Few things create as much dread as the thought of being attacked with an edged weapon. By “edged weapon,” I mean anything that can cut, slice or puncture you, whether it’s a purpose-built weapon, a utility tool, a weapon of opportunity or an improvised weapon.
The same characteristics that make knives so nasty offensively make them fantastic defensive weapons. For example, they’re easy to conceal, they can injure on extension and retraction, they can injure even when they’re deflected from reaching their primary target and, frankly, they don’t require a high degree of skill to be lethal.
Like it or not, however, the use of an edged weapon, both offensively and defensively, is often regarded as insidious, felonious and just plain evil. The very fact that someone carries a knife can be used to demonstrate intent, whether that’s truly the case or not.
The wounds a knife attack inflicts are ugly and can easily be construed—or may be perceived—as gratuitous maiming in court. Use of a knife likely means exposure to bloodborne pathogens.
Finally, it’s often the case that it’s the cumulative wounding of someone that stops him rather than a single application. All that means a knife is far from the perfect weapon.
LET’S TAKE A LOOK at a few of these observations. Although it’s true folding knives are easy to conceal, it’s also true many people who carry folders don’t put in any appreciable training time that involves opening them under duress. A fouled draw while under attack may mean you just lost your weapon. Worse, it can mean your previously unarmed attacker is now armed.
Moderately sized fixed-blade knives are harder to conceal and still have to be drawn, but the draw is less complex because there’s no need for fine-motor skills to open them. Of course, a criminal doesn’t have these issues; as the predator, he’ll already have his weapon out and in his hand.
A knife strike, unlike a hand strike, is effective while it’s being thrown, as well as while it’s being retracted. “Backcutting” can occur intentionally or by chance. People who train with knives often develop the awareness and appreciation of the ability to cut with the tip as the weapon is re-chambered. This is a nasty, ultra-quick way to catch someone. Imagine after a failed thrust or stab, just flipping the point of the blade up toward your opponent’s face as you re-chamber your arm for a forehand slash. It’s not a separate movement. It’s an incidental strike—in other words, the opportunity to hurt exists just by preparing to strike again.
Another example: After a stab, you lift the tip slightly as you retract the knife. Not only does this make the wound worse, but it also enables you to clip him again if his arms or hands are in the way.
When someone punches at you and you parry it, you don’t have to be concerned with where the fist went, but with a blade, you’d better be. If he punches at your gut and you knock it offline, you don’t care if it hits your leg. If he stabs at your gut and you knock it offline into your femoral artery, you’re screwed.
AN UNTRAINED PERSON who’s closing on you with a death grip on a blade, slashing and stabbing like a madman, ought to scare the sh** out of you. If it doesn’t, you don’t have a grip on reality. As I say, “You’ve got to attack to prevail.” If escape isn’t an option and you’re being attacked with an edged weapon, you can’t defend to victory.
Despite the speed, power and ferocity of his attack, despite your fear and the resultant duress dysfunctions that will diminish your abilities, you’ve still got to make the attack stop. If not, bad will certainly get worse, and it’s unlikely you’re headed for a Kumbaya ending.
My point is, all offensive and defense knife training has to be carefully structured to replicate reality. It also has to be conducted with an appreciation for the law, as well as the realities of our justice system—and the two are different. Prancing around with a wooden tanto or waving a rubber stiletto at your partner isn’t going to cut it.
Having experienced a few live knife incidents in my life, I’d prefer to have as a defensive weapon an 18- to 22-inch-long stick rather than a knife of my own. Next month, I’ll discuss the use of sticks in the same general vein I’ve used with knives here.
Until then, put a little thought and a lot of training into that piece of steel hanging on the rim of your pocket; it’s way more than just a tactical decoration.
