I cover a lot of these cutting competitions for the American Bladesmith Society where folks who forge their own steel blades can test for edge retention, balance, etc. in the context of a fun contest. This shot was taken in 2003 1 year before safety measures began to be implemented so I had total unfettered access and frequently took advantage of it despite a risk of flying debris, loose or broken knife blades etc. This image also appeared in BLADE magazine.
The object here was to cut into the coconut far enough to be able to pour some of the 'milk' into your mouth and spit it out again, without damaging the edge of your blade on the hard coconut shell. You can see the blade in the coconut lower left. Fortunately the only coconut juice that hit me was on my jeans and legs - the camera and lens escaped that sticky fate.
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