In my many years of patrolling the streets as a cop I got to know a lot about knife attacks.  I was frequently confronted a knife wielding assailant and on a few tragic occasions I was called to attend an emergency situation only to be confronted when I arrived with a murder investigation. Violence is always a big reality check and nothing is more unsettling than seeing just how easy it was to kill using some sort of a knife.

The Fuel

Generally there is alcohol or drugs involved in a knife attack, and often both these fuel anger and blood lust. None of the people I charged with murder ever meant to kill anybody, yet they used some sort of edged weapon and in many cases purposely carried the weapon for defence.  And once in court, after the killing was done alcohol or drugs was always used by lawyers as a defence.

Bad Guys Training & Motives

There are many different reasons bad guys resort to using a knife.  You may find it comforting to know that most of the people who use an edged weapon in an assault have no formal training on how to use it. But how much training do you really need to use such a simple and deadly effective weapon? Few bad guys have taken martial arts; even fewer still are military trained. But they all share one common mental tactic: they use fear! The possession of the knife gives them confidence.  For many of them, it’s their badge of courage and toughness.

The other trait they all share is the prudency to use the weapon, not just for intimidation, but as the great equalizer in a fight when they panic.  In these circumstances, evidence shows that they are going to stab a minimum of six times in rapid fashion to cut you off of them. This is a fear response in the bad guys, and many victims who survived being stabbed never knew it at the time.

On the other extreme is gang related violence.  In these cases, victims are selected at radium and attacked by a group of thugs each taking turns stabbing the victim for no other reason than laughs. In countries like the UK, this is a huge problem.

In sexual assaults the edged weapon is still the weapon of choice for bad guys.  Many of these are improvised edged weapons as the assailants are often prohibited from carrying weapons.  They try and get around these kind of parole conditions by doctoring something like “rat tail” combs and screw drivers in the hope they can fool the naive police if checked.

In break and enters, it is common for a bad guy to go to the kitchen and arm themselves with one of your kitchen knives.  This makes interrupting the burglar a very dangerous situation.

 The Holy Sh*t Factor

There are lots of different ideas out there on how to deal with a knife attack.  With more than 50 years of martial arts, military and police training under my black belt I’ve seen some pretty stupid knife defence training.  In fact, very little of contemporary knife training really stands up when the rubber hits the road.  I have been a keen student of what works in these situations:  having been stabbed in the line of duty as both a soldier and police officer, I learned pretty quick what works and what doesn’t.  And knowing the difference literally saved my life.

Blocking must be K.I.S.S.: keep it simple and savage. This is important because there is no magical technique to disarm a wild nut bar who is attacking you flat out with a knife. And don’t fool yourself just because the Pilipino lads make it look easy—when your attacker is determined to do harm, it’s never easy.

Well you had better become expert and the “holy sh*t block” which is not taught in other systems.   I see to many groups teaching knife defence on a low mental priority.   On a scale of force from  1-10 the knife attack is a 9 or 10 level where serious and grievous bodily harm or death will occur (note I said will occur)  yet I see people train mentally and physically you at a level 4 response. Nice and slow with a very compliant partner doing the assault.  Maybe they think there technique is magically going to save them.  But if you can’t dot the technique in the gym, how are you going to be able to pull it off late at night, in the dark when you are caught unaware.  There are a lot of shocking variables in a knife attack and I don’t recall too many victims who survived–including myself—by doing some magical, elaborate disarm technique. I recall my training taking over because I was drilled in simple defence and offensive skills and was able to recover from the ambush and take the attacker out.  And that’s where the “holy sh*t blocks” come in.  Your survival depends on simple and savage applications that are reinforced by the mental will to survive at all costs.  This is why I train my students in simple defensive blocks.

Speed, Force & Action

It won’t look pretty, but as soon as you recover from the initial shock the moment you call “knife!” you must reverse the tide and go from a defence posture to an attack mindset. Destroy their will to use their weapon.  Close in and do damage!  Remember a knife is a 9 or 10 on a scale of force.  Its life and death situation, so doing damage back will likely be necessary to stop this attack quickly and efficiently.  No magic Harry Potter solutions now the bad guys made sure of that!

Remember

Hands deliver weapons, and train to reprioritize to a knife fight in a heartbeat.  Too many martial arts guys cannot do that.  An edged weapon is an up close and personal weapon, so anticipate and train for a sudden low entry from a grappling position. There will be no time for fancy disarms.  Keep it simple:

1)      Block

2)      Create pain (pain=compliance

3)      Strip the knife from the hand

4)      Break tunnel vision and check/check/check (no one today is brave by themselves). And last but not least,

5)      Body check for wounds.  Use your hands under your clothing and look for blood.

Keep it simple and direct, using speed, force and violence and you will survive.  There is an old military saying:  How you train is how you react.  That’s why we practice weapon defense every Thursday night.  See you on the mats.