mercop
Member.
When I begin teaching knife grips I always talk about how the hammer grip is the strongest and most intuitive but it can feel awkward when trying to aim for cuts.
When opening a folder you usually do so with a downward motion with your palm up. Putting your thumb over the blade into a hammer fist grip is fast secure. This is accomplished by going out to the side away from your body.
It is very unnatural for someone to attack the attack. Of course it is what I believe in and train into but I see students that have been training for months that are easily startled and retreat under stress.
When it comes to blade work I often get the question of when do you know how to cut? The question is it depends. With firearms I teach that if you have time to think then you don’t have to pull the trigger. The reason is that there is usually a stimulus that evokes a mental startle response and you pull the trigger. If you don’t have a gun in your hand the normal reaction would be to step back and draw a weapon. Using the IET you respond to the stimuli of someone reaching in for you with the normal step back. If the see the blade they have three choices. One, retreat. Two, grab the blade and get cut, or three, allow you to cut them. Any of the choices are attacker driven and work in your favor. That is what I mean when I say that it is defensive.
The don’t see the knife and get within arms distance of you and your revert to your startle response stepping back, pulling your hands in toward you chances are they will suffer a cut to the inside of the forearms. Unlike when someone tries to commit suicide by cutting across the wrist causing all the muscles, tendons and arteries to roll out from under the blade, this cut draws down the arm causing more damage. Again your natural defensive tendency causes injury to them just because of the grip.
Look at the human body, when you pour water over the body it takes the path of least resistance to the ground. The same is true for blocking overhead and roundhouse strikes. If you get your arms up as in the Iron Triangle the slide off taking the path of least resistance.
Now stand the human body on its head. Look at all the catch points. The top of the legs into the groin, the upper arms into the shoulders. The top of the shoulders into the side of the head. These catch points are full of tendons, muscles and arteries. That is why when we stand erect they are so well protected. Using the inverted grip traps your blade in these catch points like a stick falling into the crook of the tree. Because of human design they are funneled into the deepest points by force on the part of the attacker or defender.
Lets look at the positional catch points. The first and already discussed is the one formed when you bring your thumb to your palm. This channel creates a funnel to the delicate muscles of the hand. When the attacker leans over at the waist he is in fact upside down to us. If we move to the flanks the blade is drug across the stomach or through the Brachial Artery and armpit. While in front the Femoral Artery is accessed by the funnel created from the upper leg to the groin.
Depending on the position you find yourself in there may be a catch point at the junction of the wrist and hand, at the elbow, and as a last resort the head and shoulders.
There is no need to aim for these targets, there are natural and based on opportunity. We call them default cuts. Where the knife catches.
If you find yourself disabled or on the ground, hooking the blade behind the catch point behind the knee will bring an attacker down and hinder him in following you. This is also a defense against a roundhouse kick. The same works for the Achilles tendon at the back of the ankle.
I know I know, what about stabbing. Stabbing kills. How many times do you stab someone? Will you be able to get your knife out of the body after the first stab? Using the inverted grip you stab up and in tearing out.
If someone hand you in a bear hug and you manage to deploy your knife, what would you do in a normal grip? With the inverted grip you just drag the knife across their back. Ever been slapped in the back when you had bad sunburn? It causes you to through your head back and arch your back.
IET works with any blade you can hold inverted, locking folders, non locking folders, slip joints; locking folders with broken locks, rescue knives. Since IET is not based on reach, smaller blades become more efficient.
IET requires very little on your part other than pulling away from your attacker. Which contrary to what people want to believe is typically the reaction of most individuals. If your defensive knife skills are based on stabbing you may wish to note that stabbing is much hard to do while you are moving backwards.
Those are some of the pros of IET. Is it the only thing I will teach, no. Do I believe that it is the most defensible and intuitive use of especially a folder? Yes. Is it the first edged weapon skill set I would teach to someone I cared about? Yes
When opening a folder you usually do so with a downward motion with your palm up. Putting your thumb over the blade into a hammer fist grip is fast secure. This is accomplished by going out to the side away from your body.
It is very unnatural for someone to attack the attack. Of course it is what I believe in and train into but I see students that have been training for months that are easily startled and retreat under stress.
When it comes to blade work I often get the question of when do you know how to cut? The question is it depends. With firearms I teach that if you have time to think then you don’t have to pull the trigger. The reason is that there is usually a stimulus that evokes a mental startle response and you pull the trigger. If you don’t have a gun in your hand the normal reaction would be to step back and draw a weapon. Using the IET you respond to the stimuli of someone reaching in for you with the normal step back. If the see the blade they have three choices. One, retreat. Two, grab the blade and get cut, or three, allow you to cut them. Any of the choices are attacker driven and work in your favor. That is what I mean when I say that it is defensive.
The don’t see the knife and get within arms distance of you and your revert to your startle response stepping back, pulling your hands in toward you chances are they will suffer a cut to the inside of the forearms. Unlike when someone tries to commit suicide by cutting across the wrist causing all the muscles, tendons and arteries to roll out from under the blade, this cut draws down the arm causing more damage. Again your natural defensive tendency causes injury to them just because of the grip.
Look at the human body, when you pour water over the body it takes the path of least resistance to the ground. The same is true for blocking overhead and roundhouse strikes. If you get your arms up as in the Iron Triangle the slide off taking the path of least resistance.
Now stand the human body on its head. Look at all the catch points. The top of the legs into the groin, the upper arms into the shoulders. The top of the shoulders into the side of the head. These catch points are full of tendons, muscles and arteries. That is why when we stand erect they are so well protected. Using the inverted grip traps your blade in these catch points like a stick falling into the crook of the tree. Because of human design they are funneled into the deepest points by force on the part of the attacker or defender.
Lets look at the positional catch points. The first and already discussed is the one formed when you bring your thumb to your palm. This channel creates a funnel to the delicate muscles of the hand. When the attacker leans over at the waist he is in fact upside down to us. If we move to the flanks the blade is drug across the stomach or through the Brachial Artery and armpit. While in front the Femoral Artery is accessed by the funnel created from the upper leg to the groin.
Depending on the position you find yourself in there may be a catch point at the junction of the wrist and hand, at the elbow, and as a last resort the head and shoulders.
There is no need to aim for these targets, there are natural and based on opportunity. We call them default cuts. Where the knife catches.
If you find yourself disabled or on the ground, hooking the blade behind the catch point behind the knee will bring an attacker down and hinder him in following you. This is also a defense against a roundhouse kick. The same works for the Achilles tendon at the back of the ankle.
I know I know, what about stabbing. Stabbing kills. How many times do you stab someone? Will you be able to get your knife out of the body after the first stab? Using the inverted grip you stab up and in tearing out.
If someone hand you in a bear hug and you manage to deploy your knife, what would you do in a normal grip? With the inverted grip you just drag the knife across their back. Ever been slapped in the back when you had bad sunburn? It causes you to through your head back and arch your back.
IET works with any blade you can hold inverted, locking folders, non locking folders, slip joints; locking folders with broken locks, rescue knives. Since IET is not based on reach, smaller blades become more efficient.
IET requires very little on your part other than pulling away from your attacker. Which contrary to what people want to believe is typically the reaction of most individuals. If your defensive knife skills are based on stabbing you may wish to note that stabbing is much hard to do while you are moving backwards.
Those are some of the pros of IET. Is it the only thing I will teach, no. Do I believe that it is the most defensible and intuitive use of especially a folder? Yes. Is it the first edged weapon skill set I would teach to someone I cared about? Yes
