Continued from "I Rethink Knife Fighting, 2"
First Scenario: As the stranger approaches, he produces a knife and demands your wallet, watch, etc.
He means to gain compliance through the threat of violence. "Gimme your wallet, m*****f*****, or I'll cut your ******* heart out."
Now, most self defense instructors will tell you that it's better to lose your stuff than to lose your life. Okay, true, but where do you find the written guarantee that if you hand over your stuff he will not kill you anyway? And the company of friends/family members increases the risk to you and to them.
It's a hard decision that you must make beforehand. If you opt to use your concealed knife, I will tell you where my present thinking takes me.
First, I would assume the non-aggressive defensive position, which gets my hands up in a position where I can thrust with the knife. Yes, the bag will hang from my hand, but if I practice wielding the knife this way, it will not distract me.
Then, I must do two things simultaneously. (1) I must thrust the knife into a vulnerable spot that will cause injury as I (2) pass his knife.
My objective is not to attack his knife, but merely to get past it long enough to inflict real damage on him. A distraction, such as throwing keys, coins or my wallet into his face may give me just the split second I need to move past his weapon as I stab.
I direct my knife to a place that will cause real damage (eyes or throat seem like likely targets). True injury will cause an involuntary reaction and allow me to continue my preemptive attack until an opening for escape appears.
DISCLAIMER: I've never encountered a situation like the one I just described. I have merely taken what I know about unarmed defense and applied it to a mugger armed with a knife. You must decide your own course of action, and then you must train for it until it becomes almost reflexive.
I intend to cover another scenario in the next post.
First Scenario: As the stranger approaches, he produces a knife and demands your wallet, watch, etc.
He means to gain compliance through the threat of violence. "Gimme your wallet, m*****f*****, or I'll cut your ******* heart out."
Now, most self defense instructors will tell you that it's better to lose your stuff than to lose your life. Okay, true, but where do you find the written guarantee that if you hand over your stuff he will not kill you anyway? And the company of friends/family members increases the risk to you and to them.
It's a hard decision that you must make beforehand. If you opt to use your concealed knife, I will tell you where my present thinking takes me.
First, I would assume the non-aggressive defensive position, which gets my hands up in a position where I can thrust with the knife. Yes, the bag will hang from my hand, but if I practice wielding the knife this way, it will not distract me.
Then, I must do two things simultaneously. (1) I must thrust the knife into a vulnerable spot that will cause injury as I (2) pass his knife.
My objective is not to attack his knife, but merely to get past it long enough to inflict real damage on him. A distraction, such as throwing keys, coins or my wallet into his face may give me just the split second I need to move past his weapon as I stab.
I direct my knife to a place that will cause real damage (eyes or throat seem like likely targets). True injury will cause an involuntary reaction and allow me to continue my preemptive attack until an opening for escape appears.
DISCLAIMER: I've never encountered a situation like the one I just described. I have merely taken what I know about unarmed defense and applied it to a mugger armed with a knife. You must decide your own course of action, and then you must train for it until it becomes almost reflexive.
I intend to cover another scenario in the next post.
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