Ah the knife, such a simple vicious little weapon. The best murder weapon since man picked up a sharp rock and learned how to make it sharper. It’s a lot like chess; it’s simple to use but hard to use well.
We had fun hacking and slashing at each other in class and learned some cool stuff and I thought I would expand on the purely physical training with some reality do’s and don’t s on the knife.
The first rule to getting into a knife fight is… DON’T!!
The second rule is cut him before he cuts you, more than he cuts you, and in his vital areas before he can get to yours.
The third rule is you are going to get cut. end of list.
So taking these things in mind there are a few things that may help you stay alive.
First: watch what you present as targets to your opponent. Be aware what you can and cannot risk to a knife’s edge and hope to survive. You need your hands, you need your organs, you need your tendons and your breathing apparatus, everything else is just temporary pain and a little blood when taken in the context of a life or death situation.
Second: you have to have the will to carve up another human being. If you spend your entire life not getting into a situation where you have to fight with a knife it is a life well spent. But sometimes the choice is not yours and so if you choose to fight and live when forced into said situation, you may have to kill and hesitation to do so is something that may be the end of you. Think about it, train with it in mind because when it happens you won’t have time to think.
Third: when training for such a conflict, be aware of the purpose of your strikes. Just cutting someone is not necessarily going to end the fight. You must be accurate at speed and able to strike with sufficient stren
gth to pierce layers of clothing, skin, muscle and fat. Being able to successfully touch your opponent with your practice blade is not the same as being able to touch him and still have the balance and positioning to hit with enough force to kill, and be able recover sufficiently to survive if you miss.
Fourth: know your weapon, not all knives are created equal, practice with different blade types and lengths if you can.
I could go on and on but I save the best stuff for students, so you’ll just have to come down and ask me in person.
If you have any questions relating to the above though feel free to post them and I’ll answer as best I can.
Ken
