“How would you tackle a guy who came at you with a knife like this?”
That’s one of the questions one of my self defence students asked me yesterday during a training session.
We tend to have quite a lot of talking during training because my students are very inquisitive and want to know everything.
I prefer this kind of training as self defence/self protection is not only about the physical but the mental, too… maybe sometimes more… depending on the situation.
“Well”, I replied, “I certainly wouldn’t attack the guy”.
“What do you mean?” I think he was a little surprised as he expected a tough guy answer to his question.
“You see, to try to take on someone with a knife is pretty stupid, especially if the guy knows how to use one. I’d very likely end up getting stabbed”.
I had to demonstrate to him what I meant.
After a couple of quick demos of what could happen in certain scenarios, he understood.
The fact is, there is no real unarmed defence against a knife… despite what the so-called experts say.
I’ve seen umpteen videos where so-called special Speznaz, Seals, and other self-proclaimed experts try to teach knife defence.
I’ve also been to clubs where they teach ‘knife defence’.
The conclusion I always reached was that they were either so idiotic they were laughable… to the downright dangerous… and the only thing they’d succeed in achieving is to get the practitioner killed.
As far as I’m concerned, if you’re faced with someone brandishing a knife, pick up anything you have to hand – preferably something big to whack them with or throw at them.
Hopefully, that would give you enough of a distraction to escape, or disable the thug enough so you can finish him off… assuming you’re in a sensible position to.
The only time you should even attempt to fight against a knife, I told my student, is if you’ve got your back to the wall and have nowhere to escape.
Then you’re fighting for your life.
When the only thing you can do is to fight back or die, I guess the choice is already made up for you.
Then you employ anything and everything you have at you disposal…
… your legs, hands, whatever.
And you fight for your life, literally.
Then I went on to show him what I would do in that situation.
And that is the only time where taking your fists to a knife fight is an option.
But, don’t expect to come out unscathed.
Dave Turton’s Unarmed and Dangerous
