You WILL get cut if someone has a knife. I disagree....

Gerry Seymour

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Really.
Personally I can't see a lot of realism in this footage.
Agreed. It might be a good drill (depending how it's used), but it doesn't depict any resistance or counter-timing. Nothing more realistic in it than any other passive-partner drill.
 

The Gray (Hair) Man

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What are your thoughts on the realities of dealing with knife attacks?
Knives are scary. I practice training with a knife and we do scenario drills. There is nobody so far I've drilled or sparred with that I can't "cut" with my training knife - including when they try to immobilize my knife hand. Lots of times I get tagged too. There's no guarantee of success.

That said, not everyone that has a knife will use it for anything other than intimidation. Or if they do try to use it, they may not use it well.

That said again, anyone, regardless of their training, can be potentially dangerous with a knife. Sometimes even more dangerous because they don't attack in ways a "trained" person would attack.

When it comes to a knife attack my priorities are:

  1. Get away.
  2. Talk my way out of it if I can't get away.
  3. Deploy my knife if I can't talk my way out of it.
  4. Use empty hands to create time and/or distance to give me the opportunity to deploy my knife.
 

Sabunimfrank64

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If I've heard it once, I've heard it a thousand times. The statement that you will get cut if you have to defend yourself against a knife. It is almost always spoken absolute terms. No question about it it will happen!!!

While I think it's very likely you will get cut, it is in my opinion in no way and absolute. Those types of absolutes do not exist in reality. I think most people stating this have very little idea the variety of situations someone might find themselves in when facing a knife.

Most attackers, almost all attackers that use a knife are not using a professional fighting knife. It's typically a dull kitchen knife, or a very cheap "truck stop" pocket knife. And many of them have never even thought of using a knife before that moment, when in a fit of rage, they grabbed one to attack someone. They almost certainly haven't trained to use it. In many cases they are using the knife because they are at a physical disadvantage to the person they are attacking. Often very impaired on alcohol or drugs.

Don't misunderstand me these situations are wildly dangerous, and you certainly can be killed it and badly injured by these people. I think you're expecting to be cut is certain realistic. But preaching that you will inevitably be cut, despite the fact that you have trained in weapons disarms, I don't agree with.

I understand the statement is intended to mentally prepare people for being cut to happen, and to keep fighting. But in my opinion it lowers their expectation, on what can be done. Throwing in the towel before the fight even begins. It certainly is possible, and at times very realistic to disarm somebody with a knife in a real situation without being cut.

Just thinking is just a very little step down, from another common idea that there is no realistic defense against a knife. I understand that you're dangerous, but this is not a good way to think. You don't want to be overconfident, but you don't want to convince yourself at all situations involving knife or hopeless.

What are your thoughts on the realities of dealing with knife attacks?
Well I always carry a knife and every one is razor sharp and if ever needed I am 100% sure you will get cut some where
 

Hot Lunch

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I just looked up some stats. On average in the US, there are almost 18,000 gun homicides per year. By contrast, there are only about 1,500 stabbing homicides per year. What I'm not sure about is whether or not that 1,500 includes prison inmates getting shanked because if it does, I'd bet that's the majority of stabbing deaths.

Here's another stat: 300 people in the US are also struck by lightning every year. So even if that 1,500 excludes prison shankings, you would only be five times more likely to get struck by lightning than getting stabbed to death on the streets.

I'm not sure what the odds are of dying in certain natural disasters like hurricanes and major forest fires from smoke inhalation and such, but I'm sure there are natural disasters where your odds of not surviving them are higher than the likelihood of being stabbed; yet, no one trains on how to survive them.

That said, is there really much of a point to training in knife defense?
 

Dirty Dog

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I just looked up some stats. On average in the US, there are almost 18,000 gun homicides per year. By contrast, there are only about 1,500 stabbing homicides per year.
Kind of a meaningless statistic. The topic was not about being killed. It was about being injured.
What I'm not sure about is whether or not that 1,500 includes prison inmates getting shanked because if it does, I'd bet that's the majority of stabbing deaths.
Bad-guy on bad-guy violence also accounts for over half of the gun deaths.
Here's another stat: 300 people in the US are also struck by lightning every year. So even if that 1,500 excludes prison shankings, you would only be five times more likely to get struck by lightning than getting stabbed to death on the streets.
You're backwards. According to your numbers, you're 5 times more likely to be stabbed than struck by lightning.
Only about 10% of lightning strikes are fatal. So it's 30:1500, if we assume your numbers are accurate. So that would be 50 times more likely.
Or it can be seen as 300:90,000, which is how many people report assaults with knives each year. In my experience, about 15% will make up a BS story when they come to the ER, so it's likely closer to 300:100,000. Or north of 333 times more likely to be assaulted with a knife than to be struck by lightning.
I'm not sure what the odds are of dying in certain natural disasters like hurricanes and major forest fires from smoke inhalation and such, but I'm sure there are natural disasters where your odds of not surviving them are higher than the likelihood of being stabbed; yet, no one trains on how to survive them.
Sure they do. One of our daughters lives in hurricane country. They have a generator, stockpiles of food, water, gasoline, etc, wooden shutters to cover all doors & windows, and an evacuation plan. Those who live in areas potentially threatened by wildfires also do things to mitigate the risk; keeping a fire break around their property and such.
That said, is there really much of a point to training in knife defense?
Speaking as one who has been attacked with a knife, I'd say yes.
 

Oily Dragon

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That said, is there really much of a point to training in knife defense?
Yes, because unlike guns, you actually stand a chance of defending yourself against knives.

Biceps do help. Also what he calls "X guard" is fundamental to certain martial arts style defensive forms. So this is not recently developed stuff, it's as old as knife combat (ie pretty damn old).


And lightning is totally random, but easily avoided.
 
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