Some guys kill the edge others don't it's a matter of preference, I am in about the 50/50 camp, killing the edge is exactly what it implies you are making it blunt by "Bread knifing" the edge, think slicing bread, it takes away the cutting edge and exposes new steel to hone on.
Some will kill the edge before every honing session some will do it one or more times after bevel set and reset the bevel before moving on, if I have a stubborn edge I do it but normally I just go 4/8K then finish, if you are just starting out honing I would suggest you not try it as you can do more harm than good.