Knife Attack Defense

Ever wonder what you would do if someone came at you with a knife? There are a few basics you should know. These are only basics so don’t even think this little briefing is your knife fighting training. Go to a competent instructor and get some real training. This article is just for familiarization of knife defense. These things, if practiced, can drastically improve your survivability.

Move!
I hardly believe I have to say it but move! Distance is your friend against an up close and personal type weapon. Movement is more difficult to attack. Run if possible.
Barriers
Keep something between you and the attacker. If your attacker has to move around something to get to you then that would give you time to think, or better yet, get away. A contact weapon must be close enough to contact to do any damage so get behind something. If necessary place something between you and your attacker yourself. A chair, a trash can, anything that will impede the attacker’s progress.
Protect
Keep the knife away from your center, neck, throat, heart, lungs, and arteries. Use your hands and arms, they can take defensive wounds that will not be fun, but probably not life threatening.
Focus
Don’t focus on the weapon. The knife will move quickly. Watch the attacker’s upper body. The arms can be in your peripheral. You’ll see more where the blow is coming from with the body than trying to watch the weapon.
Endure to the end
If you’re being attacked with a knife you’ll probably get cut. That is reality. Don’t worry so much about that as survival is not giving up the fight. It ain’t over ‘til it’s over. Stay in the fight.

Check
The check is used to intercept an incoming attack when a full evasion isn’t possible. Assume a neutral position with the hands up halfway between your chin and sternum with your palms facing outward. As the attack comes in, deliver a quick, retracting strike to the attacker’s arm between his wrists and forearm using the palms of your hands. (Use both hands because it provides the most surface area to prevent the attack from slipping through.) Once contact is made, return to the neutral position and prepare to stop the next attack. Be sure to move off the line of attack as much as possible during the check.
Many edged weapons experts advocate only using the outsides of the forearms to stop or deflect an edged weapon attack in order to protect the arteries and tendons located in the arms. This isn’t a bad tactic, however, this is difficult for most people to do under pressure unless they’ve spent years training this way. People react with their hands.

Disrupt
A rhythm disruption is anything that disrupts an attacker’s rhythm of movement and resets his OODA loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act). One of the quickest and most effective rhythm disruptions is an attack to the eyes on the half-beat. The purpose of the disruption is to create an opportunity for you to move in and control the weapon arm. You may have to deliver several checks before finding an opening to execute your rhythm disruption. With training, you’ll eventually be able to execute a check and disruption simultaneously.

Seize
Once the opportunity presents itself, move in and seize the attacker’s weapon arm to gain control of the weapon. Always strive to move to a position that places you outside of the attacker’s physical weapons. There are several ways this can be done depending on the situation and your level of skill and training. However, as a general rule:

Grab the wrist of the arm holding the blade using a thumbless grip (aka Monkey Grip). With your opposite arm, grab deep behind their elbow. This gives you optimum control of the arm because it closes off the dead space and prevents them from being able to pull their elbow back to break free. From this position, maintain constant pressure to drive the attacker off balance.

Neutralize
The final step in surviving an edged weapon attack is to neutralize the threat. This could mean disengaging and employing a firearm, but once you have seized the attacking arm, it’s best not to let go until you have removed the blade from the equation. One of the high-percentage techniques is an arm-bar takedown.
From the position described above, bring your inside arm over the top so the attacker’s triceps is in your arm pit. Stack your inside hand on top of the hand securing the wrist and drive your inside shoulder toward the ground. From this position, drop forward onto your inside knee and straight down as if trying to touch your elbow to the ground; keeping your weight focused over the attacker’s shoulder. From there, you can lock the attacker’s wrist against your outside thigh and walk it up to lever the arm and secure the weapon.

Conclusion
What has been presented here are a few basic fundamentals for surviving an edged weapon assault, as well as a brief overview of counter tactics. If at all possible, avoidance is always your best defense. However, life doesn’t always offer us that opportunity. Train your mind and train your body so you’ll be prepared for whatever life throws your way.

Get trained and practice!

Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn