Just to add, when we was kids we used to practise knife fighting with plastic bottles sliced at an angle to make a nice fake knife.
Bare chest & safety goggles on, helps your timing plus you get a ‘tad’ of pain so it’s a bit better than with rubber knives…
Respect that thing it f***ing hurts!
I’ve been in one knife fight in my life. It was by a senior in highschool with a machete.
What he did was try to slash my arms and lower neck. This machete was pretty short, only about 1½ feet long. so what I did when he came for my arm ( when I had a coat on ) was grab his elbow and sweep him with the underside of myright foot. I thought I had him but obviously i didn’t when the jerk of his fall made him let loose his machete and lodge shallowly in my left hip. He only hit my muscle but it hurt like hell.
Underaged Drunken Monkey
this is great you guys, thanks for all your input…
keep it coming if you like…
“In a fight, there is no second place.”
A slash will not usually drop someone but a thrust is a bad thing. I’ve never had anyone thrust at me in a street fight. Most guys in my experience use a slash but then they were probably trying to keep me at arms distance instead of really trying to fight.
Check out knifefighter as he has alot of experience.
I am a Psychiatric Nurse. One day on our
unit a patient escaped thru a locked door
that failed. The code went out over the
intercom and five or six of us went to chasing him. He made it to his truck and
pulled out a Rambo style knife. We all
turned and ran like hell back to the front
door of the hospital. Getting killed by
a crazy man in the parking lot is not my idea
of a successful intervention. Anyway as we
got to the front door. The guys in front
stopped suddenly to open the glass doors that open outward. In front of the door an
industrial welcome mat was on the sidewalk.
That damn thing rolled up and jamed the
doors. We all ran into each othe like a
Keystone Cop segment. The guy with the knife had us cornered. I dropped in a stance and started calling commands for him
to drop the knife. He pulled back then faking a downward stab several times. He was about five feet away, also verbally
threatening me. By this time the other men
had unblocked the door. My friend, picked up that heavy mat and held it in front of his body shielding the rest of us as we
escaped inside the building. We were able to hold the door as he stood two feet away
branishing this knife. Eventually the police arrived and arrested him peacefully.
The key to our survival was running, verbal
commands and sheilding with the mat.
I take my knife defense training with a
much greater intensity now!!
I’ve always been pretty sucessful with my ‘mouth’ kung fu in these situations. Often disarming my opponents verbally.
One funny story though. I was walking through Grant Park in Chicago early one evening and a fellow pulled a knife on me. Did I execute any specific strategy or technique? Nope. I just instinctively grabbed it out of his hand while saying ‘give me that.’ He was so shocked he ran away, and I got a free Gerber dirk that I still use to practice with today.
Luck, sure, but I think my intent had a lot to do with surviving that one.
Use a taijitsu disarming technique. THrow your keys in his face, hit him in the stomache to knock the wind out of him, turn his knife and use his own hand to stab him in the heart. Take his money, get your keys and vanish.
wow!
I usually agree with what I’ve seen you write but I have to disagree here.
If you are confronted with a knive accept the HIGH PROBABILITY that you will get cut…but for God’s sake don’t tell youself that you ARE going to get cut!!
That kind of defeatest thinking can get you killed!
If you believe that you ARE going to get cut you almost SURELY will subconciously do something to GET cut!
I knew a young guy in the Army who got in a fight in a parking lot. He was stabbed in the throat with a broken bottle and died before the ambulance could do anything for him. It was just one cut.
If you tell youself you ARE GOING to get cut, which cut are you going to accept? The one that kills you?
No…just know that you are likely to get cut and don’t be surprised if you do…but damn…you already have an enemy in front of you…don’t be your own enemy!
Don’t ever think, “I’m going to get cut”…fight not to get cut! If you escape and live and you have a cut, you should be disappointed that you got a cut and think of what you did wrong…not..“oh well, I knew it would happen.”
Hell, the other guy doesn’t know he’s gonna cut you…he just hopes he does. He’ll try..but it’s a fight..anything can happen.
I would never tell myself that I am going to lose or get cut or get shot or whatever…I would tell myself, “I’m gonna kill this guy” and if I could defeat him without killing him, then we are both fortunate.
I know you were a cop and I’m not trying to disrespect you…I am just surprised that you allowed yourself to adopted that defeated thought pattern.
The way I see it: the other guy is my enemy. I’m not going to be my own enemy. Why should I think what he wants me to think? If anything I want him to think “This is useless. I’m not gonna win and this guys gonna kill me if I don’t stop now.”
I say don’t prepare you mind that you WILL get cut..prepare you mind that his guy is trying to kill you and you’d better fight like a wounded bear.
That’s my 2 cents.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=“-1”>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Sihing73:
[b]Slater_E,
First of all if you find yourself in a knife fight expect to get cut. Prepare your mind for that eventuality as it will happen.
Dave[/b][/quote]
[This message has been edited by totallyfrozen (edited 08-07-2000).]
[This message has been edited by totallyfrozen (edited 08-09-2000).]
Greetings my friends,
Well the good thing for me is if you know that a person is going to take a knife to stab you or something, quickly unbuckle your belt and whip at his face. If you have a belt. If you don’t have the best thing is stick to him, go near to him and stop him(with your skills) not the knife! I heard that running away from it will get you bleed.
~Guybrush~
In most situations, If you are attacked with a knife… the person will let you know he has one. IF he doesn’t, he knows what he’s doing and it will probobly be too late.
If you are badly cut, do not run, this will increase the bloodflow and you will most likely die. It takes about 30 seconds to pump out your entire supply of blood when you have a good slash in you. If you are stabbed, and are lucky enough to have the knife still in you, DONT take it out.. no matter how deep it is.
Avoid getting slashed/stabbed in vital areas.. a slash of the forearm is a lot less damaging than a slice to the neck.
Keep in mind that a good knife fighter will try and go for muscle however, and if he cuts up your forearm, it will kinda impair you when trying to grapple or anything(sorry BJJ :P)
I hope this helps somewhat… IF anyone has anything to add… PLEASE do.. as I am only a newbie when it comes to bladework.
totallyfrozen,
I respect your viewpoint however I would ask that you reread my previous post in its entirety. I am not coming from a defeatist attitude but one of realism. No matter how good you are you will most likely get cut in a knife-fight. Having the proper mindset is the most important aspect of surviving such an encounter. It is all well and good to think you will not get cut and to say you will fight like crazy. Still, the reality is that too many people convince themselves of the unlikehood of getting cut or otherwise injured and when it happens they are unable to deal with the reality. I am reminded of the Boxers who put their faith in the ability to withstand injury from guns and other weapons. The reality was that this was impossible. Likewise the realisty of a knife-fight is you will most likley get cut. Is it possible to survive without getting cut, yes. Is my goal to be cut, NO 
still I go into such an encounter with the knowledge that I will most likley get cut and am prepared to deal with the event if and when it occurs. Of course, I will do everything to avoid injury.
I can assure you that my attitude in a fight is anything but one of defeat. I may accept the fact that I will be injured but I respond in spite of that fact. My mind, at least my goal, is to be empty and to react to the situation without thought. Not there yet but I am working on it . Still, I can tell you that being prepared to be cut and accepting the fact that it will happen has probably saved my life more than not preparing for the event. When I choose to fight I assure you there are only two outcomes; I will win or I will lose (deep is’nt it, LOL) If I decide to fight I will do everything in my power to win. I would like you to conisder boxers. They go into the ring with the knowledge that they will be hit. They prepare for this and are able to deal with it when it happens. How many people do you know that have something happen to them and they are so unprepared that they freeze? I know I have known a few.
I hope this makes my position a little clearer. We can still disagree but I still say you will get cut in a knife-fight and thinking otherwise or not preparing for such an eventuality is not the wisest course of action. Do all you can to avoid it but accept the reality that it will most likely happen.
Peace,
Dave
Jeez,some scary stories here.I was a bouncer for several years and luckily only had one “encounter” with a knife.A Russian sailor was in my bar(this is a true story!).He was about in his mid fifties agewise, and got really roasted.So,as we walked him out(he groped a waitress) he turned,pulled his jacket open and reached for the knife in his pocket!
But,he was so drunk he stumbled back and couldnt grab the knife solidly.So i just pulled his hand away from the knife and said “No!”.This happened twice more.Finally I took the knife out of his pocket,bought him a cab and gave the knife to the cabbie to give to the old guy when he dropped him off.
True story,and a lot less frightening than some that Ive read here.
Dave,
Thanks for clarifying your views. I think that we are actually on the same page.
I agree that one should understand the GREAT likelihood of getting cut or stabbed. I guess what I was trying to say is that the situation is scary enough as it is (as you know, you’ve been there). I was simply trying to communicate that it is very important to a person’s survival not to terrify themselves by focusing on the fact that could be killed or maimed. Panic is a REAL killer!
It is just as important, to avoid terror, to understand that you MOST LIKELY WILL get cut, and don’t be surprised or paniced if you do…just don’t psych yourself out in favor of your enemy by dwelling on the fact that this person “IS going to cut me!”
Understand that you will most likely get cut but don’t scare yourself into defeat with the thought…if one has balanced thought like that…I think one has a chance of avoiding terror and defeat.
Thanks again!
the mind frame that I use when I get scared goes like this(internal dialogue here)“ok,Im outnumbered,Im gonna get hurt,maybe real bad,im scared(important to admit this,helps the adrenalin flow),my only chance is to be perfect,to win, focused”.This has worked wonders for me in RL,in terms of calming and focusing me fast..I actually practice visualization like this.I think for the knife thing this relates,as I acknowledge the injury factor and use that to focus.I havent explained this very well,but I dont see the I will get cut and the i wont get cut as exclusive attitudes,they should actually complement each other,IMO.