# Can I rock chop with Japanese knives?



## superk17 (Mar 13, 2016)

I was watching some sharpening videos on YouTube recently and it was mentioned that jk are not designed for rock chopping and it is not recommended. If that is the case, I am curios as to why? Does it have to do with the shape of the blade? The knives I use the most at this moment are Takamura r2, the edge on them (gyuoto + petty) is super thin so I can see why rock chopping may not be recommended. 

Can I rock chop with a bigger and maybe little heavier j knife? Or in general try to avoid it? 
Thanks for the info.


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## aboynamedsuita (Mar 13, 2016)

I think it's because the edges are ground thinner so rocking would put too much pressure on the harder steel and any twisting/jerking motion would be problematic. I couldn't see it being a problem with something thick and heavy with a moderate HRC like a misono Swedish steel yo deba


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## Pensacola Tiger (Mar 13, 2016)

It's not so much the thinness of the edge, but rather the hardness of the steel, so that when you rock chop with poor technique (walking the blade across the board) you run the risk of chipping the higher hardness steel where the edge of a softer steel just deforms and rolls over.


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## chiffonodd (Mar 13, 2016)

You can rock chop just fine as long as you avoid lateral stress. I think it's okay to move the knife sideways even as long as you are not pivoting it around a point, i.e, keep the knife at the same angle to the board as it moves sideways and apply very light pressure, or perhaps only lateral movement on the the up stroke. Just gotta get the timing and feel down.

I like the airplane analogy for this. As shown below, just try to avoid "yaw" and "roll" as much as possible. "Pitch" is just fine . . . In fact that is the movement of the rock chop


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## tkern (Mar 13, 2016)

So... rocking the boat is fine. Just don't tip the boat over?


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## Iggy (Mar 14, 2016)

tkern said:


> So... rocking the boat is fine. Just don't tip the boat over?



Exactly :thumbsup:

As long as your technique is good, I think you can rock with almost every knife...


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## panda (Mar 14, 2016)

it has to do with the shape of the edge. japanese knives have less curve so it is not comfortable to rock chop. this is referred to as 'action'.


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## Iggy (Mar 14, 2016)

panda said:


> it has to do with the shape of the edge. japanese knives have less curve so it is not comfortable to rock chop. this is referred to as 'action'.



I wouldn't say that in general. The Kato Workhorse for example works quite good with rock chop. But of course in general overall you're right that they are more flat.


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## Kingkor (Mar 14, 2016)

So how would you work with japanese knives instead of rock chopping?


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## IndoorOutdoorCook (Mar 14, 2016)

1) push cut
2) pull cut
3) chop straight up and down


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## Kippington (Mar 14, 2016)

Kingkor said:


> So how would you work with japanese knives instead of rock chopping?



Push cuts, pull cuts and chopping.

[video=youtube;Rx1U-bja3i8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx1U-bja3i8[/video]


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## superk17 (Mar 15, 2016)

chiffonodd said:


> You can rock chop just fine as long as you avoid lateral stress. I think it's okay to move the knife sideways even as long as you are not pivoting it around a point, i.e, keep the knife at the same angle to the board as it moves sideways and apply very light pressure, or perhaps only lateral movement on the the up stroke. Just gotta get the timing and feel down.
> 
> I like the airplane analogy for this. As shown below, just try to avoid "yaw" and "roll" as much as possible. "Pitch" is just fine . . . In fact that is the movement of the rock chop



Thanks, really like the air plane analogy, it is very clever and logical. Cant go wrong with it.


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## Benuser (Mar 17, 2016)

The asymmetry of Japanese edges makes them more vulnerable in case of lateral stress.


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