Edged Weapon Defenses That Could Get You Killed If You Try Them!

Go ahead and watch the above video being promoted by Police Magazine. Looks pretty good right? You know it does look pretty good and that's part of the problem. As good as it looks my friends it's not very practical. Knife fighting is one of the most provocative subjects in all of defensive tactics. No one can really agree on anything. However, we aren't worried about those people we are going to use logic and facts in this article. Most that promote knife programs and defenses have a set idea of what they think reality is before they do their research. I however have been in real knife fights and witnessed even more than that. In previous articles we have pretty much exhausted the fact that police officers do not get the training time that they need and probably never will. I'm not saying every one of these tactics are bad but most are terrible and will get you killed if you used them. Officers can use these tactics and develop them over time and they may be useful but the fact is that the will not receive that time and if they do they will not utilize it.These tactics are too developmental for police officers and shame on this magazine for promoting them.
   It isn't because the defenses are bad it's because the attacks are completely unrealistic. Notice how on impact the attacker just leaves his arm out there? All the swings are wide?Sure there will be wide swings sometimes but with every attacker in the world? I honestly don't think there is a fully functional defense against someone attacking dynamically I don't think there is one big magic tactic that will always work. You have to just train realistically and figure out what works for you it could all work or all fail.A big problem in knife training today frankly is too many tactics that are pointless. Most programs separate between committed and non-committed attacks.This is a fatal error since logic would dictate if you just developed tactics for non-committed tactics they could work even better for committed attacks depending on the tactic which of course must be pressure tested.
    On the attack the man not the weapon in my experience I'm kind of in between. Depending on the situation it could be either. I believe at some point you have to control the weapon bearing limb unless you can disengage and escape. This is a battlefield proven tactic used since WWII that we know for a fact works. This tactic is made easier by diminishing the attacker. Maybe you have to strike first before getting that limb but eventually if your not disengaging you gotta get it. Now true some attackers will already be diminished under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Maybe they will be tired or out of shape. This is probably likely but we don't know for a fact that this is going to be true. There are some cultures out there to which knife fighting is an integral part. They study knife fighting from childhood. Sure most knife attackers are untrained but alot of them aren't so we can't assume that at all. So when developing a knife program we must not use this as a factor because it's something that we can't depend on.
      There were many times in this video that attacker could've redirected and cut this guy all to pieces at will. Everything seems to be done in a nice static situation and in reality there's probably going to be alot of movement. Alot off it will be much closer and faster than these attacks are being demonstrated. I promote some footwork while diminishing the attacker then controlling that limb. Frankly it makes the most since out of all of it. If I can run or evade at the same time as drawing my weapon I can just shoot the guy(This is an underdeveloped skill in most gun programs but that's another article entirely).Even more so than all of the tactics awareness can stop the largest percentage of it. Most of the time these knives are carried in the beltline. Do me a favor and stand in front of the mirror and see how hard it is to pull something out of it without bending your elbow outward. Not easy is it? You pretty much do it every time, some more subtle than others but you still do it. Nice thing to know huh? How did this guy even get a knife out in his hand and where was your head at when he did it? If a guy has his hands in his pockets keep  a safe distance and be conscious of it. Make him take his hands out then if he doesn't then you should know that something is up. That information will be more helpful than a physical tactic and I didn't even film a lame uneducated video.
   The sad part is most will see that video and never question it. They will repost it on facebook and twitter and everything else. When i became a defensive tactics instructor I thought I was going to see some killer training and wanted to train in some of these police programs and teach them. I was in shock when I saw how bad and flawed police training police training actually was and decided to come up with my own programs to fix it. Let's look at some REAL knife attacks and I think you'll see what I'm talking about.

Yup the store owner shot him!

Not alot of space there was it? Did you even see the knife at first?

Notice the lack of space to do the cool Kung Fu parry with strike

So how was he disarmed? Oh yeah controlling the weapon bearing limb

If that guy had tried to parry that knife and attack the man not the weapon he would've been hacked to death

   The tactics taught in the original video we are speaking of can work and can be good tactics but they are simply too developmental for the police than will not for whatever reason get to develop them therefore it is irresponsible as hell for that magazine to promote them as something other than what they are. If you need some tactics tonight don't use the tactics taught in that video because it could cost you your life

Note: After the completion and posting of this article I actually saw a knife video even worse..lol check out this moron:

this is sooooo bad i just had to add it to the article