flesh remain just as vulnerable. If the blade was reversed, the palm and the thumb will be severely cut. But, according to The Newpaper account (headlined “I grabbed blade and broke it”), Professor Chan Kap Luk’s wound was on one finger, specifically the right index finger, cut to the tendon. Latest media revision from AsiaOne has it that Prof Chan said he “managed to grab the blade of the knife and snap it off from its handle, tearing a tendon in his right index finger as he did so.” His only other injury was a single stab wound on his back which required 5 stitches.
The other oddity in the court testimony was how a 18 cm knife blade can be broken off with a bare hand. Knife blades are usually made of steel, an alloy of iron, other metals and carbon, with final hardness level achieved through a process of heat treatment and quenching. The common box cutter type blade can be snapped off easily because of pre-cut grooves, designed to weaken ductility at specified sections. Not so the common knife. A knife blade is designed to withstand considerable hard use and abuse, as work knives must be. You don’t want mom to be hurt by flying metal while preparing chicken chop for lunch.
So when criminal lawyer Sashi Nathan, acting for the parents of David Widjaja, asked if he had used considerable strength to grab and subsequently break the blade from its handle, and Professor Chan replied with, “I did that. Even now I’m not clear how I managed that,” court observers may be forgiven for wondering if they had walked into a preview for a kung-fu movie.
In the first place, no sane person, even in a stricken mode, will grab a knife blade with his bare hand.
A more normal response, executed under duress or in the face of sudden extreme danger, will be to parry the sharp edge, with an unprotected hand or arm if need be. And if a superhuman hand did grip the blade in the fashion as indicated in the newspaper illustration, all four fingers contacting the cutting edge will be larcerated. Down to the bone, if the human reflexes fail to be activated by the excruciating pain. The rush of andrenalin in extreme circumstances may dull sensory inputs, but human skin and flesh remain just as vulnerable. If the blade was reversed, the palm and the thumb will be severely cut. But, according to The Newpaper account (headlined “I grabbed blade and broke it”), Professor Chan Kap Luk’s wound was on one finger, specifically the right index finger, cut to the tendon. Latest media revision from AsiaOne has it that Prof Chan said he “managed to grab the blade of the knife and snap it off from its handle, tearing a tendon in his right index finger as he did so.” His only other injury was a single stab wound on his back which required 5 stitches.
The other oddity in the court testimony was how a 18 cm knife blade can be broken off with a bare hand. Knife blades are usually made of steel, an alloy of iron, other metals and carbon, with final hardness level achieved through a process of heat treatment and quenching. The common box cutter type blade can be snapped off easily because of pre-cut grooves, designed to weaken ductility at specified sections. Not so the common knife. A knife blade is designed to withstand considerable hard use and abuse, as work knives must be. You don’t want mom to be hurt by flying metal while preparing chicken chop for lunch.
So when criminal lawyer Sashi Nathan, acting for the parents of David Widjaja, asked if he had used considerable strength to grab and subsequently break the blade from its handle, and Professor Chan replied with, “I did that. Even now I’m not clear how I managed that,” court observers may be forgiven for wondering if they had walked into a preview for a kung-fu movie.
