The Jim Wagner Knife Disarm Rule
The rule to disarming a knife from an attacker has only four simple steps. The first and last rule is based on human instinct. They are:
1. Grab
2. Close
3. Take down
4. Escape
Rule One: Grab If someone tossed you a baseball or a tea cup you would instinctively catch it without even thinking about it. Likewise, you will also attempt to catch the knife hand of the attacker at extreme close range (within touching distance) to prevent the weapon from penetrating your body.
To practice the grab simply have your training partner repeatedly try to “stab or slash” you on different body targets (note: eye protection for this exercise is recommended). Each time the weapon comes at you just try to grab the knife hand with both of your hands. Don’t be frustrated if your hands do not end up in a perfect grip, because this is going to happen in real life as well. Your job is just to try to grab on the best you can.
Also, you may end up getting “injured” when you fail to grab on. However, you must always accept the fact that YOU WILL GET CUT in a real knife fight. Since your “back is against the wall” in this exercise, you have not choice but to grab onto the hand when you are able. It may take a few tries, but once you have it, do not let go. You will them immediately go into the next move.
Rule Two: Close Once you have grabbed onto the weapon hand you must immediately close the gap. You must “crowd” the attacker in order to prevent him from pulling the knife from your grasp, or allow him the space required to stab or slash.
It is true that you can cut yourself, or even possible stab yourself, but if you do not move in the attacker will do worse damage. If you are able to avoid moving right on top of the knife, at worse you will only get superficial injuries from rubbing up against the blade.
When you move in you should have your body pressed against the attacker’s body. There should be no room for him to maneuver. Because you have taken away his fighting space he will have to do one of two things: try to pull back, or try to push you off. Before he has a chance to do either you will immediately move into Rule Three.
Rule Three: Takedown Now that you have control of the knife hand, your body is pressed up against the attackers, you must now get the attacker off balance. How you do this will depend upon your body position and his.
Without ever letting go of the enemy’s hand with both of your own, use your forearms, shoulders, knees, sweeps, or whatever it takes to get the suspect to the ground. This is where your prior judo or jiu jitsu training will come in handy. However, avoid turning your back on the attacker at all cost when taking him down. To end up in a wrestling match on the ground with a knife wielding suspect will most likely end up bad.
Although I recommend a takedown to the ground, a takedown may not be possible. Therefore, the next best option would be to simply try to get the suspect off balance and take advantage and escape – which brings us to the next rule.
Rule Four: Escape
Once the suspect is off balance or is on the ground you must get away from him. Remember the golden rule in a knife fight - DISTANCE IS YOUR FRIEND. Regardless of whether you are armed with a weapon or not, you are still vulnerable to a secondary attack if you are anywhere within a 7 meter (21 feet) radius of the suspect.
Once you have distance, and you are armed, warn the suspect to stay on the ground and to drop the knife. If he refuses to comply, do not get lured into his trap and get any closer. In fact, such a refusal to submit should be a warning to you to look for even more distance to guarantee your own safety.
If, on the other hand, you were able to get away from the attacker, and you are unarmed, the best course of action is to immediately escape to a safe zone. To practice this in a training environment simply select an area and run to it after the takedown.
If escape is not possible due to circumstances, then you will have no choice but to stay and fight once you takedown the suspect. Since your opponent is still likely to possess the knife, your attack must be hard and fast guaranteeing victory. Then the weapons must be stripped from the attacker’s hand. Even if the suspect is severely wounded, or dead for that matter (police and military tactical teams are trained to take weapons from even bodies because you never know if “they will come to life”
, you must get the knife into your possession.
