Copenhagen Combatives™ blog is about self-defence training, how to avoid violence, outdoor and urban survival, training methods, new scientific discoveries on physical and mental performance enhancement. This is an informative page about our fields of interest and what we do, for those who do not use Facebook, where our main page and forum are. Sincerely Kim Hansen, trainer for the Copenhagen Combatives™ Group For more info mail to me at (delete this)cph.combatives@gmail.com
Showing posts with label knife defence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label knife defence. Show all posts
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Anoka woman who fought back during knife attack tells others to "Fight Like a Girl”
- Article by: SHANNON PRATHER , Star Tribune
- Updated: June 11, 2013 - 4:39 PM
Angela Champagne-From relied on her self-defense training to fend off a knife-wielding attacker. She wants to make sure other women can fight back, too.
http://www.startribune.com/local/north/211075781.html
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Monday, December 10, 2012
Knife defence training on the ground
I had planned basic knife training on the ground today, teaching about correct posture, how to use asphalt as weapons, basic escapes as I assumed our new prodigy didn’t have any grappling training, and what a pleasant surprise that he has trained Judo and even did win a competition when he was very young, so no need to waste time on the basics. In every grappling style I have trained, MMA, BJJ and Submission Wrestling there was always situational sparring, starting from the various isolated positions and start from there, very good idea to train isolated skillset but there is a few problems that have changed how we will train it, after those with no prior experience have learned and know about correct posture and escapes, they will ASAP learn how to do it from a random position when they hit the matt after a takedown.
Instead of starting from the various ideal positions, we did a soft takedown and started from the position we landed, that very seldom is like the perfect one you start from in a situational sparing, so from now on we will do various takedowns and start sparring from that position with the primary goal to escape and get up ASAP. Any kind of submission attempts I have chosen that diminishment is primary, as in disarms, as I always have found it hard to submit others unless they land in my favourite positions that I can exploit, there is always room for an elbow on the way to hit with before some submissions as with a top wristlock as the best example.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
KNIFE DUELING - VIABLE TRAINING OR WASTE OF TIME?
Some call it "dueling" and it is a big controversy in some circles. Let's discuss the points and arrive at our own conclusions.
Some trainers do no knife vs. knife because they feel it is unrealistic. They spit out the term "dueling" as if it were a gob of lung mucus. Methinks they just do not fully understand the knife or how its really employed in the real world.
Knife versus knife is important because it saves time and it trains both parties. The lines of attack are the same whether one party is armed with a knife, a stick, a broken bottle, or whatever. Other than bringing training equivalents of everything that is possible out on the street, training knife vs. knife develops the attributes needed to fight those things.
Too many trainers take a "defang the snake" concept to extremes. The knife is NOT A LESS LETHAL TOOL. Cut someone with a knife and the court will look at it as if you'd shot them. If you are not justified in shooting, you are not justified in cutting or stabbing. On the other hand if you face a man much larger and stronger and younger, or multiples, or a weapon, get the knife out and get to slashing. You need disparity of force to go for a weapon. You can't bring a knife out when some one your same size and age wants to punch you in the nose. Since few trainers have been in knife fights...let alone ANY fights, the dynamics of conflict are not understood.
On so-called "dueling". Let me draw a couple of pictures for you.
A thug grabs you in the street from behind. You use combative skills to pull free and notice he has a broken bottle in his hand. You create distance and get your steel out. This is dueling.
Three big guys are trying to beat you up. You click your Cold Steel in place and move out of their grasp. This is dueling.
Dueling is not a sparring match where only the hands are hit, its fighting. Its the force-on-force of the knife world. The man who only trains technical drills and flow drills is like the man who only does dry fire and live fire. He can get pretty good, but he'll never have the full picture.
Will you likely face a close range knife attack? Sure. Should you have something in place for such an eventuality? Abso-freaking-lutely!
Should you linger in the bad breath range when you do not need to, or train only for fighting in this range? Nope. That is like saying "I only shoot my pistol at 50 yards because if I can hit at 50, I can hit at 5", or the other side "I only train point shooting at 3 feet because I will NEVER need to shoot at anyone farther away". The real answer - both are wrong. You DO need both. Whether you have time or not, to have a complete package, you need both sides of the package.
As far as the hand sniping often seen at the initial phases of a knife encounter (regardless of what the other guy has) - Its a tool and nothing more.
It may lead to the BG dropping his weapon, exclaiming "You Cut Me", and running off. It may lead to him now hesitating, thereby allowing you to create space, and eventually disengage. Or with a dedicated man, where the previous options are not possible, get rid of his infantry (hands/knife) so you can attack the throat/body.
Some often heard comments -
Q). The concept of "saving time" in training is a poor one. I doubt it was seen in blade cultures.
A). Actually the FMA systems use blade vs. blade extensively. Same goes for European systems. The concept of training both students together has validity beyond what I can possibly give it, and has been done through the centuries with not only blade but other weapon systems as well.
Q). Saving time leads to corner cutting in the interest of efficiency. We soon end up with pairs of training partners circling a common center. There is no context to the attack, no need to access the weapon in a reactive mode. This of course means that there is no integration of combatives.
A). Not exactly. Again, I submit that drills like the flow drills used in FMA, and the limited sparring as used in some European systems, and other similar methods serve to develop attributes of the fighter. All of them are knife vs, knife by the way. The training intent and the curriculum will keep it from degenerating just as it does in keeping a force on force session from turning into a game.
Q). It falls short of scenario based instruction. And knife use in the real world does include environmental factors, surprise, reactionary gap and the like.
A). True, but where do you begin? Grab a day one student, stick a knife in his belt and send Mongo over to kick his a**?, or do you develop the skills first before going into scenario-based training? And then, what sort of scenario. Will it be a scenario set-up by an instructor to prove his favorite point, or will it be a fight that actually took place and is being replicated in training? Is the scenario based on liability-fearing academy nonsense, or on a civilian trying to escape a thug?
Q). The lines of attack are not the same with street improvised weapons, against which we might be using a knife, deal with far more arcing/slashing type motions and fewer stabs than we see in knife vs knife training.
I disagree. Actually I've seen both. I've seen a box cutter slash a throat "ear to ear", and I've seen a broken bottle almost remove a man's ear - both arcing attacks. I've also seen a screwdriver to the butt (resulting in death), and a spyderco military to the throat...both thrusts. I hate to generalize my adversary's likely attack. That is a shortcut that truly leads to disaster.
Other than developing a cadre of specialized trainers (one who always attacks with prison combatives, one who has mastered the street baseball bat, one who is a beer bottle wiz, etc.), the best way to develop skill, IMHO, is with weapon vs weapon training (that is knife vs knife). Then, if you've a mind, throw in a stick, a flex weapon, or even multiple bad guys coming at you.
In a close range knife attack (or bottle attack, or whatever) the dynamics will be surprise. If you saw it coming it would not likely be a close range attack and you'd have your weapon in hand. In a true surprise ambush up close, your initial response will probably be with combatives and not to immediately access your blade (or gun). After this -
You will either have created some distance to access the blade - in which case you are now, as some call it, "dueling" with the bottle wielder, or
You will not have been able to create space in which case you will be trading blow for blow (hopefully only yours are sticking). This is not a place I care to be.
Should you linger in the bad breath range when you do not need to, or train only for fighting in this range? Again, I don't think so. I think that anyone can get lucky up close, and because blood carries a lot more than stains these days, I want to create distance as soon as tactically possible. Same goes for ground fighting. I want to get up and move ASAP.
When you do this the BG will either quit or stay. If he stays with his broken bottle or tire chain, and you have your Spyderco, what will the dynamics of the fight be like? You probably will want to keep your distance. And since no bat, or tire iron, or chain or whatever moves as quick as a knife, the attributes you developed will stand you pretty well.
Gabe Suarez
One Source Tactical
Suarez International USA
Christian Warrior Ministries
Matthew 10:34 Think not that I am come to
send peace on earth: I came not to send peace,
but a sword.
Some trainers do no knife vs. knife because they feel it is unrealistic. They spit out the term "dueling" as if it were a gob of lung mucus. Methinks they just do not fully understand the knife or how its really employed in the real world.
Knife versus knife is important because it saves time and it trains both parties. The lines of attack are the same whether one party is armed with a knife, a stick, a broken bottle, or whatever. Other than bringing training equivalents of everything that is possible out on the street, training knife vs. knife develops the attributes needed to fight those things.
Too many trainers take a "defang the snake" concept to extremes. The knife is NOT A LESS LETHAL TOOL. Cut someone with a knife and the court will look at it as if you'd shot them. If you are not justified in shooting, you are not justified in cutting or stabbing. On the other hand if you face a man much larger and stronger and younger, or multiples, or a weapon, get the knife out and get to slashing. You need disparity of force to go for a weapon. You can't bring a knife out when some one your same size and age wants to punch you in the nose. Since few trainers have been in knife fights...let alone ANY fights, the dynamics of conflict are not understood.
On so-called "dueling". Let me draw a couple of pictures for you.
A thug grabs you in the street from behind. You use combative skills to pull free and notice he has a broken bottle in his hand. You create distance and get your steel out. This is dueling.
Three big guys are trying to beat you up. You click your Cold Steel in place and move out of their grasp. This is dueling.
Dueling is not a sparring match where only the hands are hit, its fighting. Its the force-on-force of the knife world. The man who only trains technical drills and flow drills is like the man who only does dry fire and live fire. He can get pretty good, but he'll never have the full picture.
Will you likely face a close range knife attack? Sure. Should you have something in place for such an eventuality? Abso-freaking-lutely!
Should you linger in the bad breath range when you do not need to, or train only for fighting in this range? Nope. That is like saying "I only shoot my pistol at 50 yards because if I can hit at 50, I can hit at 5", or the other side "I only train point shooting at 3 feet because I will NEVER need to shoot at anyone farther away". The real answer - both are wrong. You DO need both. Whether you have time or not, to have a complete package, you need both sides of the package.
As far as the hand sniping often seen at the initial phases of a knife encounter (regardless of what the other guy has) - Its a tool and nothing more.
It may lead to the BG dropping his weapon, exclaiming "You Cut Me", and running off. It may lead to him now hesitating, thereby allowing you to create space, and eventually disengage. Or with a dedicated man, where the previous options are not possible, get rid of his infantry (hands/knife) so you can attack the throat/body.
Some often heard comments -
Q). The concept of "saving time" in training is a poor one. I doubt it was seen in blade cultures.
A). Actually the FMA systems use blade vs. blade extensively. Same goes for European systems. The concept of training both students together has validity beyond what I can possibly give it, and has been done through the centuries with not only blade but other weapon systems as well.
Q). Saving time leads to corner cutting in the interest of efficiency. We soon end up with pairs of training partners circling a common center. There is no context to the attack, no need to access the weapon in a reactive mode. This of course means that there is no integration of combatives.
A). Not exactly. Again, I submit that drills like the flow drills used in FMA, and the limited sparring as used in some European systems, and other similar methods serve to develop attributes of the fighter. All of them are knife vs, knife by the way. The training intent and the curriculum will keep it from degenerating just as it does in keeping a force on force session from turning into a game.
Q). It falls short of scenario based instruction. And knife use in the real world does include environmental factors, surprise, reactionary gap and the like.
A). True, but where do you begin? Grab a day one student, stick a knife in his belt and send Mongo over to kick his a**?, or do you develop the skills first before going into scenario-based training? And then, what sort of scenario. Will it be a scenario set-up by an instructor to prove his favorite point, or will it be a fight that actually took place and is being replicated in training? Is the scenario based on liability-fearing academy nonsense, or on a civilian trying to escape a thug?
Q). The lines of attack are not the same with street improvised weapons, against which we might be using a knife, deal with far more arcing/slashing type motions and fewer stabs than we see in knife vs knife training.
I disagree. Actually I've seen both. I've seen a box cutter slash a throat "ear to ear", and I've seen a broken bottle almost remove a man's ear - both arcing attacks. I've also seen a screwdriver to the butt (resulting in death), and a spyderco military to the throat...both thrusts. I hate to generalize my adversary's likely attack. That is a shortcut that truly leads to disaster.
Other than developing a cadre of specialized trainers (one who always attacks with prison combatives, one who has mastered the street baseball bat, one who is a beer bottle wiz, etc.), the best way to develop skill, IMHO, is with weapon vs weapon training (that is knife vs knife). Then, if you've a mind, throw in a stick, a flex weapon, or even multiple bad guys coming at you.
In a close range knife attack (or bottle attack, or whatever) the dynamics will be surprise. If you saw it coming it would not likely be a close range attack and you'd have your weapon in hand. In a true surprise ambush up close, your initial response will probably be with combatives and not to immediately access your blade (or gun). After this -
You will either have created some distance to access the blade - in which case you are now, as some call it, "dueling" with the bottle wielder, or
You will not have been able to create space in which case you will be trading blow for blow (hopefully only yours are sticking). This is not a place I care to be.
Should you linger in the bad breath range when you do not need to, or train only for fighting in this range? Again, I don't think so. I think that anyone can get lucky up close, and because blood carries a lot more than stains these days, I want to create distance as soon as tactically possible. Same goes for ground fighting. I want to get up and move ASAP.
When you do this the BG will either quit or stay. If he stays with his broken bottle or tire chain, and you have your Spyderco, what will the dynamics of the fight be like? You probably will want to keep your distance. And since no bat, or tire iron, or chain or whatever moves as quick as a knife, the attributes you developed will stand you pretty well.
Gabe Suarez
One Source Tactical
Suarez International USA
Christian Warrior Ministries
Matthew 10:34 Think not that I am come to
send peace on earth: I came not to send peace,
but a sword.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Total knife ban, totally rational or not?
This is an article I was
requested to write and was published the 12. September 2008, I have added a few
comments as a lot has changed since it was written, some sentences have been
changed as it can’t be translated completely to match the exact words to English.
Total knife ban, totally rational or not?
Kim H writes
on weapons legislation in general and knife ban in particular. Is it useful?
I will
touch briefly on why bans on more knife design are not well thought out.
Afterwards, I will explain why I consider the knife as a suitable self defence
weapon, and why it is sometimes better than a firearm. This is not an appeal to
carry a knife for self defence, but a critique of the existing laws regarding
the design of knives, and why the liberalization of the Firearms Act
necessarily must include knives as self defence weapons.
Regarding
why weapons should be legal from a libertarian perspective, I recommend reading
the article Weapon! written by Daniel Beattie. Carrying a weapons will not make
criminals weapons disappear, but it makes the odds more even than if you had
nothing. Rape criminals usually goes after the weak victim, if the victim pulls
a gun, he would rather find another victim that he can tackle. Generally
criminal human predators search for prey they consider they can handle, as
other predators in the wild.
The right
to live must also include the right to defend that right. Laws can not defend
ourselves when we are victims of violent crimes: It does not stop crimes, it
only punishes the guilty, when the deed is done. Criminals who commit violent
armed robbery, murder, robberies and rapes do not think about that they break
the Arms Act, and what the consequences which might ensue. They commit the
crimes that are worse than the violations of the Arms Act. The less their
victims have to defend themselves, the greater power and leeway criminals have,
the police can not be everywhere all the time. Cameras and increased monitoring
does not have a magical ability to get criminals to disappear. They can only
assist investigation to catch and convict them. There is a huge amount with surveillance
videos of knife attacks on the Internet, and the victims of these videos were
not magically rescued by fear of the camera surveillance.
The
increasing media focus on the use of knives for violent crimes has caused an
outcry without equal among politicians and the media with demands for more
restrictive legal requirements for the type of knife that can be purchased.
Some will even have a total ban, and there is competition for who would impose
people the highest penalties for possession of knives among politicians to get
more votes.
The website
knivfri.dk(knife free.dk) says:
"With
the increasing focus on knife crime, it is understandable that some may be
nervous. But statistics show that the risk for the individual is still very
small in Denmark .
There is less persons that carry a knife, than you might think, and even fewer
who would dream of using it.
Despite the
violent incidents there is statistically no increase in knife crime - the
problem has risen in the media and public awareness. "
On the
Crime Prevention Council website on the study of violence in Denmark 1995-2005
from the Ministry of Justice, University of Copenhagen, the National Police and
the Crime Prevention Council:
"In
recent years, the use of the knife often been discussed. In 1995 it was 2.1% of
the victims who faced an offender with a knife. This figure rose slightly to
2.9% in 2005. So it is still relatively rare to meet knife armed perpetrators.
You should be aware that these figures do not tell anything about the chance in
the number of threats with a knife, but only for cases where the knife has been
used. "
"In Norway , five
years ago a total knife ban was introduced. Since then, the number of stabbings
fell by 40 percent, and the number of confiscated knives has also fallen
significantly. "
There have
been many statements by politicians and in the media with the claim that a
total ban in Norway
had a positive effect.
I tried for
a very long time to investigate the case, but it was veritable impossible to
determine whether it had a positive effect, since the Statistisk SentralbyrÄ, which
is the Norwegian Institute of Statistics, shows no statistics of stabbing or
knife-related crime, such as illegal possession and confiscation.
I could
find statistics on all crimes and categories, but not with knives. I abandoned
finding statistics as I could not find anything where weapons were generally
involved, such as confiscation or crimes committed with weapons.
I contacted
a Norwegian friend who has friends in the Norwegian police, and asked if he or
the police could find some statistical studies, but even the police had no idea
about it because they did not collect data and could not create statistics
without it. I later found one who had family working for the institution who
takes care of releasing prisoners from jails, and he claimed that there has
been a decrease in knife attacks, but I could not get any data than hearsay.
However, I
found out that the later adopted total ban restrictive regulation for combat knives
did not have the desired political effect. There was a lot of new stabbing
despite of the regulations. How they will define combat knives will be interesting,
as folders and butterfly knives are already illegal.
It is doing
it wonderfully easy for politicians to say that a law helped when you can not
measure the effect of it, but have to rely on a subjective assessment of how a
few high ranking police officers think it is. Norwegian police are not armed
with guns, so their resistance to knives understandable, since they do not have
a slim chance if they are attacked with a knife. So also in Norway are restrictive
law regulations performed on the basis of individual cases.
How the
Norwegians know that crimes committed with a knife has fallen, I do not know.
Perhaps from reports of stabbings from hospitals, but confiscated knives is not
something that hospitals do. I can not come up with concrete numbers, and the
data underlying the claim I would like to know more about. I anyone has any
please inform me.
The Danish total ban
Parliament
passed before the summer recess a restriction of the law relating to knives. The
Ministry of Justice justifies the restrictive regulation that it will have a
preventative effect, but the National Association of appointed lawyers publicly
stated and recommended another solution:
"There
is no prospect that fewer will take illegal knives in the city when the penalty
is increased from a fine of US$500 to minimum seven days' imprisonment".
(The maximum imprisonment has been changed to potentially a year but it will be
very unlikely.)
"It
would, instead of the usual requirement for raised penalties be desirable to
take initiatives for an attitude change of particularly young people."
In
connection with the restriction from the Ministry of Justice had not provided
any concrete numbers for the spread of illegal knives in the nightlife. Also the
defence lawyers points out that there is missing information about the use of
illegal knives that had been used to violent crimes.
Symbolic
political messages do not change the criminal's behaviour. It only sends a
message to young people that it is socially unacceptable. We can not just leave
it up to the state to regulate children's criminal violent behaviour: It is the
parents who have the primary responsibility and should educate them to be
responsible citizens with respect for others' property, liberty and life.
Seized
knives in Copenhagen from 2002 to 2008,
according to the Copenhagen
police:
2002: 1841
2003: 1732
2004: 1936
2005: 2507
2006: 3113
2007: 2553
2008 to
August month: 1291st the total figure for 2008 is guesswork, we will have to
wait and see.
The first
restriction of the Arms Act was the first April 2004 as a political response to
a specific case: The murder of 19-year-old Italian tourist Antonio Curra,
portrayed as an act of random gang related violence in the media, but very few
know it was a quarrel about the price for a bag of cocaine he tried to purchase
that turned into a deadly fight. One can see that there has been an increase in
seizures, so either have the political signal not had the desired effect, or
the increased focus by the police with such visitation zones only led to more
seizures.
Earlier in Denmark ,
the chief police inspector Per Larsen said he hoped the increased penalties for
possession of knives would have a deterrent effect. January this year he told
Ritzau: "It is of course only one hunch, but I can not imagine anything
other than that it would rumour that there is a much higher risk."
Svend
Foldager, police inspector Copenhagen Police, has stated to the media that
"those who from their home plan that they will have a to use a knife
because they are planning to get into situations where they need it, you can
not deter with seven days prison sentence.”
Alan
Gordon, vice-chairman of the Police Federation in Britain, has made a similar
statement to BBC News about the latest restriction of the Arms Act due to a
specific case where a boy of 14 years was murdered: “People that seem to
have such a scant regard for human life, I don’t think are going to be
dissuaded in their actions by new legislation. […] It is a very difficult
tightrope for the home secretary to walk – as to whether he should introduce
new legislation to try and show toughness. […] But actually, how effective it
is going to be is debatable.”
Responsible
citizens who carries and know how to use a pocket knife in a responsible
manner, must not be punished for an act that does not infringe the freedom of
others. Hunters, anglers, scouts, kayakers and divers have always used them
responsibly, but now the restrictions negatively affect them. Some sports and
recreational activities would be downright dangerous to do without access to
the knife as a tool.
The knife,
which is perhaps the oldest tool man has used, has the primary function as a vital
tool, in addition to use in the kitchen, at many outdoor activities and crafts.
It can be used as a weapon to be compared to how much it is used for legitimate
and practical purposes. To kill or harm people with a knife was already illegal
before the knife ban, and thus there was no need for further regulation or
prohibition of knives. Compared to how much they are used for legitimate
purposes in relation to crimes, they make to put it mildly a very small
percentage.
Total ban
has even been criticized by Flemming Steen Munch, information officer at the
police because he did not think we should make policy on the basis of
individual cases, because we should not criminalize law-abiding citizens who
responsibly carry a small pocket knife.
The recent
ban which dictates that even the police should not be carrying a knife, is
mildly grotesque. How should they cut a rope over if a person is bound, a man
to be cut free by a belt in a burning car after an accident or other scenario?
By shooting it into pieces with their service gun or bite it with their teeth?
They have now been issued a Leatherman with no lock on the knife, they can
carry a gun but must risk loosing a finger when using the knife.
All Danish
citizens can acquire an illegal knife in many of our neighbouring countries
such as Estonia , Poland and Sweden , so if you want to buy an
illegal knife is very easy.
A knife is
a knife. Most kitchen knives, especially filet knives are just as well suited
for murder as a so-called combat knife. And then they are cheaper, easy to
acquire, legal to buy and better to commit murder with than folding knives. Fillet
knife are very sharp, very thin and do not jam between the ribs if it is
inserted in the torso, and can easily puncture the lungs and heart.
Locks, blade length and the Law
With the
new knife law, which has been implemented, it is legal to carry a folding knife
of max. 7 cm ,
which can not be locked. Locks on the knives are there to protect the users
from harming themselves, so the blade does not fold over the knuckles by
accident. Apparently consumer safety was not given a second thought when the
new knife law was adopted. For all other products there will be an outcry if
someone made a product that could create damage due to lack of security, which
could easily be built into the product. In this case, the choice is to have
products that are dangerous to the consumer by law.
The locking
mechanism does not make it easier to kill others with knife: It takes just as
long to get a folder deployed out as a knife in a sheath. I could see the point
that the maximum blade length should be 7 cm long, but actually don’t agree with that
point, as the problem is how deep the blade penetrates the body and affects
vital organs. Nevertheless, even 4cm is enough to be able to hit vital organs,
as 2 doctors interviewed on the news stated. You can also still buy boy scout
daggers and kitchen knives, which have often been used to assault and murder,
so the ban will not change anything for people who intend to use them for
criminal purposes. They can always buy a kitchen knife in the supermarket. You
can not stop the production of dangerous pointy sharp knives, unless we ban all
larger than dull vegetable knives less than 4 cm without tip, or only have
pre carved and cut all vegetables and meat we buy in supermarkets, so we do not
need kitchen knives.
Folders
The ban on
them was originally implemented because they were used frequently to assault,
but that has not stopped the use of knives to attack. Many legitimate folding
knives can still be opened with one hand: It requires very little training, and
the fact is that they can be opened almost as fast with two hands. It may be
easier to hide a folder, but a knife can be concealed easily under all
circumstances. Even the most secure maximum security prisons in all countries can’t
stop the use of homemade knives. A scout knife or kitchen knife is just as easy
to hide as a folder, folding knifes or neck knife down the pants or under a
sweater. Folders have the advantage that they can be used in emergency
situations where one hand is injured or entangled in something that you need to
cut free from.
Throwing Knives
Throwing
Knives belong in a circus. It is almost impossible to hit a moving target with
a throwing knife. The rotation of the blade makes it impossible to always hit
with the tip. One can, after many years of training learn how to throw a knife
against a target at a fixed distance. It is foolish to throw a knife against an
opponent: If it does not penetrate the target, then you have given him a
weapon. There is no one who throws a loaded gun to the head of his opponent in a
battle for life and death. That they are illegal surprised me a lot, because
many are not sharp. All throwing knives used by professionals entertainers are
pointy but have a dull edge. However, you can buy a few models that have a
sharp blade, for hunting.s
The knife in self defence weapons
Many people
might think that the knife is bad as self defence weapon in relation to a gun,
but this is not entirely true. In certain situations, the blade is better than
the gun.
It takes no
training to use the knife to fend off attacks by threatening to use it because
all are instinctively afraid of knives. It has a very strong psychological
deterrent effect: All have tried to cut themselves and know how it hurts.
The first self
defence use is to cut the assailant on the wrist or hand, which he will not die
from. If the situation requires more damage to stop the robber or assailant,
one can resort to muscle destruction of arms with the possibility that he might
survive, if he is being treated by a doctor, so he does not bleed to death. In
extreme cases, you can stab and slash repeatedly the assailant until he doesn’t
move, resulting in a high probability of death due to organ damage and
bleeding.
In short,
you can escalate the degree of how much you want to use the knife, from threat
to small or serious injuries and finally a defence with fatal outcome. However,
serious knife injuries can be harder to treat than gunshot wounds.
It does not
require a high IQ or training to use a knife. That is why so many idiots and
persons with no training can use it successfully.
To shoot
someone just a little bit is difficult as the bullet has a fixed velocity. You
can shoot for the legs, but it can also kill if it hits a vein and innocent
passers-by. With firearms can not escalate the degree of damage very well, as
it is hard to aim at a moving target and choose a safe place to shoot.
Firearms
also run out of ammunition, knives don’t. All violent confrontations at close range
and at less than 6 meters
the knife is considered being more dangerous than a gun by many self defence
instructors. Therefore, it is ridiculous when the media accused the police of
going too far when they shoot someone who is armed with a knife. When you consider
how short their batons are, it is almost suicide to use them against the blade.
Firearms
are expensive, they must be maintained constant so as not to cause it to
malfunction and stored properly and safely. Knives are cheap and everyone has
them in their kitchen without being very concerned that children have access to
them. Most of us do not have a problem with those children learn to use a
dagger and an axe responsibly as boy scouts, but the media and politicians
would probably freak out in outrage if they learned how to use guns.
Many will
say that the danger is that the knife might be used against them. But the same
applies to guns, tear gas and other weapons.
Recap of the main arguments
What would
you rather prefer to have in the hand against a gang of criminals who will
attack you: Nothing or a weapon? What would you rather have, your daughter,
girlfriend, mother or wife had if she faced a rapist?
To hope
that others come and help, if there are any present, is not very likely. Many
women have been raped and have called for help when no one came or helped by
calling the police, even when a crowd of people could easily hear the victim.
Sadly the Bystander effect has been proven that the odds for being helped
decreases when the amount of people passing buy grows.
Training
martial arts is no guarantee of safety. Techniques and dirty tricks don’t always
defeat a physically superior opponent. Otherwise there would not be weight
classes for tournaments. They are not there to protect the big boys against a
tiny opponent.
But martial
arts organizations are obviously a business like any other, although many are
state subsidised non profit associations and a few are private companies in Europe . They also need new members not to become extinct,
and besides offering one to get in shape and learn self-discipline, they lure students
by promising them security against bigger and stronger opponents. They could
have a higher chance to defeat an untrained person who is the least dangerous
of all categories opponent, but larger, physically stronger, armed, martial
arts trained individuals or more opponents is far more difficult to tackle
without weapons. Yes it is almost impossible unless you have trained for
countless hours every week for many years with realism as a starting guideline.
A lot of very skilled martial artists have been killed with a knife, as it was
not a big part of their training. But many women with no training have defeated
a rapist armed with a knife, this shows clearly that martial arts training does
not guarantee safety.
In
addition, many young violent thugs train martial arts and test their skills on
the street. Recently, we have seen hooligans from White Pride practicing
martial arts in municipally-premises. Some clubs and social projects funded
from the municipality teach maladjusted young men martial arts, which is quite
silly as they might save a few of trouble, but has trained the rest to become
more effective criminals.
There are
many who have used and are using knives responsible for leisure activities.
They should not be punished because a few abuse them. Compared to how many
legitimate and essential purpose they used to, so is the abuse of them a tiny
portion.
Criminals,
who use knives, are indifferent to tougher penalties for illegal possession of
a knife, because the crimes they commit with them are far worse than violation
of the Arms Act.
Laws do not
stop criminals beyond educational reach, they can only punish them.
To make
policy based on individual cases is not wise, even police people have been
against it and when even the police can not carry a knife now is decidedly
idiotic.
A ban on
certain design of knives is unimportant: A knife is a knife, kitchen knives is
just as dangerous and is used very often for crimes.
The
prohibition folders have no deterrent against their use for criminal purposes,
criminals can buy a kitchen knife, fixed blade legally or illegal folders in
our neighbouring countries.
Locks are
there to protect the user. It can not be right that we knives have an inverse
relationship to consumer safety.
Knives are
suitable for self defence, they are cheap, available everywhere, easy to use
even without training, it is possible to escalate the degree of damage, whereas
with firearms is difficult to control the degree of injury and can hit innocent
bystanders. So if you are in favour of liberalization of the Firearms Act,
knives must also be included.
Many
violent criminals trains martial arts and most likely more skilled as they have
real life experience and not only friendly dojo training, so it's not always
enough just to train self defence, which many also requires a long time before
you can use it. A weapon, like a knife, can scare a potential assailant to go
away.
The right
to live must also include the right to defend this. The law can not defend
ourselves when we are victims of violent crimes, it does not stop crime, and it
punishes only the guilty, when the deed is done. The police can not be
everywhere all the time and have recently shown that they do not always respond
when you call and need them.
Appendix
Example
An example
of a knife, which has been used for self defence in Denmark without prosecution, the
victim would not have had a chance without. Four young people, three men and a
woman, chose Friday night to set after a 24-year-old and his girlfriend and
start a regular orgy of violence started:
"Should
I pull the ring out of his nose at you," cried one of the four to the man.
The mood was rampant, and the man's girlfriend ran into a nearby apartment and
called police. Meanwhile the group were in a frenzy of violence. First with
kicks, then slap to the face. Finally,
when the man lying on the ground with his head pressed down against the
asphalt, a kick in the head. A so violent kick, the imprint of the shoe could
still be seen on the forehead following day. The victim manages finally to fish
one four centimetres knife-like object back and put it in the thigh of one of
the perpetrators. The police arrive, the four are accused of violent assault,
while the 24-year-old is off the hook.
"It could
have happened to you and me. The 24-year-old has defended himself by reasonable
means, so he will not be charged, "said Copenhagen police central security manager,
Niels Book-Grarup.
Excerpts from the Danish knife law
Act to
amend the Arms Act
(Prohibition
of carrying a knife, etc. as well as stricter penalties for illegal possession
of knives, etc.)
First § 4,
paragraph. 1 is replaced by the following:
"In
public places, colleges, youth clubs, leisure facilities and the like, it is
prohibited to carry a knife or dagger, except as part of a profession, for
hunting, fishing or sport or another similar creditable purpose. The ban does
not include folding knives with blades of more than 7 cm , which can not be locked
in the unfolded position. "
Second § 4,
paragraph. 3 is replaced by the following:
"Subsection.
3rd Justice may issue rules prohibiting the introduction, by transfer to
acquire, to possess, carry or use, to transfer or to leave other possession of:
1) Sharp or
pointed weapons with a blade exceeding 12 cm , knives with transverse grip designed to
shock, folders, jumping stilettos, case knives, stilettos, folders, which are
designed so that in normal condition can be expanded by using one hand ,
folding knives with two-piece butt if the blade folds out using one hand knives
designed to hang around the neck or shoulder, and from this location can be
pulled using one hand, throwing stars, throwing knives and swordsticks and
other similar weapons, which presents itself as an object.
NOTE
§ 14 PARAGRAPH.
3:
Daggers and
knives with a blade exceeding 12
cm , regardless paragraph 1, point 1, WITHOUT PERMISSION,
used in business. Household or by hunting, fishing, scuba diving etc., if they
are designed to do so.
Those
weapons can be acquired, held and carried to such use.
2) Other
sharp or pointed weapons, which can not be assumed to have no creditable
purpose.
"Subsection.
3rd Violation of § 4, paragraph. 1 or 2, punishable by a fine. The penalty may
increase to imprisonment for 2 years, when the former is punished for violation
of § 4, paragraph. 1 or 2
Penal Code § 81
paragraph. 1 shall
not apply. "
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Rick Hernandez ICSS Primal Warrior Series: Knife Survival 3
Rick Hernandez ICSS Primal Warrior Series: Knife Survival 3
Monday, August 13, 2012
LIVING COLOUR - Jim Carey-Karate Instructor
What makes this even funnier is that I have been told that I attacked wrongly by one of my former instructors, it was the same attack as I used to do for 4 years, but they changed the parries so it would either collapse due to a bad posture and left a huge gap where the attack could go right trough.
This a tragicomically experience, I quit training mainly due to a contract obligation to not teach the same weapons in 2 independent systems, sadly I did not inform my old teacher about this, but I knew I would be on the public enemy black list by choosing to teach the style I loved most, and I didn’t care if I was in bad standing with my old club. I have no problem doing what I love to do, and not wasting time on a stupid grudge about absolute control about what I do.
They used to intimidate people who changed styles with violence, by storming the dojo and provoking a fight, my guess is the only reason it did not happen to me was the fact they knew how good I could fight with any kind of bladed weapon, I used to win 50% of the times sparring against my former master. Everyone in the club knew I could fatally stab 14 unarmed martial artists in 12.4 seconds, some of them had a lot of experienced from working as a bouncer, their assignment was to try and stop me. We replicated this again later and the result was that in 1 second I could stab 2 people fatally with multiple hits, no one could stop me empty handed.
Such experience proves 2 things:
1 empty hand skills is not enough to be able to defend against a knife attack, training with the weapons you most likely will be attacked with, requires training how to use them to discover the advantage and disadvantage.
2 fighting an opponent with the necessary skillset to how to use a blade against multiple attackers is the worst kind of nightmare to stop.
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Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Empty hands knife defence intro seminar.
Copenhagen
Combatives will start our new season with an intro Seminar the 1st and the 2nd
September, Saturday from 13-16 Sunday from 14-16. To celebrate our new season
of training we offer a huge discount for an intro seminar, the price is 200 kr.
pr day or 300 for both days, normally its 300 kr pr.day and 500 for 2 days.
Learn unarmed
defence against from knife attacks, from standing, clinch and ground position.
This course will not only show techniques but also how to train using whatever
style you have previous experience with or are training at this moment.
Wear comfortable everyday
clothing as jeans, the shoes you normally use and T-shirt.
Useful equipment
is MMA gloves, groin, forearm and eye protection, the most important is the
forearm protection, we can provide them if you don’t have any. We prefer no
protective gear, but if your work requires fine motor skills and no bruises
it’s wise to buy protective gear that can protect you.
Useful links:
http://www.practicalcombatives.com/
https://www.facebook.com/CphCombatives
https://www.facebook.com/groups/copenhagen.combatives/
https://www.facebook.com/CphCombatives
https://www.facebook.com/groups/copenhagen.combatives/
Heroic Civil War buff uses 400-year-old Cavalier fighting skills to disarm knife-wielding robber as he attacked shop worker
By JAYA NARAIN
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2184465/Heroic-Civil-War-buff-uses-400-year-old-Cavalier-fighting-skills-disarm-knife-wielding-robber-attacked-shop-worker.html#ixzz22uN9VSu5
Labels:
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re-enactment
Friday, July 13, 2012
Libre Fighting Knife Assualt Project Part 1 (knife defense, disarm, mart...
This is the most controversial topic in martial arts, if it’s possible to realistically defend yourself against knife attacks. He argues very well for his point of view, but having pressure tested against all kinds of knife attacks, my own personal experience is that it varies from individual fighting experience. My own fail rate against beginners is 0- max 20%, against very high ranking knife trained martial artist 20-30%. I have had the luck to duel with training blades against Grandmasters and Masters of various FMA systems and never lost in a knife to knife duel, were the rules are simple one head or body hit you loose, get hit on the leg you go down on that leg, get hit on the arm with the blade if you don’t switch hand in a second you loose, if hit on arm or leg any other hit you loose. I have trained with a FMA Master that could not parry 80% of my attacks, he could see them but his structure was so bad that his arm collapsed even if he was a lot stronger than me. Empty hand versus knife is a different game but same mindset, do or die, you need to even more determined to win when you have no equalizer against a knife. Against a person who has the right mindset and skillset armed with a knife, you will loose, the only option is to go all out if you can’t run away.
Labels:
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Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Strategic Knife Defense DVD with Grand Tuhon Leo T. Gaje, Jr.
Available Now! The ONLY studio instructional video ever produced by Grand Tuhon Leo T. Gaje. This special instructional video was filmed in 1987 at the JSTA National Law Enforcement Training Conference. The Supreme Grandmaster of the Pekiti-Tirsia system presents his groundbreaking Strategic Knife Defense training program for law enforcement officers, and is released to the general public only now. Featured subjects include; Knife Attacks and Counter-Knife Tactics, Empty-Hand Knife Defense, Baton Tactics, Empty-Hand Tactics, and other special instructional segments. Purchase at the Online Store at www.ptkgo.com
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Filipino Martial Arts: Missing the point
Very good article, I like that he criticise without
naming what style he is describing as BS, FMA is the leading martial art in
politics full of lies and trash talk, I respect this way of dealing with it as
this can be used to view any kind of style that are similar to what he
describes. I don’t agree with him 100% and believe that some of his points are
wrong, but I will leave that up to the readers to what extent they agree with
the article. To read it click on the link below.
Filipino Martial Arts: Missing the point
Labels:
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knife defence,
knife fighting,
Pekiti Tirsia Kali,
self-defence
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Copenhagen Combatives Group new system The Kratos Combatives™
The Copenhagen Combatives™ Group have launched an
independent systems besides our regular AMOK! training, which is the most ultra
functional system proven in combat based on short blade techniques. This is
what we predominately teach as a defence system against armed and unarmed
attacks, how to use any object as a weapon, recognising and evading an assault
by learning how to spot the subtle cues before an attack is launched.
The independent systems is:
The Kratos Combatives™ a methodology to use any kind
of historical weapons inspired by my mentor and teacher Tom Sotis. This
is to show how the framework and methodology from AMOK! can be utilized to any
kind of weapon. A hybrid martial art based on geometry for empty hand defence,
where the goal is to give functional self-defence skills with the minimum
amount of time, by utilising the most common flinch responses as a defence. Utilising
genetically pre-programmed movements as attacks, as for example using the
movement from throwing an object to use it for a punch, throwing is such a
complex movement that its not a skill learned its there from birth, but can be
improved by training and change it to other purposes.
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