mercop
Member.
There is a lot of money time and energy spent of “knife fighting”. Most will admit the more they know about it the less they want to be involved in a real life edged weapon attack. If you are studying knife fighting as a martial art then this article may not appeal to you.
Much of the typical edged weapon training that is conducted is knife on knife or at least lets you see your opponent’s knife before you attempt a defense. This seems to have very little to do with the reality of edged weapon attacks. Some very extensive studies have been done on assaults involving edged weapons. There are a few core findings that should be considered. The first is that victims initially thought they were being punched and did not realize until afterwards that they had actually been cut/stabbed. So if you are waiting for the visual cue of actually seeing a knife before you respond chances are you will not respond until it is too late.
The second is that it seems to be the last few cuts/stabs that prove fatal. In my opinion this is where training to time and not to standard is a fatal mistake. In training we have a tendency to square off and defend against one specific attack, after that many training partners just back up, regroup and go again instead of redirecting and continuing to attack. This fills classroom time. It can also produce a false sense of security that a foiled attacker will give up or not redirect. If you don’t effectively defend against the initial attack you might not live to worry about any subsequent attacks. Don’t pace your defense, stop your attacker. Another failure is both parties keeping it a knife fight instead of a fight. You see students in great position for an open hand technique but don’t seize it because it is “knife fighting”.
Going back to preparatory movement or the movement that is needed to access and deploy a weapon, these movements are the ones that should elicit defense, not the execution movements themselves. They should be brutal, simple and reflexive. Without talking technique I just describe it as Smother, Stun and Stop.
If we are within arms reach the instinct should be to close the distance, defend our inside, block or evade the attack and access the attackers inside or move to the attackers outside. This is the Smother, think of the attack as flame and your movement deprives it of the oxygen it needs to continue. Oxygen is to a flame as movement is to an attack. You can’t have one without the other.
The Stun is usually open handed and crushing. A brutal strike to the head/face/throat. This violence of action can and should cause a massive disruption of the central nervous or respiratory system.
The Stop is where control comes in. By using Smother and Stun you should have been able to stop the initial attack. If that is not the case hopefully they gave you the split seconds needed to stop the person by joint destruction or other techniques.
This is effective regardless of style and easy to incorporate and learn. You don’t have to spend years practicing it. It should be done with a partner on your own level and who is willing to communicate. Most effective stuns can and should not be practiced at more than 10% and great control should be exercised.
Much of the typical edged weapon training that is conducted is knife on knife or at least lets you see your opponent’s knife before you attempt a defense. This seems to have very little to do with the reality of edged weapon attacks. Some very extensive studies have been done on assaults involving edged weapons. There are a few core findings that should be considered. The first is that victims initially thought they were being punched and did not realize until afterwards that they had actually been cut/stabbed. So if you are waiting for the visual cue of actually seeing a knife before you respond chances are you will not respond until it is too late.
The second is that it seems to be the last few cuts/stabs that prove fatal. In my opinion this is where training to time and not to standard is a fatal mistake. In training we have a tendency to square off and defend against one specific attack, after that many training partners just back up, regroup and go again instead of redirecting and continuing to attack. This fills classroom time. It can also produce a false sense of security that a foiled attacker will give up or not redirect. If you don’t effectively defend against the initial attack you might not live to worry about any subsequent attacks. Don’t pace your defense, stop your attacker. Another failure is both parties keeping it a knife fight instead of a fight. You see students in great position for an open hand technique but don’t seize it because it is “knife fighting”.
Going back to preparatory movement or the movement that is needed to access and deploy a weapon, these movements are the ones that should elicit defense, not the execution movements themselves. They should be brutal, simple and reflexive. Without talking technique I just describe it as Smother, Stun and Stop.
If we are within arms reach the instinct should be to close the distance, defend our inside, block or evade the attack and access the attackers inside or move to the attackers outside. This is the Smother, think of the attack as flame and your movement deprives it of the oxygen it needs to continue. Oxygen is to a flame as movement is to an attack. You can’t have one without the other.
The Stun is usually open handed and crushing. A brutal strike to the head/face/throat. This violence of action can and should cause a massive disruption of the central nervous or respiratory system.
The Stop is where control comes in. By using Smother and Stun you should have been able to stop the initial attack. If that is not the case hopefully they gave you the split seconds needed to stop the person by joint destruction or other techniques.
This is effective regardless of style and easy to incorporate and learn. You don’t have to spend years practicing it. It should be done with a partner on your own level and who is willing to communicate. Most effective stuns can and should not be practiced at more than 10% and great control should be exercised.
