I am interested in hearing what people would have to say regarding a general streetwise tactical empty hand defense against...
1. The Knife
2. The Stick
3. The Gun
What would you generally tell someone with little or no martial arts training? What would you generally tell someone with more extensive training?
Defense against weapons is really tricky. Running is probably the best option, but there are some circumstances in which fleeing is not an option such as when you would be leaving your children or spouse to die alone, your back is to a wall, etc. So I'm going to restrict my answers to those scenarios wherein fleeing is not an option.
1. The Knife
If you find yourself wrestling with someone and they produce a knife the best option is to control the knife arm above everything else. For novices I would suggest simply holding on to the knife arm and keeping it away from your vitals while trying to use your feet, head, and body to do damage on the other person. For the experienced I would say do what comes naturally, but pay special attention to controlling the weapon arm. A punch or kick from the empty side could hurt you, but the knife can kill you right away.
If you find yourself in a medium or long range situation find something to throw or find a longer but still light weapon like a stick, rake, or bat and try to hit them with it while maintaining distance. There are rocks, cans, gravel, dirt, etc. that can be used to incapacitate the threat while maintaining distance. For novices I would say do not close on the person and try to grapple. Keep the distance and try to find a way out. For the more experienced, again I would say do what comes naturally, but keep a special eye out for the knife arm. Again, a punch or kick from the empty side could hurt you, but the knife can kill you right away.
2. The Stick
Because the weapon is blunt it changes the dynamic a little bit. Because its damage is dependent upon its ability to impact then primarily you want to avoid impact.
If you find yourself wrestling with someone who has a stick again it's important to control the weapon arm but you can do that by covering and jamming with much less risk as compared to a blade. That gives you more freedom to work with your hands. For novices I would say that you should stay close if you find yourself close quarters to begin with until you find a chance to get out into long range. Avoid the middle range because that is where the most damage can be done to you.
For the more experienced I would say you have to weigh in your own skills. Some practitioners are very good at the empty hand game but they can't apply those skills to a person wielding a weapon. If you have little experience with weapons then I would follow the same path as laid out for the novice. Control the weapon arm and hit them as much as possible. Stay close until you have a chance to get out to long range and then stay there. Avoid the middle range as much as possible because that is where the most damage can be done to you. If you have experience with weapons then you'll be able to work in the middle range and close ranges better. So do what comes naturally.
If you find yourself in middle range to begin with then since you have no weapon yourself and can't flee, then I would close in on the opponent and follow the above advice.
3. The Gun
This is a tricky one. If you find yourself at close range then you have a chance. Try to control the weapon like an ice pick and never let the point be directed at you or anyone that you're trying to defend. Go for the ability to see and breathe or even the ability to flex the fingers. For novices just keep the muzzle away from you and be prepared to take a lot of damage and give damage when you can. But never let go of that weapon. For the more experienced, again do what comes naturally, but never let go of the weapon or let it point at you.
If you're at long range you have two choices: keep moving and try to close in or keep moving until you can escape. The trick here is to be a hard target.
Either way your mindset when wrestling with someone who has a gun is that you have to do whatever you need to in order to keep the muzzle away from you. That means if you need to break your face on his then that's what you need to do. It's better to live through a painful recovery than to die.
4. All weapons.
The thing in common when facing someone who is wielding a weapon is that you have to be ready to deal and accept pain, sacrifice, and damage. Defending against a weapon wielding opponent is almost always a case of damage control. It's true that the skillful and the lucky can get through a weapon fight unscathed, I've seen it happen and experienced it myself. But most of the time, both sides are going to get hurt and it's going to be a struggle to see who gets hurt less. You have to be comfortable with the idea of hurting someone badly in order to save your skin. Also you have to keep things simple. If you have complex techniques then you're going to get frozen and eat something from the business end of the weapon.
Dealing with someone who knows how to manipulate a weapon is something else. Between equally skillful opponents an armed one will almost always beat down an unarmed one. When you try to seek out how to defend against melee weapons it's always best to make sure that you are learning from someone that actually knows how to manipulate the weapon. Otherwise you're not going to train anything but misconception.
Just my thoughts.
(Sorry... couldn't resist)
