Knife Survival Series - Part VIII - Drugs and Knife Attacks

A while back J.C. over at Bujutsu: The Path asked me to touch on how to respond to substance altered attackers.  People that are high on drugs present a variety of challenges.

1.  They are less likely to respond to reason
2.  They are more likely to act erratically
3.  They are less likely to experience or react to pain
4.  They are more likely to have increased strength

I've written on the topic of pain compliance in the past.  They have a time and a place, but during a knife attack is not one of them.  You cannot and will not have enough time to determine if a person is high on drugs in formulating your response.

The key point to take away is that any survival technique you use must work on everyone, regardless of what substances they've ingested.

Now, drugs are interesting things.  They can make people do incredible things.  I can say from experience that one individual, jacked up on drugs, jumped from a balcony and ran from the police for almost half a mile before he was caught.  Why is this significant?  He had broken his leg when he jumped. Adrenaline and substance abuse had carried him.

I also once had to subdue a guy on crystal meth.  I wasn't alone, but no one could do anything with him. Distraction strikes did nothing, and he was stronger in his drug fueled state than the 3 guys trying to get him into handcuffs.  Ultimately, I was able to apply a shoulder lock, putting him face down into a couch.  This immobilized him, but he didn't feel any pain.  I found a way to immobilize him.  He had no leverage or room to resist, so he was stuck.  We could have hit him all day and I doubt it would have done anything.  I had taken him, or a part of him, out of the equation.

This same concept applies to knife survival techniques.  You have to take the individual, or the delivery system of the attack (hand, arm, shoulder etc) out of the equation.

If you are attacked with a knife, unless you can generate immediate distance and cover, you must prioritize getting control of the knife and the knife wielding limb.  With the potentially fatal nature of knife attacks, and the relatively high chance of your attacker being on some form of drug, you need to destroy whatever you get a hold of.  You need to break the arm, wrist, hand or shoulder of your attacker.  And you need to mangle it.  It sounds gruesome, but you must separate whatever part you break from whatever part it's attached to. You must make it unusable to your attacker.  This is crucial as they may not respond to the pain of the injury.  If the drugs make them immune to pain, then the part that they are using to attack must be taken out of commission. Taking the example of our broken legged friend, he could still run, but that's because his leg was still essentially held together.  Had it been broken more fully and completely severed, he would not physically be able to continue.

In the case of a knife wielding attacker, if he (or she) doesn't feel their arm break, for instance, then when they go to use it again for another attack, it must not work for this purpose.  Not to put too fine a point on it, but if their forearm is hanging down and the hand is backwards, they won't be able to hold or use the knife.

You cannot rely on anything other than the simplest, most destructive techniques to survive a knife attack.  You have no way to know what your attacker is capable of or what substances they have taken.  There are no less serious knife attacks.  Each and every one can be fatal.  Knowing this, every technique you study or learn must be effective, simple and inflict the maximum damage to you attacker.  They're nasty, but it's a matter of life or death.

Stay safe.

Stress Response Training and the Flinch

John Coles from Kojutsukan blog made a comment on my post on Part VII of my knife survival series discussing the flinch response.

He said,

"A lot of these concepts are used these days to lend credibility to a way of doing things or to develop a way of doing things."

I felt this comment was worthy of a bit more discussion on my part.  I have to agree with the comment that these concepts are used to lend credibility to a way of doing things.

For the most part, I think this is born of ignorance or inexperience, not out of malice.  (John didn't suggest it was malicious, by the way).

The problem is that some of the concepts or techniques are being taught because they make sense to the person who is teaching them.  It seems logical and rational to them, so it must be true.  In reality, it's more of a 'best guess' approach from people who have rarely been in any form or combat or violent encounters.

Even for those who have actually experienced real violence once or twice, it is often a result of the natural mental process of having to make a volatile, confusing situation and/or reaction make sense.

After periods of high stress and traumatic circumstances, it is a natural part of the healing process (mentally) to break down a volatile, unpredictable, confusing situation into manageable, somewhat orderly 'chunks'.  The situation will replay over and over again and the mind needs to find solutions to the parts that did not go well, or could have gone better.  That way, eventually fear and emotion can fade away, often with the help of similar situation scenario training.

The potential shortcoming with any such training is that in extreme situations, it is often impossible to recall exactly what happened, and in what order.  The brain, as a defensive mechanism, fills in the blanks.  This has the potential for people to draw inaccurate conclusions about what they did, what they should have done, or what would have worked better.  It is here that (often well meaning) teachers authoritatively teach students about how they will respond when taken by surprise.  They teach a comprehensive course of study on potentially flawed data.  The students, many of who have not experienced true violence, can't weigh the material against real world experience, so they believe it to be accurate.  After all, it makes sense rationally.

To illustrate the mental gaps that occur under extreme stress, you just have to look at the example of police involved shootings.  Over and over again, it has been shown that the officer discharging their firearm rarely remembers how many rounds they fired.  You would think this would be an easy enough thing to do, but it's not.  And shooting a gun is a practiced skill that's drilled over and over again throughout an entire career.  If this can occur for something like this, how can you accurately judge how you reacted or would react to a surprise attack?  There are other factors such as time distortion, auditory exclusion, or selective hearing, tunnel vision, feelings of detachment and time slowing down, or speeding up.  I've barely scratched the surface on these issues but plan on writing about them in the future.

Some systems out there are researched fairly well, but as with everything, buyer beware.  To truly paint a picture of what goes on when attacked, you need to find someone who has experienced it, has viewed footage, has read studies and most importantly, in my opinion, has had the opportunity to speak to people who have experienced it (if they trust you enough to give a honest recount of upsetting events).

There's no easy way to collect enough data to make concrete conclusions.  In addition to my personal experiences, I'm lucky in the sense that I'm privy to a variety of sources or research, and a lot of people.  Another point to take away is that while there are things that are common to us all, there are also differences.  People react differently to a variety of stimuli.  This makes it important for any form of training to be fluid and flexible.

Many of the systems out there teaching flinch response training are pretty good.  Just make sure you have a critical eye when any definitive statements are made about how you are guaranteed to react in any situation.

I think I've rambled enough for now.  I encourage everyone to research the flinch response and stress response.  It's fascinating and applicable to serious martial arts training.

Knife Survival Series - Part VII - The flinch

Learning how to incorporate the body's natural 'flinch' response into knife survival training (or any martial arts training) may be one of the more misunderstood aspects of study.

Over the last several years, more and more martial arts practitioners have been looking at the 'flinch' or 'startle' response with a view to building on it, rather than fighting to overcome it.

I read a very good article over at The Way of Least Resistance on this topic. It's definitely worth a read.

There are several talented reality based instructors out there touting the flinch response and how to build it into attack response and defense.  Most of the training is good.  Tony Blauer's course is one such example.

The biggest single issue I have with flinch response training is that many instructors mistakenly believe that the flinch response used during practice is the one that you would instinctively revert to when surprised.  It most often involves covering up and pulling back.  This seems like the body's natural response to a surprise attack, but it is flawed. It's actually the body's instinctive response to a known surprise attack.  

Known surprise attack???  What the heck does that mean?

That means you know an attack is coming.  The attack may vary, you may not know exactly what's coming, but you know something is.  The typically taught flinch response is a good sort of 'catch all' which minimizes the chances of injury and responds to a variety of variations within an attack.  There's nothing wrong with this, except that it assumes you know you're involved in an altercation.

There is only one true flinch response.  It's the one that occurs when you are taken off guard and completely by surprise.  And it only happens once (per situation).

There's no point in trying to fight this one, it happens on an instinctive level. Learning to use it is another thing altogether.  It is my theory that many traditional martial arts build on this instinctive response in the design of the techniques themselves.  My study of this continues.

So, what does this instinctive response look like?  More often than not, it includes a striking out, or pushing out at the perceived threat.  Portions of the body will pull back from the threat, the body will curve away from an abdomen attack, or the head will pull back from a face attack.  

The hands, however, will shoot out towards the threat, as if trying to knock it away or provide some sort of barrier between the threat and the body.

This is especially important to know and significant when it comes to knife survival.  The conceal-ability of knives, and the nature of knife attackers, increase the odds of a surprise attack.  It is therefore essential to recognize what the flinch response is, what it looks like, and how to use it to your advantage.

Any realistic knife survival training needs to work on this.  It is incumbent on instructors to have an understanding of this and to research the flinch response.   

One of the advantages of this instinctive response is that it naturally transitions quickly and easily into realistic knife survival skills.  One of the areas where I agree with mainstream thinking for knife defense is that gaining control of the knife of the knife bearing limb is crucial for survival.  (There are exceptions, of course, but in general the thinking is sound)  The beauty of the flinch response is that your body's natural reaction puts you exactly in the position to do just that.  The vital areas of the body have been protected, or moved out of range, but your hands are touching or are very close to the threat.  

On this level, there is no point in trying to override thousands of years of evolution.  The flinch response occurs on a unconscious level, so you may as well let nature lend a helping hand.

I encourage everyone to learn about the flinch response and to make sure that training takes this into account.  Due to the one-time nature of the instinctive response, it's important to understand how you will react when taken by surprise.  That way, you can drill responses from the position you're most likely to find yourself in.  I don't want to discount any system or teachers out there, but some instructors have applied a conscious pattern of thought in coming up with what they believe would be the instinctive response to an attack.  The truth is, it all occurs on a more basic level, and it happens faster than the cognitive mind can process.  

Train safely.

Knife Survival Series - Part VI - Play-fighting / Realistic training

One of the most challenging parts to learning and delivering knife survival skills is the fact that no matter what you do, it’s still a form of play-fighting.  With no real inherent risk in the activity, it is difficult to mimic, or account for, the realities of true violence, both on the part of the one attacking and the one reacting.  One way to get a taste of reality is to use live blades in your training (carefully!!!).  

Unfortunately, this only makes it real for the person being attacked, not for the attacker, who remains in a safe environment.

I’ve already discussed that the most likely form of knife attacks from the most likely form of attackers are big slashing or big stabbing movements. (Part IV)

Some (often well meaning) folks will say that this is unrealistic, that knife attacks will be a flurry of multiple combinations of well executed cuts and slashes.  In some knife seminars that will be followed by a demonstration of all the fancy stuff that can be learned.

In this safe environment, it’s still a form of play fighting.  In reality, even these skilled individuals are likely to revert to the big slashing and stabbing movements under combat stress.

They important question is why?

There are several reasons:

1.  Stress itself.  The stress response covered in Part V plays a big part.

2.  Confidence.  For most people, no matter how much training they've done, they've never actually sliced somebody up.  For all the theory and practice, the techniques just haven't been battle tested.  Unless the attacker has repeatedly attacked people with knives and then assessed the results and adjusted to maximize the effectiveness, it remains a 'see what happens' type of scenario.  

What we all know, on a baser level, is that big power moves work.  We've learned this from childhood.  When you powerfully smash something, it usually has a degree of success.

And when the stakes are high- What if they fight back?  Pull their own knife? Or gun?  What if I get caught?  Then the natural process is to revert back to what you know.

3.  Commitment.  Most (and I say most) people have not consciously decided to straight up kill the other person.  Even knowing it's a possibility, usually it's not the end goal.  If someone's only goal is to end your life, it will be challenging to defend.  Most criminals have an ulterior motive of some sort that reduces their focus and commitment to the attack.  If it's a means to an end, you stand a better chance.

This doesn't only apply only to knife attacks.  

Question:  (Think about this, and answer honestly)  

If you were suddenly forced to go rob, knock out, stab or club another person randomly on the street, what approach would you take?  They could be bigger than you, smaller than you, trained, untrained, or armed.  You just don't know. Would you be confident and calm enough to approach, not hide your intentions, and engage them face to face, relying on your training to take care of anything they could dish out?  Or would you try for a sneaky or powerful one punch (hit, club, stab) knockout? 

I think you know what most people would do.

This is one of the major factors that make big slashing and stabbing movements the most likely form of attack from the most likely form of attacker. This must be addressed in knife survival training. Without this understanding or realization, it's likely that you'll spend the bulk of your time play fighting and practicing responses to attacks that probably would never happen.  (strategies for dealing with skilled knife attackers will be covered in future articles)

One of the next articles in this series will be on incorporating the 'flinch response' in spontaneous knife survival training and will discuss some of the more common misconceptions about the body's natural response to an unscripted attack.

Knife Survival Series - Part V - Stress

Learning to survive a knife attack involves realistic training.  You must take into account the stress response. There is lots of information on stress, adrenaline and the fight or flight response often experienced during combat.

Most of what you'll read will deal with what you, as the intended victim, will experience when attacked.  It may be loss of fine motor skills, tunnel vision, auditory exclusion, shaking, or an altered perception of time and events.  This is all really important stuff to know, and your training methods must reflect factors that come into play in a life or death situation.  'Reality' type training tries to mimic some of these factors by 'jacking' up the trainee prior to the attack, using a variety of methods.

What often isn't covered, or even considered for that matter, is the effect stress has on the attacker.  This is a mistake.  All those stress related factors that affect your response also apply to your attacker.

In Part IV of this series, I touched upon the most common forms of knife attacks someone is likely to encounter.  The first two categories were big slashing and big stabbing movements.  One of the reasons that these are more common is due to the stress response on the attacker.

Attacking someone with a knife is a stressful event.  Untrained knife attackers (the non-psychopathic ones, at least), experience many of the same chemical changes that the intended victim does.  Most do not really know what the outcome of the attack will be.  Will it work?  Will their victim fall to the ground like on t.v. or in the movies?  Many have to 'psych' themselves up just to initiate the attack.

This stress response, and the accompanying loss of fine motor skills, is what makes this type of attack more likely.  The attacker loses the ability and/or the confidence to execute complex attacks.  The stress, adrenaline dump, and the shaking of the arms and legs all make the most likely form of attack to be big, 'gross motor skills' based movements.  This is why big slashes and big stabs are common forms of attack with knives.  I would like to reiterate that I'm referring to the most likely form of attack from the most likely form of attacker. There are exceptions to every rule.

I've seen reality training that spends lots of time getting a trainee all worked up prior to encountering a heavily padded attacker.  What I've not seen very often is the attacker taking the time to attack in a realistic fashion.  This is a big problem.  If the majority of training is designed to deal with unlikely or unrealistic attacks, what good is it?

In survival training, it's extremely important to understand what you will be going through during combat.  To properly prepare, it's just as important to understand the physiology and the psychology of your attacker.  Without this understanding, your training is limited, at best.

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.  If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.  If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you sill succumb in every battle"
- Sun Tzu (The Art of War, Special Edition)

Knife Survival Series - The teacher becomes the student...

Well, the weekend seminar was a success.  I believe that every new experience is a chance to learn, and this was no exception.

Overall, the concepts and techniques we presented were well received.  It was an interesting mix of students from a variety of clubs and different styles, from white belt to black.

My goal is to develop and ultimately deliver a system that can incorporate both instinctive responses to surprise attacks and effective measures for anticipated ones.

Some interesting observations:

1.  Most of the experienced martial artists were very receptive to the concepts, but some of them struggled a bit with the physical skills.  Not that the physical techniques were hard, actually they are quite the opposite.  The issue was with their programming.  Many of them had been doing knife defense technique for years, and under stress tended to revert to them.  This is one of the benefits of consistent training, but only if the techniques themselves are effective.

Many of the ingrained techniques that I observed were lacking.  Too many are taught without any consideration or what happens next.  Some end with a block.  Some deflect but don't consider the blade coming back towards them. And most end up too far from their attacker to realistically gain control of the blade (if disengaging is not a viable option).  Understanding the dynamics of a knife attack seems to be missing from most people's training.

2.  The newer students actually struggled less with the physical aspects and more with the concepts.  Clearly some of the material was new to them.

3.  Most people have not taken their knife defense training as seriously as they may think.  This was evidenced by the introduction of a live blade when we demonstrated some of the techniques (obviously live blades were not used by any of the attendees).  Even the most confident in the group took a moment or two to think about their previous training.

4.  A seminar works best when the floor is open to questions.  There were some really well thought out questions.  It really showed people were analyzing the material.  This type of training, in my opinion, needs this process.  When people understood and agreed with the concepts, it was far easier for them to do the physical techniques.

5.  Time flies by when you have an engaged crowd.  It was over before I knew it.

I've got a bit of work to do.  I'm very happy that most of the material can be picked up quite quickly by just about anyone.  I'm going to spend a bit more time working on the issue of how to seamlessly integrate the techniques and concepts into the arsenal of experienced artists who have pre-programmed responses to set attacks based on years of repetition in training.

I also need to spend as much time, if not more, on the concepts of knife survival, awareness, avoidance, legal considerations, adrenaline, gross vs. fine motor skills, the effects of stress, time, distance and cover, tactical considerations, environment etc.  If knife techniques exist in isolation, they are of very limited value.  A holistic approach is needed to truly prepare people to survive a knife attack.

To sum up, it was a great success.  It seems the teacher learned just as much as the students.  And that's just what I'd hoped. 

Be safe

From page to practice

I've spent a lot of time working on developing realistic, effective techniques and strategies for dealing with, and surviving, knife attacks.  I've started a series on this (see my previous few points if you're interested). 

Over the next few days, I'll be putting my ideas to the test.  Obviously, I've worked on doing the techniques myself over and over again, together with my Sensei and a couple of senior students.  

I know that my techniques will work, and I know that they're effective. Now I need to discover how easily they can be taught, well, actually, how easily they can be learned.  

I'm attending a knife seminar with my Sensei.  I'll be presenting my ideas and techniques to students from a variety of different schools and experience levels.  

Just as important as the techniques themselves, is the ability to learn and apply them.  If people from different walks of life can't pick up the material quickly and apply them under stress, then I haven't achieved what I hope to; a realistic approach to knife survival for the majority of people.  Of course, it'll also tell me something about my teaching style.  Can I make it all make sense?  

Wish me luck, I'll report back with the results.

Knife Survival Series - Part IV - Q&A, Goals and Background

Sue C at My Journey to Black Belt made a comment on my last post and asked an interesting question.  To paraphrase, she mentioned that her Jiu Jitsu Sensei had told her about how some knife fighters will try to cut your forehead, so the blood that runs down you face gets in your eyes.  She also inquired about the most common type of knife attack.

To the first comment, yes, this is one of the strategies that some knife fighters employ.  It can work but takes quite a bit of timing and skill.  Sue also speculated that most knife attackers are not professional knife fighters.  Sue is correct.

Expert knife fighters employ lots and lots of nasty stuff.  Their blades are only part of their attack strategies and knife retention is always on their minds. Many will distract, fillet, use multiple cuts to overwhelm you and lot of other techniques to win a battle.  

That's why I'd never knife fight with a knife fighter.  Simple as that.  I'd run away, search for an improvised weapon of another type of barrier to create time and space.  Knife fighters do the bulk of their training engaged in combat with another opponent, usually face to face.  While still deadly, most knife fighters are not practiced in chasing after an opponent.  This forces a level of commitment to the attack, which may offer an opportunity to respond, survive, and get away.  

Bottom line, it is unlikely that you will get attacked with a knife by an expert knife fighter.  The same is true that it is unlikely you will be attacked by any master of a martial discipline.    

This series is not aimed at training people to deal with expert knife fighters, nor is it aimed at assisting expert knife fighters.  Some of the material can definitely be used by either, but that is not the focus.

What's the most common type of knife attack?  Opinions vary greatly.      

The material, theories, strategies and conclusions in this series, and this blog, are my opinions.  Any reader is free to disagree or question any of the material found here.  On a topic as important as knife survival, my hope is that everyone evaluates and examines whatever training they do to make sure it would realistically work for them.  If this series accomplishes nothing more than that, I'll be very happy.  

I have, and will, make some strong statements.  To understand how I've come to arrive at my conclusions, and where my opinions and strategies come from, I'll share the following:

I've been lucky enough to have cross-trained with a true master of Kali, and with several other high level knife fighters.  I've learned a great deal from them, and some of my content on knife survival has definitely been influenced by this training.

While this has proved invaluable, the bulk of my material is as a result of real world application or observation, mostly from my work experience.  I am also part of a larger group which analyses any use of force by law enforcement agencies.  I am privy to the nature of violence towards police and the public and measure and evaluate the effectiveness of the response to it.  As such, I am involved in the ongoing process of developing training methods and methodologies to respond to the realities of policing in major urban centers. The remainder of my opinions stem from ongoing research - from books, blogs, training, experimentation, interviews and seminars.

Realistic knife survival training must accurately reflect and respond to not only the most likely form of attack, but the most likely kind of attacker (more on this part in a later piece).  This series is aimed at the majority of martial artists, or anyone that wants realistic, effective strategies to survive real world knife attacks.

So, to respond to Sue's question, I will break down the most likely, or common, forms of knife attacks into 4 broad categories:


1.  Big slashing movements -  More common when the attacker is unsure of what effect it will have on his/her intended victim.  Up, down, or diagonal, stomach, chest, or face.

2.  Big stabbing movements - Also common with those less sure of effect. Usually straight in to your torso as a power move or a downwards stab towards your head or neck.

3.  Rapid short stabbing movement - This type of attack is characterized by multiple in-close stabbing motions.  I also refer to this as similar in style to the 'shanking' you seen in prison movies.

4.  Static knife holds - This is when the attacker holds the knife against some part of your body or close to it.  Normally accompanied by some sort of threat of demand.  (Think, give me your wallet...)

Future installments will delve into each category.  Topics covered will be why they are the most common, the traits associated to the attacker and the attacks, the mental aspect and strategies and techniques for dealing with each type.

Train with a critical eye.

Knife Survival Series - Part III

In my last post in this series, I listed some realities, or truths, about edged weapons attacks and how to survive them.  The first truth I listed was:


You are going to get cut


That's a pretty bold statement.  In actuality, it is possible that you won't get cut. It's highly unlikely that you won't get cut, but it is possible.

So why do I boldly say it's a truth?  There are some important reasons.

1.  Mental preparedness.  You must be prepared to be cut.  You must enter into your training with a clear understanding that you will likely see blood, probably your own, and maybe lots of it.  Seeing your own blood or seeing an injury can be very unsettling.  It can cause some people to panic or freeze up. If you are not prepared to deal with the mental and emotional impact of this stimuli, you may not be able effectively fight through it.

2.  You need to tailor your training to the most likely set of circumstances.  The vast majority of people who are attacked with a knife get cut.  Therefore, training should take this into account.  Simply put, you may as well train for the most likely scenario.  Accepting the probability is far better than assuming you'll avoid any injury.

3.  Physical considerations.  Blood makes things slippery.  You may have a hard time controlling your attackers limbs or the knife.  Conversely, your attacker may have trouble holding on to the knife.  The handles of many combat/fighting knives are constructed in such a way as to prevent the hand from sliding off when wet.  Also, as gruesome as it is, you may be able to use your blood offensively.  Say your arm gets cut and is bleeding, you might be able to wipe it into the eyes of your attacker, temporarily blinding them. Not a nice thought, but this is survival we're talking about.

4.  Knives are so easily concealed that it's quite possible you've already been cut by the time you realize a weapon is involved.  We all train to be aware of our surroundings, but things happen in the real world. It may be dark, you may be in a crowd or there could be multiple attackers.

These are a few of the reasons you should accept this as a reality/truth.  This is not defeatist thinking by any stretch, it is a method of approaching your training in the most realistic way possible.

Train safely.

Knife Survival Series - Part II

In today's post, I'd like to cover some realities, or truths, about knife fighting, knife attacks and knife survival.  While I am numbering the posts in this series, I cannot guarantee that all of them will follow a logical progression.  I will endeavor to do so, but from time to time a new topic will pop up that I may jump into while it's fresh in my mind.

In my first post, I said:

"I no longer refer to techniques as being knife defenses.  You don't strive and train to defend against a knife attack, you train to survive a knife attack.  This distinction is very important, and one I'll discuss in greater depth in future posts in this series."


Reality/Truth #1: You are going to get cut.

Accept this reality.  Prepare yourself mentally for this.  It's upsetting and unsettling to see your own blood.  Blood is slippery.  Incorporate this knowledge into your training.  The only way to avoid being cut is to run away, which leads to...


Reality/Truth #2: The best strategy is to run away.


This is always the best survival strategy.  It's time to put away illusions of masterfully avoiding multiple strikes, slashes and stabs while deftly removing your attackers' blade and causing no injury.  Save it for the movies.  A knife is just as deadly as a gun, minus the range.  Not many people would argue that running away from a gun wielding attacker is a bad strategy.  A knife is no different.


Reality/Truth #3: You may not see the knife.  You may not know you've been cut or stabbed.


Many people don't realize they've been cut until well after the fact.  It is quite common for a stabbing victim, or survivor, to think they've been punched or slapped instead of cut or stabbed.  For this reason, it is important to identify the types of behaviors a knife wielding attacker displays before, during, (and sometimes after) an attack.  Most knife attackers have idiosyncrasies that, once identified or understood, can assist in developing an effective survival strategy.  This will be examined more in-depth in the future.  Too many knife fighting courses and seminars operate on the assumption that you know your attacker has a knife prior to the attack being initiated.

If you cannot run away (truth #2), the best course of action to survive a knife attack is:


Get control of the knife, cause serious injury to your attacker, and then run away.


There are important physical skills to be learned, but even more important is preparing yourself mentally.  You must enter into the process of learning how to survive a knife attack with a proper mindset.

Future posts in this series will discuss each of the realities/truths in far more detail.  Some other topics that will be explored are:

- The psychology of combat and the attacker vs. prey mentality
- Shifting the balance of power, mental unbalancing
- Visualization techniques
- Training strategies
- Physical skills
- Awareness
- Fight vs. flight, adrenaline, gross and fine motor skills considerations
- Fighting while injured
- Types of knives
- Weapon based systems
- Common knowledge and misconceptions about knife attacks.

This is by no means a complete list of topics to be discussed.

Some of my opinions and strategies will conflict with widely accepted theories on knife fighting or knife techniques.  On my journey, I have discovered that I disagree with some of material that is widely and commercially available, and I disagree with some of the experts in the field.  Some of the information is fantastic, and some may get you killed.

I welcome discussion and questions on the topic of knife survival.  I'd also be happy to consider  suggestions on topics to be explored and discussed.

Be safe

Knife Survival Series - Part I

For some time, I've been troubled with the techniques being taught for dealing with edged weapon attacks. I've decided to do a series of posts on this topic, interspersed with other ideas that pop into my head.

From my experience, most techniques being taught are unrealistic, overly complex and without a logical and sensible conclusion.  Even some of the most talented knife fighters are teaching unrealistic responses.  I will concede that expert knife fighters are good at what they do and would likely carve most of us to pieces, but the fact remains that you are unlikely to face such an adversary.  And if you do, run away. Actually, running away should always be the preferred option.

For those times when running away is not possible, a realistic set of skills needs to be taught.  While I'm all for having fun during training, it's important to remember that knives are serious business.  Lethal business. And they're out there, everywhere.

As for taking your training seriously and respecting the blade, I suggest introducing live blades into your training.  Be very, very, careful, of course, but you may be surprised how you no longer just 'go through the motions' in training when you might get cut.  It's a telling exercise that lets you know how confident you really are with your knife defense techniques.

I no longer refer to techniques as being knife defenses.  You don't strive and train to defend against a knife attack, you train to survive a knife attack.  This distinction is very important, and one I'll discuss in greater depth in future posts in this series.

Train safely.