Michael Janich Tactical Knife System!

[Brian R. VanCise]

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[Trent]

Looks like solid, basic arnis/escrima/kali to me.

[terryl965]

Brian looks very average to me, is he a well known person. I do not believe I have ever heard of him.

[Brian R. VanCise]

Brian looks very average to me, is he a well known person. I do not believe I have ever heard of him.

Hey Terry,

Michael Janich is a very well known reality based instructor who was one of the pioneers on tactical folding knife work and has authored many books, videos, dvds which are available at Paladin Press.

Now as to skill set. These are very, very basic concepts that he is working with.

[Monadnock]

"The Meet" section looked a little hairy. He met the opponent's attacking arm with a small cut, and then put his own arm up in front of the path of the attacking arm.

To me, if the opponent was fully committed to that cut, he would continue through in spite of being cut, possibly cutting Janich's arm.

Also, the block he put up was on the forearm, allowing the possibility of that lead arm to still bend at the elbow and cut him. Blocks above the elbow are more effective against outward attacks IMHO.

Just my .02.

[Brian R. VanCise]

"The Meet" section looked a little hairy. He met the opponent's attacking arm with a small cut, and then put his own arm up in front of the path of the attacking arm.

To me, if the opponent was fully committed to that cut, he would continue through in spite of being cut, possibly cutting Janich's arm.

Also, the block he put up was on the forearm, allowing the possibility of that lead arm to still bend at the elbow and cut him. Blocks above the elbow are more effective against outward attacks IMHO.

Just my .02.

I cannot disagree with your reasoning or your conclusion! http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif (I did think some of those same things myself)

[terryl965]

Hey Terry,

Michael Janich is a very well known reality based instructor who was one of the pioneers on tactical folding knife work and has authored many books, videos, dvds which are available at Paladin Press.

Now as to skill set. These are very, very basic concepts that he is working with.


Sorry I do not why I have not heard of him.

[Monadnock]

I cannot disagree with your reasoning or your conclusion! http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif (I did think some of those same things myself)

Yes! I should have added that the rest did look pretty sound, even in slow-mo ;)

[arnisador]

"The Meet" section looked a little hairy. He met the opponent's attacking arm with a small cut, and then put his own arm up in front of the path of the attacking arm.

To me, if the opponent was fully committed to that cut, he would continue through in spite of being cut, possibly cutting Janich's arm.

Also, the block he put up was on the forearm, allowing the possibility of that lead arm to still bend at the elbow and cut him. Blocks above the elbow are more effective against outward attacks IMHO.


All true, and as he was going in slow-mo he could have shown that. But one isn't always in ideal position and I think the technique is reasonable if one is too close to get past the elbow but not far enough/mobile enough to get out of the way. I consider it a valid, but not fool-proof, technique. If a strong, committed opponent is swinging a knife at you, you're in a bad position anyways.

But all too often those who practice knife-dueling assume an opponent who knows that he may get cut if he reaches out his arm and hence they assume initial strikes will not be committed, and hence a defense like this seems perfectly valid. Your comments are a good reminder that we mustn't assume we'll always be facing a certain type of opponent!

[Monadnock]

All true, and as he was going in slow-mo he could have shown that. But one isn't always in ideal position and I think the technique is reasonable if one is too close to get past the elbow but not far enough/mobile enough to get out of the way. I consider it a valid, but not fool-proof, technique. If a strong, committed opponent is swinging a knife at you, you're in a bad position anyways.

But all too often those who practice knife-dueling assume an opponent who knows that he may get cut if he reaches out his arm and hence they assume initial strikes will not be committed, and hence a defense like this seems perfectly valid. Your comments are a good reminder that we mustn't assume we'll always be facing a certain type of opponent!

All good points. And I must admit I only watched the video, but the sound was off. Sometimes I think that helps in analyzing the motion as we are often distracted by the words.