The Filippine MAs are well-known to be
effective against armed opponents,
especially those with bladed weapons
such as knives.
Now, it’s also well-known that Chinese
internal arts are effective in self-defense
and unarmed combat. But what about knives
and fighting against armed opponents?
My question is, how do you people,
practising an internal art, train to defend
yourselves against a blade? Are you using
methods from Filippine or MAs from other
countries/cultures? Or do you think that
the methods/techniques within your own
system are good enough? If so, what style
do you practise and what methods do you
use?
I assume that you are referring to another
of my posts on this board. PTCC/WTCC is the
name of the style of Tai Chi Chuan I’m
practising, Practical/Wudang Tai Chi Chuan.
More information on PTCC/WTCC can be found on
<A HREF=“http://www.taichichuan.co.uk.” TARGET=“_blank”>www.taichichuan.co.uk.</A>
What style/styles and where in Stockholm do
you practise?
Regards,
Mark
PS. Yes, I do speak Swedish, but this IS
an international board after all.
Do you mean unarmed defense or do I get a choice of weapons to defend with? There are many different “in-close” methods from the chinese internal styles. In bagua we have deerhorn knives, judges pens, and daggers among others. All of the techniques are brutal to the bone. Fortunatly, I have never had to use them in real life situations to stab, slice, shave or cut an enemy. I know the techniques of the Filippines are effective as they have been necessary and effective for street survival. They work. But in response to your question, there are an equal number of knife techniqes in Chinese martial arts. There is really no reason to borrow from other styles for this particular situation. Anyway, a weapon is only an extension of the arm and if I were using one it would come from the styles I have learned.
The Internal arts contain very good defenses against bladed weapons. While other arts are now famous for their knife defenses, the Internal arts contain methods just as effective. I have seen some of the training from other systems, and the same methods or ones very similar are found in Taiji and Bagua.
We usually train these methods with a fake knife, however, I have also tested many of them against live blades and they work.
“To enter is to be born, to retreat is to die.”
-An Old Taijiquan Saying
great question, but I think part of the reason for it is that very few tjq schools teach empty-hand against blade techniques. The techniques, as another poster said, are certainly there. But, I’d make an even stronger argument. Imho, tjq and bagua, being based on either yielding or evasion, use inherently effective strategies for combatting a blade. Well, simply put, any system that depends on “blocking” has to worry more about sharp weapons. Anyway, tjq and bagua also have weapons training. Big knife (halberd), little knife (saber), very small knife (from fan to fingernail), these are just different lengths for the same weapon. Hmm, reminds me. There’s an old karate book that’s called “My Hand is My Sword.”
First, thank you all that contributed with
interesting answers to my question. But I
must point out that I didn’t put my question
correctly. I wasn’t wondering if there are
techniques and methods for unarmed knife/blade
defense (since I know that they exist), I was
rather wondering if the existing material is
pressure tested and “good” enough for
modern street self defense.
I do know that most Chinese Internal styles have
weapon techniques incorporated, but how many
of modern practitioners learn to use them
correctly and effectively, like FMA practitioners
do for an example. Why the Filippine/Indonesian
systems are so good at knife fighting/defense
is, as another poster pointed out, that they
have been necessary for street survival in the
social structure of these countries.
Yes, knives and other weapons are extensions
of the arm. But there is a major difference
between a blade and a hand; while you must
do a correct connection with your hand to
deliver your technique, a blade needs much less
power and precision to do serious damage.
Sam Wiley, I got particulary interested in
your post. How, more exactly, do you train
with the fake/real knife?
Sorry, too much rambling.
Regards,
Wai (OK OK, I’ll try to be consistent with
my name!)
“My question is, how do you people, practising an internal art, train to defend yourselves against a blade?”
My old taiji class (Yang Lu Chan via student of Erle) trained with rubber knives and such. We used our taiji to defend. You could disarm someone with a knife with a good internally powered wingblock (once did it to my instructor).
Once you are moving internally and could generate some power (explosive power - fajing - in particular) - I would say just play with someone attacking you with a rubber knife. You learn a lot that way.
I don’t think enough of this has been explored (or known) by most taiji people - but with my own experience in some of this kind of training, I know the defenses are there.
If your system does not teach the aggressive use of a knife, and by that I mean a knife and not a halbred or a sword, it really is not going to get a deep and functional understanding of its defense.
The same one linear that grapplers use also extends to the discipline of knife combatives. “To best defend against a grappling technique you have to train in a grappling art.”
To best defend against a knife attack you have to train in a system which has a primary element of short-blade work.
FMA’s, IMA’s, Kuntao, Military Combatives, Hwarang-do, Danse de Rue, Banashay, Tanto-Jutsu, Krabi Karbong, Spanish Navaja, Lua, are just a few off the top of my head.
