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Knife Fighting and the make believe world of "Self Defense"

A knife is one of the single greatest tool mankind ever came up with. Right up there with the wheel and fire. Everyone should have a good utility knife they carry with them 24x7. You just never know when you are going to need to cut a rope, open a package and so on. Everyone should have a good selection of knifes, a boning knife for chicken, a chef’s knife for chopping, a electric knife for carving. Hmmm no knife for stabbing folks.  The reason is while a knife is a great weapon for self offense it is a very poor choice for self defense.  Granted if you want to get back at Larry the Lifer for punking you out in the yard a knife or "shank" may be a good approach.  As a day to day general use self defense weapon a knife falls way down the list.

I have frequently been subjected to the shrill commentary of Knife fighters about the practicality and deadly nature of their weapon. They go so far as to claim knives are superior to guns when defending oneself. Yea…right. Lets start with the first problem of knife use, distance. To be able to effectively use a knife as a weapons means you need to be extremely close to your opponent. If you do not have grappling skills (and most knife fighters don’t) that distance is already to close. For this reason and several other it is far easier to have your knife taken away then it is to lose your gun.

Next; much of the damage done with a knife is delayed. Meaning even after a really good stab to the guts; even a fatal stab, your attacker will still have 30 seconds to 10 minutes of good fight in him. Unless you pierce the heart or slash the throat your knife is unlikely to stop the fight immediately. A slash will cause grievous wounds and spill a lot of blood; but will not stop the fight. A deep stab may; however it is difficult to perform a deep stab and even more difficult to recover your weapon after doing so. The damage inflicted with a gun, even something as small as a .32 is far more damaging. It has knock down power, it is loud and easy to inflict multiple wounds. Couple with the fact that a gun is effective at 0 feet as well as 25 feet and well you can see why you should never bring a knife to a gun fight and always bring a gun to a knife fight.

Lets talk a little about damage from a gun compared to a  knife. Now knife wounds are nothing to sneeze at. A good cut in the right place can kill with in seconds. Even a poorly placed slash will cause massive bleeding, pain and often shock. So I’m not saying knifes are not dangerous. Wounds from a gun however are far more stunning, do greater damage and are more likely to take the fight out of your attacker. Now I’m talking about even fairly small rounds like a 32 or 9MM. Some folks scoff at the knock down power of a 9MM. Well maybe one round does not have that much knock down power; but three 9mm rounds do. You start talking about 38s, 45, and the like and you are really talking about massive wounds. A knife has no knock down power, no range and then there is killing with a blade.

A knife is a very brutal way to kill someone. I’ve watched "self Defense" instructors talk about using a knife as though they are simple, clean weapons.  It leads me to think these folks have never really stabbed anyone or every killed anything with a knife. Before I go further I would like to point out that I have never killed anyone with a knife either; but a little common sense gives some insight concerning the level of difficulty killing with a knife demands. Even finishing off a fish can be tricky and they don’t have arms or legs to defend themselves with. The fight or flight response is one of the strongest in nature. When flight is not a possibility every living creature on the planet will fight to survive with all of its power and will. Slash someone with a knife and I can assure you you’ll have a fight on your hands; a fight to the death. Think it will be easy? Try this little experiment. Go get your self a goat, a little 40 pound goat. Corner it and slash it’s nose with your knife; just so it knows it’s in real trouble. Then try to kill that little goat with your blade. Still think killing with a knife would be easy?
(Note to the especially stupid – do not really go kill a goat. It is sick and more then likely the goat will hurt you. Plus it is illegal and after you recover from your Goat inflicted wounds your going to have to pay a fine and do a little time. And justifiably so you sick bastard.)

I have seen about 100 victims of stabbing or slashing. (I worked in a hospital for many years) and I will say it is gruesome. Attacking with a blade ensure you will be wearing someone's blood and a lot of it. Killing in any fashion is a difficult and emotional taxing proposition. But killing with a knife is partially brutal. It is also very difficult. Humans for as fragile as they sometimes seem  are very difficult animals to kill. This becomes doubly true when fueled by rage, insanity, adrenaline, drugs or some other form of mind altering brain damage and what other type of person do you see yourself killing with a knife? Lets be clear I’m talking about knife fighting against serious attack; not jumping Nicole and Ron from behind.

How could you possibly tell some women that she should carry a knife in her purse to defend her self.? What is worse is a knife is one of the more difficult weapons to deploy is close quarters. Attackers are not going to give her time to fish around her purse, grab and flip open a knife. Plus nearly any flip style knife is not made for fighting. A thrust into a bone will almost assuredly cause the blade to slip and injure the one with the knife. A true fighting knife like a Bowie knife or long double edged blade (mini swords) and cumbersome to carry and difficult to control. Plus how many women will carry a k-bar strapped to her leg for self defense. Self defense needs to be realistic, pragmatic and something that can be incorporated into a day to day life style. Rambo blades fit the life styles of very few women.

Think about a small women trying to defend herself with a blade. If someone grabs your knife hand they have neutralized your weapon. If they grab your gun hand they are helping you aim. A gun can be fired pinned against you own body. A gun can be fired while still in your pocket, purse or bag. A gun is scary in it’s own right. Now a 120 pound women with a knife is tricky; but to a determined attacker the knife will not prove the deterrent a gun is. A 120 pound women with a gun is every bit as dangerous as a 250 pound man with a gun. That is the beauty of a gun. That is why guns were invented. It is that fact that ended feudalism and gave birth to democracy (sorry different essay). Some would argue that a knife is more versatile; however any position you could stab someone from; you could shoot them from.

Of course to be effective with any weapon you must be trained. Here is where the biggest difference between knifes and guns comes into play. Knife training is very similar to point fight training. You never really make contact the way you need to make contact. There is a big difference between a stab that you retract out of the air and one you retract out of a body. Now some people will stab hunks of meat. This is also not even close to the same thing.  The same is true with slashing strikes. Safe edged or worse, rubber knifes do not move across the surface like a real blade. Training bypasses skin, muscle, blood and bone. This is a problem since the very point of the training is damage to skin, muscle, blood and bone. Other training methods such as using markers and the like again fail to take into account the continuation of a fight once the resistance of real flesh is involved.

Some of the best knife skills to be found anywhere are in JKD schools. This is where I have seen the most impressive displays. However even here where the skill level seems the highest gaping flaws are revealed. Too much time is spent on continuous movement. Now nothing is wrong with that except when it is rehearsed and I’m yet to see it where it is not. Second there is a lot of knife on knife training. If you end up in a knife on knife fight the first thing you should do is re-evaluate your life. Ask: what have I done to bring myself to this point? Next vow that if you survive and it is entirely possible you do not deserve to; that you will never again do what you did to get you here in the first place. Starting out facing each other; each with knives drawn really does not seem like a very reasonable scenario to me. Unarmed verse knife seems far more likely. Knife verses unarmed also seems more likely. But regardless training without real resistance is futile. I think many people have a very false impression of knife fighting.

I attended a knife seminar not to long ago and was awed by the teacher, his grace and techniques were exceptional. I really came away thinking "that guy sure knows knife fighting;" And I’m sure he does for what it is worth. The sad thing is it is not worth very much. This became very evident when he went through a disarm and kill flow. He started with an unlikely blade on blade parry followed by slashed to the wrist, forearm, chest, stab to the kidneys, slice up the back, slash the throat, cut to the arm, plunging stab to the guts and finally a hip toss with the knife in his back. I was left thinking; I wonder when he gets to the part about chopping the body in small pieces and storing in the freezer. To be honest it made me a little sad because it implied that he had very little understanding about dynamic combat. However I can see why the training is done this way. When training with a deadly weapon you must be very careful. Careful means rehearsed movements. Rehearsed movements means static training. Static training quickly gives way to unrealistic impressions which springs alive spurious conclusions which become false paradigms.  Ah what a tangled web we weave when our training partners appease.

All this being said I will say again that does not mean that in the hands of a skilled knife fighter a knife is not a very, very dangerous weapon in ranges from 0 to 5 feet. However to be a skilled knife fighter I think you need the following. Exceptional footwork, excellent physical conditioning, speed, strength, outstanding coordination and years, yes years, or training. Further a key ingredient maybe a complete and utter disregard for human suffering and absolute moral bankruptcy. The Knife is a very common and ideally suited for prison life. Quite, good for surprise shanking, no ballistics; yep great choice for the hard-core lifer protecting his bitch. Poor choice for self defense.

OK now lets look at training with a gun. First any training with a gun must include safety. The major draw back with a gun is you can never take it back. Few people every accidentally kill a loved one with a knife. Kids frequently will pick up a blade and hurt themselves; but generally not fatally. The same is not true with firearms as a gun is as dangerous in little hands as big hands. So first learn to be safe with a gun then learn how to be dangerous with one.

Pistol training is not easy per say but it is far easier to become deadly with a gun then it is with a knife. Go to the range and shoot. Shoot with the pistol close, with it far, left hand, right hand. Shoot rapid, shoot slow. Train with jams, dud rounds, quick acquisition, draw and fire. It will take time to get decent with a gun. But a 12 year old can learn it. A 60 year old women has the physical ability needed. Fat men and skinny girls alike can be deadly with a pistol. Now you may want to include training that involved deploying your weapon from a grab, firing from cover and all sorts of other fun stuff like that; but once you do you are again getting into a whole different field of training that is best handled through other avenue. By the way those exact same skills are needed when training with a Knife, OC, ASP or what have you.

Now of course training on a range is not the same as shooting someone. Like knife training you will not really be shooting people. You could do this I suppose with paint ball guns; but I won’t be there. However the big difference is that your first shot does not effect your second. Hit or miss the second bullet is not effected by the first one. Unlike knife fighting where hitting or missing will greatly impact the ability to chain a second attack, with a gun each bullet is an independent event. You can shoot a person the same way you shoot a target. However if you knife fight someone the same way you drill in the dojo you will only make shallow cuts and your chain will be disrupted immediately.

Short story

To be effective with a knife you need preexisting physical skill, athleticism, 3 years training 3 to 4 times a week. Training with a gun you need eye sight, a working finger and 2 hours a week for 6 months (that is about as much training as police officers receive).

Research gathered for the US Department of Justice Victim's survey found that those who resisted violent crime with a gun far more likely to survive uninjured then those who resisted with any other weapon.  In sharp contract Knife armed resisters were 6 times more likely to be harmed then those with guns.  More spectacular they were twice as likely to be injured then those who did nothing!.

Look every cop on the job carries a knife. However I have never heard of a cop using his knife to subdue or kill a suspect. You will never hear a cop yell "stop or I’ll stab!" A knife on a cops belt is not a weapon. Knifes are not mentioned in Use of Force continuum. It goes, OC, ASP, Gun – no knife. This is what 100 years of professional law enforcement has taught us. So keep your knifes in the kitchen and off the street

"Knifes don’t kill people; people with guns kill people."