Re-Post: Knife Attacks

Many folks in our community have little more than an academic relationship with the reality of death fights. That is not an indictment, simply a fact. Most people have jobs and hobbies that do not involve CQB, getting wet with a blade or putting mushrooming wounds in people from firearms. Punching holes in paper or dinging steel with your favorite bottomfeeder has zero in common with what happens when the target shoots back. The relationship you have with your new fighting blade will change if you ever have to use it to open more than a can of peaches.

Here is a simple truth I have shared before: In a real fight everyone gets hit. Even the winner will get dinged up. In a knife fight, even the winner will get cut. In a knife fight, even the winner has a good chance of dying.

Should you pull your knife just because he has a knife? Not necessarily. But for the purpose of this post, we’ll assume you choose to keep both of your hands empty. In my world a knife is an offensive weapon, with very minimal defensive utility. I usually prefer to have both hands empty when handling a knife attack. But, that’s me.

In a knife fight:

- Run away if possible
- Hit ‘em with the nose of your Chevy at a high rate of speed, if possible
- Shoot him, if possible
- Have one of your sneaky Tribe members shoot him in the back

If our four preferred resolution methods aren’t going to happen, then suck it up and prepare to kill.

To kill - not to defend. Not to get the knife. Not to avoid getting cut.

You have one simple focus: Kill him.

I do not care how f’n good you are, how big, or fast you are. I do not care how small he or she may be. You are going to get cut in a real knife fight.

Here’s where most “Knife fighting instructors” screw you up: They will teach you that there are different techniques for fighting against a knife. That is, essentially, bunk. It will help him sell knife fighting DVD’s, but it’ll get you dead in the real world.

Yes, you need to be peripherally cognizant at all times where the knife is – left hand, right hand, high, low, et cetera. But the man plunging a knife at your chest is handled exactly as would be the man thrusting an empty fist at your chest. You treat him as if he is unarmed. Your technique (if you have been well-trained) is the same:

- Control the wrist or elbow (or deflect at the wrist or elbow)
- Get off the line of attack
- Counter strike with everything you’ve got into the softest, most vulnerable spot you can find on him

If you miss your opening, remain calm. He’ll either come at you again or quit his attack.

The same holds true whether the weapon is a brick, an ax, a bat, a machete, or a pair of kittens he’s using as nunchaku. The only variable is range – keep yourself out of range of the weapon and force him to close the gap to strike. You focus on the man, not the weapon. You defeat the man, not the weapon. You kill the man, and give his weapon to someone in your Tribe.

A medic is an essential part of your Tribe. You’ll need the medic or the grave digger when this is over.

That’s simply reality.

It is what it is.

III