KNIFE DEFENCE in Martial Arts: Prepare, don't just Criticise or GIVE UP!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ค. 2024
- Knife defence is a subject that often leads to controversy in martial arts and particularly in online discussions. This often leads to people declaring that you cannot defend yourself and you should always run away. Here I try to inject a bit of perspective and context into the subject, based both on historical attitudes to knife defence, but also on modern statistics and evidence.
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My brother once wondered why I carry a Bowie knife. I told him it's in case of bears. He then asked if I really wanted to fight a bear with a knife. I told him, no, but it beats fighting a bear without one.
Plus you can do a lot more with a knife if you need to survive on your own...
There's an old joke among scuba divers about carrying a dive-knife. It's for dealing with sharks. Specifically, it's for stabbing your friend so the shark goes for him while you swim away.
@@kevinrobinson5654 worse than _I'll only need to run faster than my partner_
There was a man in British Columbia recently who fought off a grizzly bear with a pocket knife.
bc.ctvnews.ca/b-c-hiker-fought-back-with-knife-when-grizzly-attacked-conservation-officers-1.4529650?cache=yes%3FclipId%3D89830
Another man fought off a cougar with his knife.
www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/bc-man-survives-cougar-attack/article25302522/
A knife would never be my first choice to ward off an animal attack but maulings are basically a type of grappling and as a weapon of last resort a knife can be very effective.
Why do you think the Marines were issued Ka-Bars? It's a knife that helps you K a Bar (kill a bear).
As someone who has been stabbed and survived, I appreciate the common sense here. When I was mugged the guy never made a demand or even gave me a chance to throw him my wallet or bag, which I would of done to avoid the fight, it's not worth it. As it was, I got jumped and he stabbed my leg. It was not really deep, but he went up to stab my chest and I just kept my arms in front and grabbed his arms. He was a lot taller than me but I'm thankful I'm strong. I was able to wrestle him into a wall and pin his arm and thankfully two people came to see what I was shouting about. I walk with a stick anytime I'm alone now, it was a horrible incident, I pity anyone who has this misfortune.
glad you didnt give up
You did what you had to do in that moment and you survived. I’m sorry you had to experience that.
stay strong and be armed
Glad you're okay
such a person should be locked up for 10+ years
His buddy that wears chain mail. I think I know who he is talking about
Metatron?
Tuan Nguyen My police friend did that as well
Best idea honestly in U.K. or other countries that outlaw self defensive weapons.
Cody?
Vash TS hahaha I’d be very surprised if cody and matt knew each other. A chemist and an historian... but I must admit I thought about thay too !!!
need to make walking canes a fashion staple.
amen brother
I need swords as fashion statement. LOL. On a serious note, I do think that we should legally be able to carry knives as they are exceptionally useful and probably the first item you should think of, if you had to pack your stuff and run into the wild... (look up 5Cs of survival).
@@edi9892 Texas has legalized open-carry of long, bladed objects, so perhaps there's a trend afoot in some regions of the world!
@@groundfloorguthrie up to the 2000s there was no law against carrying a sword in Germany and AFAIK it still not illegal in Switzerland (except for demonstrations, special safety zones...). It's just considered a dangerous object and not a weapon in the legal sense. Ironically, pocket knives can give you trouble as concealed carry of knives has been outlawed!
@@groundfloorguthrie don't hold your breath. Arizona never made the carry if bowing or Dirk's illegal.
"You can't just have body armor out of thin air"
What? So videogames have lied to me again? How dare them
I can't believe this either. Life IS unfair. Jeez.
@@insalubriousdithyramb1742 😥👌
*pauses to switch armor, equip a better weapon, and eat 97 apples to regain health* try and stab me now#
that is why people wear soft body armor......
I mean.... in the US you can buy soft armor to wear under clothes and delivered to your house.
I trained Pekiti Tirsia Kali for a couple of years, and there was a heavy focus on knife fighting. My trainer always stressed: if someone draws a knife, get away IF YOU CAN. I think that's the part many people overlook. He also liked to tell a story of the grandmaster of the system, being accosted in Manila by a street thug with a knife who demanded his briefcase. He reacted by handing over the briefcase, because even if you win a knife fight, you'll likely get hurt. All that said, knife training is of course useful, and a lot of it translates to empty hands as well.
I've got a lot of friends who are big fans of FMA for knife stuff, much of it seems extremely practical. I've taken a few very brief lessons and I've been really impressed. All of my previous knife/dagger training was derived from Fiore, and it was eye opening to finally get a second perspective
It's a last resort, even if the system only raises your chances of survival by a small percentage is still better than nothing.
My Sifu, who teaches Wing-Chun and also teaches Kali/Arnis/Skrima. He usually says: Wing-Chun weapons are for form and strengthening. For life weapon defense there is Kali, and he also says (as you mentioned) if you can run away do it. In a knife fight you will probably get hurt, but sometimes there will be no other choice but to defense yourself.
@Thomas Top Dogs background is PTK if I remember correctly. ;)
...but what was in the briefcase?
“ The world is full of pointy objects ”
- Matt Easton
so much penetration
Everything is a pointy object if you are brave enough.
I know it sounds funny, but it is true, and i'd love if you'd take it to your hearts... you'd be surprised what sharpened stick, bone or taped(so you have a handle) shard of glass can do to flesh...
@@heretyk_1337 I'd rather do it to someone else. How about you?
@@sumedhdhoni8666 Yeah, yeah... now i see how it sounds...
If you are attacked by a person with a knife, just ask to see their knife license. If they refuse, tell them that they have no legal right to harm you and they will be powerless to do anything about it.
Since ninja weapons were banned in the UK, not a single person has been killed by a ninja here. Pretty much proves that the law works.
😂
Oi, m8, do you have your knife liocense?
@@scholagladiatoria as far as you know. We're talking about ninjas here! oO
@@scholagladiatoria *woosh*
Watching Matt talk about finding objects around you (like chairs) to use to protect yourself/even the odds while standing in a room dripping with medieval weaponry gave me a chuckle!
I was aware of the irony while I was speaking and of course was specifically trying not to mention objects that were designed as weapons.
My Dad was hand-to-hand combat instructor in the Polish army in the 60's when the concept of hand-to-hand engagement and trench war was still very much alive. Either we wanted it or not me and my Sister had to practice hand weapons fighting and defence against those since I can remember and this experience saved me bottom a couple of times. My Sister took it further and she's got black belt in Hei Long Shu and some... ;) but that's the topic for another time. I usually don't watch videos mentioning "knife defence" in the title just to spare myself frustration but your channel has already so much credibility that I've made exception and you have not disappointed. When the COVID situation settles down would be fantastic to get to your club to practice. Since I moved to UK i tried a couple of "martial arts" clubs but non had anything to do with a practical combat.
David Rawlins in West London is a great instructor too, a friend of Matt’s. I’ve been to David’s club many times, and he’s really thorough and charismatic. It’s a tight ship he runs, but he’s a nice guy too
Haven’t been to Scholagladiatoria before but I want to go next year when things have settled
@Tomasz Zajac
May I suggest you take interest in Silat Seni Gayong UK ? I am part of the International Federation and a friend of mine teaches in London. We are trying our best to revive the "old school" jungle guerilla fighting style from Malaysia. Someone with your experience would be well received, and an asset for our network.
hey man interesting story i would love to hear more did you get to one of his lessons?
Worked 20years as a Prison Officer ( in the US most Prison Officers are not armed ) on occasion had to defend against edged weapons without the aid of any weapon or at best pepper spray. I had absolutely NO PROBLEM Sir with any thing you said in this Video. Well done Mr. Easton.
I commend you sir on your years as a prison officer I am myself I've never worked a prison but I am in person who has had to defend himself and other people against edged weapons I wholeheartedly agree have a good day
"You should have turned your back towards the knife attacker, and run."
-Internet wisdom-
@@mikaluostarinen4858 I am sure you find what you wrote very smart, but in most situations that's actually what you should do.
@@albertdittel8898 If someone launches a surprise attack, it's difficult to escape safely. Do you have any reason to think running is more succesful in general? Sure, escaping is good every time you manage to do it.
@@mikaluostarinen4858 I don't quite know what you mean by surprise attack. If someone sneaks up on you and suckerpunch (or suckerstab) you, then you don't have any choice to run in that second, so the question is meaningless. Now I am speaking about the most standard situation, which is two (or more) guys facing each other at fighting distance. In that situation, unless you are really unusually bad at moving, it is pretty feasible to just run away: you generally keep using your arms to fend off strikes while you're turning, you turn when your opponent is not striking in that very moment, you don't stand still and turn slowly 180 degree, but first back off, then half turn while moving your upper body away form the enemy at the same time protecting with your arms over the shoulder and start to run already at this moment (yeah, sounds complicated, just look at any youtube video where people start running away and you'll see). And why running away is more "survivable" in general ("successful" is not my word of choice), is because it's better to have 1 stab in the back then 23 stabs in chest, stomach, arms and legs. That's why. (Btw. OF COURSE there are lots of situations when it doesn't apply, no question).
I love the 'there's no sure defense'; there's no sure defense against ANYTHING in life - attacks, accidents, illness, anything.
Indeed. The odds are poor when unarmed against a knife, but we may as well try to improve the odds in any way we can.
Just because there's no good defence, that doesn't mean you should waste money on fortune tellers and magic charms. Similarly, you shouldn't waste your time or money on bad martial arts instruction that makes you no better off. Heck, a lot of it makes you WORSE off than untrained.
Can't agree more. I can tell you for experience that you're basically naked against a drunk driver when you're walking by the road and they loose control of their vehicle. You can save your head sacrificing an elbow when crashing their windshield but that's all. And as Matt said you can't always run away when it could be your very last moment, only bad decisions and choices that are even worse! Cheers and take care.
@@antivalidisme5669 Naked, but not blind. Keep an eye and an ear out. Drunken drivers tend to behave weirdly, and you often can hear the screech of their tires. If you're near a busy street, be cautious in general.
@@vanivanov9571 That EXACTLY makes Matts point - anything you can do to protect, is better than nothing.
Of course when you are in a real fight, when someone is actually trying to hurt you, you don't know how you will actually react. Even the toughest training can't truly prepare you. But having that training is still much better than not having it.
What I say, is you never take the decision to defend yourself. Your body does for you. If you had to decide to attack someone, you were probably never in danger, though I guess sometimes risking your life for something else is acceptable.
But since your body moves by itself (in the context of self defense or even if you provoked a deadly opponent), it is not a matter of what you know. It is a matter of what you put in your body.
1) First rule, be fit, eat well. It pays off a bit everyday, and a LOT in life or death situations.
2) Practice the moves untill you do them in your sleep. Practice in as many situations as you can.
3) Relax and watch your reptilian brain pulls off everything it can to neutralise the threat -- that will be gruesome and messy (clean martial arts are a thing of movies and exhibition halls), but most likely efficient. By the way, the more relaxed you are, the more deadly you will be, because if your heart beats to fast, your dexterity and field of view go down. So, try to let the sweet river of adrenaline carry you !
@@oneoranota I dont want to be a disagreeable person, but I have been put in situations where it was either fight now, or fight later. If now, as in those cases means, he doesnt have friends and I am not drunk or otherwise disabled. I am going for it and I am throwing the first punch. Under the local law I am clear, or have been so far 5 out of 5 investigations.
If you "never" train you do not know how you will respond.....But if you train in these different areas you will respond better then that person that has never trained.
Prisons confiscate thousands of knives and pointy objects every year.
They should pass a law banning knives in prisons.
Or legalise them so they don´t have to confiscate so much. Makes for great statistics!
Bo Zo good one😂 try the other one, it's got bells on.
The Louisiana State Prison in Angola, LA, used to issue knives to all new inmates. The guards all knew this, and so did the prisoners, so no surprises. Without them, prisoners didn't survive.
@Colin Cleveland You're in prison or something?
@@RiderOftheNorth1968 Legalise and regulate! It will bring the price down and reduce violence.
It's simple, really. Just keep a retinue of Swiss pikemen with you at all times.
Or just keep a Swiss Army knife on your keychain.
@DANIEL BIN OMAR - Not with that attitude you can't.
The "can't ever beat a knife" line of reasoning is similar to arguing that since bigger people generally win fights against smaller people (true, that's why most unarmed combat sports have weight classes) then if a bigger person attacks you you'll never survive and should just give up. Yeah, don't go picking fights with huge people, but if it's happening to you, then you might as well give it some thought and effort.
With practice some folk *prefer* a taller opponent.
Its easier to get under their centre of gravity, making it easier to throw them.
A poweful compact opponent's often a tougher prospect.
@@Farweasel They also love how over confident the big guy is, lets them get inside. Ting. And the lights .. went out.
Size doesn't effect whether you have a glass jaw either.
No matter how big you are. Stab.
@mxt mxt You misunderstand.
When the tall sod attempts the sweep is *when* you duck in, and he then makes a thudding sound as he rolls on hitting the mat.
Or alternatively just goes 'splat' if its some pillock in the street failing to appreciate the finer points of the situation....
Which in the context of waving a blade around is in fact the prefered option.
(Followed by ow, ow, ow & eventually OW! as you explain more fully they were a rather naughty, misguided person pulling a knife in the first place).
Believe it or not, I carry an emergency whistle. It is fantastically loud. One day, I was wearing my kilt in a bar (where I was well known), and some drunken idiot decided he wanted to take on the biggest guy in the room. Yes, that was me. He screamed insults and got all up in my face trying to goad me into taking a poke at him so he could let loose. I pulled out my whistle and blew it long and loud. EVERYONE froze. Even the band stopped playing. All eyes were on us. He froze in horror. The bartender came form behind, the doorman came from the right and the two of them frog marched him over to a quiet corner where he paid his bill and was shown the door. I'm 6'2" and 235 lbs. If I can carry a rape whistle, so can you. (The traditional knife, (sgian dubh), carried by all kilted Scotsman, is a tattoo for legal reasons.)
I am a football referee and the whistle that I use is pretty damn loud - so I have to use earplugs to prevent hearing loss and tinnitus. How are your ears after that emergency whistle blow, which I suppose is even louder?
Loud, high- pitched noises sound like a somewhat decent idea - people somehow tend to forget how sensitive ears are, especially towards high - pitched sounds like that ^^' That's why in defence classes first thing girls and women get taught is to shout and scream at their attackers, not only to get their surroundings attention, but also to show an attacker they're no easy prey (there's a reason smallish "mousy" females get attacked more often, we are expected to cause less trouble and to not relly raise our voices and defend ourselves), so that's the thirst thing I'd do to (boy, never thought my squeaky high-pitch soprano would serve me so well, but hey, it'll definitely have an attacker's ears ringing, especially, if said attacker already invaded my personal space ;))
I also got one of those personal defence alarm thingies, that flashes and peeps REALLY loud, if you pull a pin out ( that's why I always call that little box sound grenade [or Plärrgranate in my native German]) which might be an option, too (thankfully never had to settle on that, yet, that thing's so loud, it'll definitely hurt one's own ears, too, if you don't manage to cover them somehow )
That’s actually pretty awesome. I might give that some thought
Love this! Nothing much else to say. Just awesome.
Egad. Those Great Britain laws prohibiting self protection are rough. I’ll never understand how or why the people allow this.
Very important to train against non-compliant opponents when learning knife (or any other) defense. Too many martial arts instructors only show choreographed techniques that rely on the attacker following the script.
Very true, training should always be safe and sparring partners shouldn't be complaint and use all techniques they know against you. When against blades either armed or barehanded (got disarmed during sparring) measure and varying degrees of it is good knowledge, friends of mine that are boxers when I have introduced them the hema they struggled with the distances of different blades, understanding measure and reach is key to at least surviving, along with reflexes.
Only ever faced a blade once, and I didn't know it was there. Box cutter held behind his thy, as I was informed by onlookers after the fact. I was cautious, nevertheless, because he was huge and not in his right mind. I put the steel pole in the middle of the subway car between him and me. Turned out to work. As part of any defense against a blade (club, brass knuckles, whatever), use whatever shield your surroundings provide,
When a guy was coming towards me with a knife I instictivly broke a beer bottle and he backed away.
@@SarsTheSecond hit em with the no you
In my experience growing up in a tough neighborhood and being in the army two things work: 1. Be situationally aware. Most attackers prefer a soft unaware target. This means take note of all the exits, never put your back to a doorway so you can see any possible attackers, and use strong body language (good posture, strong eye contact, calm demeanor under stress); 2. Carry a knife and use the hover hand method. Keep your hand near your blade as comfortably as you can so the muscles are not so tense you dont lose speed. Your possible attacker sees you are ready and willing to defend yourself and know what they are going to get. That being said DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT, fight an armed attacker if you can just leave and call 911.
In my experience many ”instructors” understate the context of being attacked in general and as that applies to knife attacks it comes to very sharp point, pun intended. I think that is where most of my critique or frustration comes to the fore. And captain context does not disappoint, you put the entire concept into a consice context where the danger becomes clear but at the same time pointing to what principles might apply. Thank you.
This should be a required viewing for anyone trying to claim self defense expertise.
Sadly my young son saw someone chased down by 3 strangers and stabbed. He did the right thing and called the emergency services. The attackers were all caught and sentenced and the victim eventually made a physical recovery from a punctured lung.
So running does not always work.
And that's why we need standard capacity magazines, since you might be attacked by a mob.
@@ctrlaltdebug I'm in the UK so that's not conceivable. I'm not sure how it would help either.
In my knife defense classes we were taught to never turn our backs and run from a knife wielder. The attacker can get a faster start than you while you’re turning around.
@@nathanaelsmith3553 If you can conceive it and believe it you can achieve it.
@@johnsun3854 That's one way to iradicate knife crime in the UK - replace it with gun crime.
Other recent battle tested methods of knife defence include milk crates and Narwhal tusk.
Love this message. It actually has an even more impact on the mental aspect of a fight (or potential fight) than the physical one - everything's better than just standing frozen by terror
4:07: Yes, you can have "relatively" safe country (according to global peace index, UK is on 42 position) with VERY strict laws against weapons of all type, shape or form. OR you can have one of the "Safest" country on the world (according to global peace index, Czech Republic is on 10 position) and have restriction only on firearms. And even that, getting gun license is there easier than getting car license. :P
That driver vs gun license seems reasonable to me. How many people are killed annually by the people with gun license? Now how many people die annually because of the people with driver license?
@@alexmashkin863 cars have killed more people in the last 100 years than small arms have in the last 500.
I know it's not exactly statistical or all that current, but when you say 'Czech Republic' my mind immediately goes to people tossing grenades into pubs.
@@alexmashkin863 You'd have to look at what proportion of people driving without a license cause deaths vs those who do have one, for that to be a valid comparison.
I see you’ve played knifey-spoony before.
That's not a knoife! This 🥄 is a knoife!
Hey Schola!! Great presentation on subject matter, Knife Defense!! I, too, train & teach in Bladed & Impact Training, and focus solely on Knife Defense, as well. It can be so easily criticized or expressed to “simply run away” or having no chance at all... Of course, any form of QUALITY COMBATIVES w/awareness of lethality of Blade & distance gauging w/trapping & controlling and striking can lead to survival. And, having to practice that safely w/training partners & Instructors, at slow & high speeds can only increase those chances of survival. Appreciate your discussion, Schola!!
Mr. Easton, thank you for this video. In my limited (thankfully) experience of one knifing? What you describe fits very solidly with what I went through. You present solid, and well thought out, information. Were I in London? I would sign my son up to take classes at your club.
First, quick CV, yes, I'm a survivor of this kind of attack. I was knifed in 2013, taking primary wounds as a through and through cut on my face and some other scars on my right hand.
I 100% agree with you about people saying, "You can't ever defend against everything,". They miss the point. While you can never train for all situations, you can train to increase how many options you bring to that moment. On very rare occasions someone unknown to you, might attack from behind you, on a public street, while you are walking. Such happened to me.
I offer the following things, not as criticism of any sort, but in hopes it will help someone else.
First, if you are attacked? If you're stabbed, suddenly and unexpectedly, you might think you've only been punched. Although most every survivor I've seen or read says this? It's not something people think is true, generally. I can only confirm that it is not like some knife cutting your thumb while you dice onions and it immediately hurts. It won't. Be aware of this.
I had no recollection of anything other than being punched, and do not recall really much pain until long after I'd been in the hospital.
Second, I don't know if everyone else goes through this, or not, but many people have this reaction: you might feel real shame about the fact you're having this happen and you are embarrassed to be so much the attention of people in the area. I can't honestly explain the reaction, but it's how I felt. You're going to have to push that aside, because this is a time for action.
Third, YELL at the person. Do anything you can to get them off their goal and distracted. Because me yelling is when the situation shifted towards being in my favor.
Also, being attacked from behind, with no warning? (seriously, if you play D&D and ever thought thieves get too much bonus damage? Trust me: it's a conservative modifier) The damage was already happening and I had arterial bleeding from one of the more minor facial arteries. I had thought I'd only been punched, but a steady, pulsing, stream of blood said otherwise. It's not a good sign because at that point the countdown has started. When the Magic Red Go Juice is gone? So are you.
Speaking of bleeding? If nothing else? Use your clothes as bandages. You can replace your clothes, but only if you're alive. Stop the bleeding as fast as you can. Tell yourself, right now, "It's fine to use a silk shirt, rented white tuxedo, or the sweater your Grandmother made as a bandage." You need to get rid of the idea that, "Oh I can't stain a white clothing article!" Trust me, they'll be ruined, anyway. Again, I mention this because, to this day, I don't really know why it didn't occur to me to use an article of clothing to help stop the blood flow. But this leads to another thing I learned, sometimes you're down a hand in a fight because you're staunching blood flow.
The moment I saw blood spurting out, the only thing I could think to do was apply direct pressure like I'd been taught in first aid class. It'll slow the bleeding, and that needs to happen, but now I had my right hand occupied.
I wished I'd thought about what to do with only one hand to fight with. I liked what you had to say about figuring out positioning with regards to which hand the attacker has the knife. I didn't have time to invent that strategy, back then. Wish I'd thought of it.
Thank you again, Mr. Easton. This was a good video. You'll get complaints, because someone, somewhere, will complain if their house was suddenly clad in gold. "The bastards used the wrong karat!" But, for what it's worth? I really liked that you stressed just how dangerous those situations are. That even people with high levels of training can die. That there's no guarantees of anything, sure, but that doesn't mean you just give up. Don't do that - find that yell, if nothing else. It'll help you get through the initial moment. Just keep going through each second. Every second you're still here is another second closer to getting past that attacker.
Best wishes!
What most people don't realize is that with some training, loose clothing, like a jacket, or even a backpack/bookbag, can provide a decent defense.
People just don't know that anything can be a weapon, they think that object design is an unchanging constant - a car is designed to travel, an umbrella to protect you against rain and weapons to kill. Most people just don't feel the need to think about stuff like that, they never have the need to repurpose stuff, never have the need to improvise.
What I find particularly funny in this context is pretty much all of Jackie Chan's movie career, that focuses almost entirely on improvised weaponry in his fights, be it a ladder, a basket, or a bottle of shampoo.
Yeah, slipping off your backpack and using as shield is better than nothing, or bar stool, drinks tray, walkin' cane. Anything to keep knife away.
@@colincampbell4261 Bottle, ashtray, glass, jar, brick, rock. Anything you can get your hands on.
Jackie Chan suggested protecting your hands by wrapping them in a cloth of some sort if you have it handy.
Great video. One of the interesting things I've noticed is the similarities of vastly 'different' martial arts. Whether HEMA grappling or Daito Ryu Jiu Jitsu - the body, how joints lock, how you unbalance, how you disable - they are generally the same.
Love your videos Matt, this was another well informed and sensible example. Well done!
Good perspective on this topic.
I've trained and competed in the more popular modern combat sports over the last 20 years - boxing, muay thai, submission wrestling, bjj and MMA.
The best defense against a knife that I have ever seen is, as you say, grappling; And by best, I really mean, the thing that gives you best chance of not dying - the best odds you can really hope for in an unarmed vs knife situation are "not terrible..."
I tend to reference a video of then UFC fighter and world class grappler, Jon Fitch, having a sparring match against a simulated knife attack while doing some army combatives program.
The strategy here seems to be 2 on 1 wrist-control of the wielding hand. Farside hand on the wrist, outside hand moved further up on the knife-wielding hand to make sure the attacker can't just switch the blade to the other hand, while very slowly trying to wrest the knife free. At the same time using your body to screen the opponents other arm out making it harder for them to utilize it in the struggle for the weapon. Some consideration given to not giving up dominant positions as we would consider them in BJJ. Things like back control or mount.
It does not look pretty. It looks gritty and exhausting, and about as realistically useful as such a thing can get.
Here is the video I am referring to - th-cam.com/video/DYGUoZyJs18/w-d-xo.html
you will always get cut in a knife fight
ah the metatron he does seam a bit interesting at times
wonder how unpleasant it is to wear chain mail in august in italy
In defence of Raff, he's right. Chainmail is wonderful protection against knives. Unless you get stabbed in the head, neck, thigh etc. But it's not at all a practical solution for normal civilians. Not that there are necessarily any 'solutions'.
A mayor that believes in law and order is one foundation for knife defence.
@@scholagladiatoria How are we defining normal, though? After all, Metatron is a civilian, is presumably _somewhat_ normal, and wears chainmail under his clothes on a daily basis (or at least, he did before the pandemic).
@Aint Jack I bought one (surplus from UK police inventory) to test how well it would hold up against various pistol and rifle calibers, and I'm not sure I'd take one over chainmail specifically for knife attacks. They're bulky due to kevlar pads and don't flex as well. Interestingly mine had a small-ring chainmail along with the kevlar (micro-mail maybe?) and did work really well against knives from my tests. IIRC mine also worked decently against 9mm and lower pistol cartridges so they might be worth the bulk.
@@KingdomOfDimensions It's a tradeoff. Stab-proof vests are cheaper and provide better protection against blunt-force weapons. Mail provides better protection against stabs and is much less hot. A guy working in the security industry made a video response to Metatron about all that.
We have 3 responses to danger: fight, flight and freeze. The third is often ignored but you need to account for it. Martial training can help overcome the freeze response. Good video covering this topic.
I love the hour of the day I've got to watch Matt videos. Always good contenct
Thank you Matt for not having any background music, these old ears enjoyed listening + watching to your entire presentation. Did have a Déjà vu moment, was this presentation a re-release so to speak?
Ive had my share of disagreements with Matt over the years (sorry Matt) but many many more agreements.. this is one of those times... spot on Sir.... Well Said.
Excellent commentary. I study knife fighting as you know what may come your way.
No one gets attacked with a sword yet funnily we had a case where a lady was chased by a jilted lover with a chainsaw.
Chainsaw martial art and defence haha. Maybe all that money i spent on warhammer as a teenager was preparing me for something.
People still use swords in earnest from time to time across the world. Just the other a story about a person in Hartford who killed their landlord with a sword was making headlines. & if you count machetes, the number goes up considerably.
In the suburb I grew up in 10 miles from Boston a jilted lover was chasing her with a chainsaw till the cops shot it out of his hand. Billions of people in the world weird stuff happens.
As a person with nerve damage in my leg, I can only long for the option of running away. I have to accept that I will be injured probably severely in such an incident and to some extant I will always be a tempting target with my limp. The only thing I can do, have done and continue to do is learn techniques that will possibly keep the injury to one that I can survive. So far as I can determine from training and thankfully one bad experience, being good at grappling and destroying joints does indeed make some difference far more than striking. Boker used to make a very good rubber trainer. Putting chalk on the edge of a rubber trainer and practicing with a frien can really open your eyes.
I know of three principles for knife defence:
1. Cover your bleedy bits like the inside of the upper arm, the wrist, the throat, eyes (don't wanna be blinded), and chest cavity. A high guard somewhat like Muay Thai is a good start.
2. Accept that you will get cut. Its as easy to cut someone with a knife as it is to touch them. As painful as it is to get a cut to the bone, its better than a cut to a part that bleeds a lot.
3. "Tuck the knife in your pocket". Blocking knife strikes with your forearms and advancing on the enemy, you should attempt to drive their wrist down with your forearm so you can grip it and pin it at your hip. At this point, you both only have one arm to use, but they no longer functionally have a knife. Also, their extended arm is a lever, so you have an advantage in that regard. They may very well regain the use of the knife, so you should be hitting them like your life depends on it.
Studied American Kenpo and totally agree with everything you said Mr Easton. Thanks, love your videos.
Thank you Matt for this really important video! My thoughts on the subject is that there are no "good" knifedefence tecniques that would consistently allow you to deal with a knifeattack without getting stabbed (assuming you are unarmed). So we have to settle for the least bad ones that reduce the number of stabs as much as posible and thereby giving us the best chance to survive. I am in no way an expert but the three tactics who are least bad in my humble opinion are:
1. Get an object between yourself and the attacker! It could be a table or a wardrobe that you run around, a door you can close between you and your attacker (preferebly with a good lock on it) was or a improvised weapon like a chair or stick .
2. Jam the knife! This is probably most likely to work if you do it when your attacker draws the knife and haven't got it out yet. You dive in and get both of your hands on the hand that is drawing the weapon to keep it where it is. If the knife is already out this will be much harder but if you manage to grab the knifearm hold on to it. A more gruesome variation would be to grab the knife after you have been stabed so he can't get it out wich will hopefully stop him from stabing you again (obviosly not your plan A as it requires you to be stabed atleast once).
3. If you have something like a backpack or handbag or another object that may not work well as a improvised weapon in its own right but can be used a bit like a shield and combine that with lowkicks to keep the attacker away from you you might buy some time for help to arive or make some room so you may escape.
Again... I don't argue that these are "good" solutions only that they are the least bad. They will not give you a great chance to win a fight against someone with a knife but they may buy you some time so other people can interviene, give you an opening to run away or at the very least reduce the number of stabs
As somebody who's just lost a tendon to a knife and will never be able to fence with the right hand again, I second this. Knives are dangerous. Better be prepared for such danger. You prepare for tsunamis, earthquakes, shootings... might as well prepare for knives, which are way more prevalent.
On the other hand. You have a limited amount of time and the returns you get from preparing to fight a person with a knife unarmed aren't that great.
@@Hirvee5 You are best to prepare for self defence in general, especially in a bad area. Awareness and avoidance are great things to train just for avoiding car accidents.
After thinking a little the most efficient way to prepare for a knife fight is propably to get politically active and try and find and promote studied methods to decrease mental issues and otherwise desperate people. So you would probably have to focuse on drug abuse. Quality education is the basis for people to make good decisions for themselves. One thing that seems to work is to provide government controlled facilities to actually provide the drugs so there will be less desperation, no grounds for criminalisation and better control. I heard there was some country that had that sort of system and it was working quite well. So I guess moving there would be quite good knife defence. A truly strong person might figure a way to do this to their own local system.
After having said that just joining a self defence club starts sounding quite a bit easier and probably helps you fighting off hearth diseases as well. I guess I have to try and figure out how to pay more attention to politics now.
@@Hirvee5 That's probably the biggest waste of time. Trying to convince politicians to fix poverty and reduce desperation... You might as well try to convince vampires to go vegan.
@@vanivanov9571 Depends a lot on where you live. Around here it seems that at least changes can be made and the opinion of the people matters. If you have a system that is corrupt and set on stone it is more difficult or maybe even impossiple. On the other hand one of the purposes of the government is to make changes on systematic level. At the end of the day you will be held responsible for the people you let rule over yourself. But I persobally have definitely had it easy and I tend to be a bit of an idealist.
As someone who has been a victim of a knife attack ,I'll share what I learned the hard way. Do not back away, close in. Try to lock up the attacker and get them to the ground. pretty much what Matt is saying. Minding my own business at festival having a grand time. A nut job homeless guy decided to pick me out as a victim. He pulled his knife no more than 3 feet from me. No time to draw my weapon,a Glock 19. I backed away, big mistake. The asshole lunged and got me just under my sternum on my left side. Luckily My buddy grabbed him and smashed him into the ground. held him till the cops got there. I learned the hard way about situational awareness. The 21 foot rule is a thing.
Thank God you are alive. Thanks for sharing. Yes it seams like in most cases the crazy people get in so close running away is impssible.
My old neighbour was killed by a patient in his doctors office and a coworker I worked with once was stabbed at a check point in Lebanon while on UN duty. He survived and killed the attacker. In both cases they where sitting down. In a chair or on a vehicle and running was impssible.
Brrr... yes, there are many cases like this. Stupid, pushy beggar suddenly tries to smash your brains in with a club, or the like. Have to be super wary, one of the reasons it's good to carry a knife, since it's a bit easier to draw and use in those situations. Largely, either push in and grapple, or push past. If you can gain distance to draw your weapon and shoot him, that's ideal.
"Any form of training..." I agree wholeheartedly. Training gives your mind focus in a very stressful situation. Often times a person is defeated not by superior technique, but by paralysis caused by stress. There is clarity in understanding that there are things you can do.
Excellent perspective and context. A lot of it is things that most instructors rather hope people already understand and so do not always reiterate, particularly how low on the scale of preferred choices fighting someone with a knife is, leaving critics an opening to to try to score points by shouting "You should just run away!", and how running away is not always an option so your only real choices are give up or go down fighting.
I tried a friendly boxing match with my mate when I was younger, all it took to make me see black halfway down to the floor was a feint and a quick punch above my ear. At the time he did amateur MMA competitions.
My point is that in order for boxing to work you have to actually train it regularly, just like everything else. The people who get into drunken brawls tend to think they know how to throw a punch, they usually don't, likewise they probably won't keep their chin tucked, their arms up to defend and their whole body ready to dodge.
Fight Smart Trav did a great series on this topic, unfortunately I believe it is only available on his website but unless something changed it should still be there for free. He studied 100+ videos of attacks and tried different things in full-speed sparring.
The conclusions he came to, under his circumstances, was that trying to secure the knife-hand is useless as even if you do manage to grab it without getting fatally stabbed it is still too easy for the knife-wielder to pull back or push forward and next to impossible to wrestle the knife out of a tight grip. Wrestling got him "killed" expeditiously fast nearly every single time. What he settled on doing instead was keeping his vitals out of reach and only deliberately getting close when he could manage to briefly push the knife to the side giving way for a shot at a KO with the other hand.
As someone who grew up on an estate, and has seen his share of knifing, I always caution against grappling. I consider educated striking the best because it lasts an instant, you can hit them and MOVE AWAY. If you grab them your locked in range and unable to run. In my experience people who pull knives are very rarely by themselves, so you grab one guy, get locked in range and maybe you can stop him, then his mate comes up from behind and then what. Bop them in the nose, they tear up and stop for a second, back pedal. Situational awareness is key. If there's one, there could be more. If you grab his hand, he could overpower you. If you get a good grip on the hand with the knife, he could be carrying two.
@mxt mxt you don't understand what we are saying. Grappling by default closes range. Striking does not, keep at a long range with jabs and straights, always maintain distance and move away. You try to stay in range for the shortest amount of time possible.
The moment you try and grapple you are staying in range and gambling on being able to hold someone, on an uneven surface, in a cluttered environment and with non ideal situations. Anyone who has done grappling knows that a grab does not work 100% of the time, and by choosing to commit to a grab you are choosing to commit to being within range of a stab. Striking allows you to be non committal and back out even if you don't land. I'm not dead, and I know people who have been stabbed. I'll take that as proof enough.
@mxt mxt If the guy with the knife isn't literally throwing himself on top of you then the plan is that you stay just outside his range. The whole idea revolves heavily around timing and feeling the distance. You do not want to commit to anything more than necessary and most of all you do not want to initiate attacks, instead wait for the knife guy to attack or feint him into attacking, then as he hopefully misses and you push his arm to further its momentum away from you there should be a small opening where you might be able to strike before he can recover his knife-arm and attack again.
Unless you have a gun your odds are never gonna be good against a knife, that said I'd much rather be on my feet and free to move around quickly than entangled in a wrestle with a pointy object way too close for comfort and no way to dodge it should the wrestle not go in my favour. Like Scruff McFluff mentioned earlier there's also the risk of knifeguys mates jumping in, something which I have personal experience of from an attempted robbery where I had pushed one of the robbers down and got on top of him in the process, thankfully no knives were involved though.
I think the fallacy here is that the 'knife defense techniques are useless' crowd always assumes the worst case scenario: an experienced murderer who has stabbed numerous victims in- and outside of prison with a razor-sharp combat knife and an unquenchable thirst for your untimely demise. If you assume that, sure, chances you'll survive such an encounter are very slim indeed.
However, what about all the other knife attacks? There are hundreds, thousands of cases where people grab a knife from a counter or a screwdriver out of a toolbox etc during an altercation to turn the odds in their favour. Even a lot of street gangsters are not that proficient (or ruthless) with a knife; they mostly carry knives to threaten people they want to mug or to intimidate their rivals. Even in a modern military setting you won't have a lot of experienced knife fighters - even regular, trained soldiers might come at you with the classic icepick stab from above or the stab to the gut.
Will a sloppy knife attack still harm or even kill you? Yes, but it is much easier to defend than what the 'knife defense techniques are useless' crowd proposes. Training (legitimate) knife defense techniques can help you make it out alive in many likely scenarios. Will it make you invincible? No. The Nike defense is still the best where feasible.
The typical knife attack in modern "western" societies is the sneak attack. That is, you'll realise that it's a knife attack once the attack is already underway (ie. you've already been stabbed). The other typical context (though _not_ an attack) is the threat display: the person pulls a knife to elicit a certain behaviour. Like, "Give me your wallet." or, "Go away." People in the modern era simply do not challenge others to knife fights.
"Knife fighting" (in a modern context, for civilians) is crap. You're almost never going to need it and when you need it it's not going to be enough.
The idea that a knife is some kind of complex weapon that requires a high level of skill to attack proficiently is not just wrong, it's actually the opposite of the truth. Using a knife makes it _easier_ - not harder - to hurt someone.
That said, are there things one can do to defend oneself? Yes. Are there some principles from HEMA and other disciplines that might help? Yes. But these are very limited edge cases.
See what I did there?
@@nickwilliams8302 I certainly appreciate the pun, even though I might not agree with everything you wrote.
I've never been attacked by a man with a knife I've been attacked by two or three men with a knife. You see, some things just don't work. Cowards run in packs.
Great video. It would be great if there would be an actual knife defence video from you as well, Matt.
Came to read the comments of all the self-defense experts of the Internet
I'm a certified self-defense internet expert.
My comment is: beware the pointy bit and deflect the attacker with your death stare.
i'm no certified self-defense expert, but I've been taught by them, and their main advice is don't be stupid. And you know what stupid is.
Attack their eyes, people don't know their eyes are vulnerable unless they've been on the internet arguing about self defense
I survived a knife attack that began at point blank range, you can choose to believe it or not, but I did. It was about 25 years ago, I was in an argument with someone that was quickly accelerating to getting physical, they pushed me and I never did see where the knife came from, it was just suddenly in their hand, a big blade over 10 inches long, a big knife or small machete. He cranked his arm back to swing and I reacted by stepping into the swing trying to grab their arm, didn't work, but their forearm hit me in the ribs and I clamped my arm (my left) down, sorta had their arm in a headlock like position and I held onto his arm and hand as hard as I could while punching with my right hand until help from my family came (this happened in front of my house). The only cut I got was from the pommel/butt (?) end, the knife had broken scales so the tang was sticking out of the butt end and this cut my side up a little bit as they were squirming to get their arm out of the "headlock."
I don't see how I could've "just run away", I wouldn't have had time to even turn around before he started stabbing me. Plus this began in front of my house with little kids outside, how could I have run and left them with an enraged knife wielding dude? I probably did all the wrong things, but I don't see how I could've done anything else and I certainly didn't have time to think about it, the entire encounter was easily less than 20 seconds, maybe even only 10 seconds.
Sounds like you are in the 20% bracket.
That was some good luck. Hope you hurt the bastard.
You might want to look at the First Person Defender series. It does a reasonable job of talking about your options when an encounter is escalating. Largely, if a psycho pulls a knife on you at point-blank range, you have limited options. Grapple, push past or away from him, or draw a weapon. You could strike, but that's not very effective without a weapon, without first getting a good hold.
Well said as usual Easton. I advise having layers of readiness. I've trained in conflict avoidance and descalation skills. If I need to run I train for ultra distance running and am confident I can pull off a 20 mile run on any given day. If those aren't options I carry a very large folding knife as a daily tool and I train different methods of using it, Hema and FMA. I also train BJJ just in case for whatever reason I don't have my knife. Maybe none of my training will be enough should the worse happen, but I agree with Easton. Giving up and letting myself be killed isn't a scenario I train for.
@Jon Goat Lol. You never know. I hear zombies can be relentless, at least I might be ready for that. The way 2020 is going I'm expecting zombies any day now.
This was a great video.
You've basically address everything i thought of saying.
Great video, but every time you said "defence against..." my brain auto corrected to "Defence Against the Dark Arts", and now I'm picturing you in the Wizarding World
Ive trained knife-work for years and this is some of the best and most commonsensical advice I've heard.
Yeah , been using knives my whole life ,I'd usually try to run but if I couldn't I'd go to slice them up at a distance to try and make them back off , trying to grab them and stab them doesn't seem like a good option ..😂 but if I had the chance first thing I would go for is my fencing spade ,it's sharp , heavy and has reach
Thanks Matt, an excellent video on a topic which has bothered me as well.
Just a cursory overview on the dagger treatises show that grappling with live training is the way to realistically face small edged weapons. And by face I mean survive. Very good informative video.
The reason you see so much criticism of “knife defense” videos is because most of them are crap that will get you killed. If you are going to demonstrate techniques in a video, choose techniques that work. You do a disservice to everyone when you make bad self defense videos.
While it's true there's many fake or wannabe knife defense/MA instructor.
Even the most reliable, legit, knife attacker that you can think of or even God acknowledge will be criticise by wannabe knife attacke expert.
Edit: and it's almost always the same comment about bEsT sElF dEfEnSe knife attack is RuNiNg aWaY.
As if the people Millenium ago didn't think about that... No kidding Sherlock. If simply running away can solve crime that involve being attack then martial arts would never exist in the first place... To some degree at least.
Most knife defence techniques (Aikido is merely the worst offender) seem to depend on the attacker cooperating. If someone bumrushes you with a knife, no technique in the world is going to give you a GOOD chance. But I'm sure you can go from 0% to 10% chance of survival.
@@johanlundstrom1561 I assume you mean sneak attack, from behind, among the crowd, etc.
Or just uncooperative knife attack, a.k.a actual knife attack?
The notion that it's impossible to defend against knife attack seems awfully silly when you reverse it. For instance, I can't imagine I'd have odds against Fedor Emelianenko in a fight just because I had a dagger. Even if I somehow managed to land a solid stab, I assume I'd get knocked or choked out immediately after.
Knives & similar are most dangerous before you see them; that's one way various martial artists have ended up stabbed. Unlike in sparring, knife attacks can come suddenly & by surprise. If you're fighting someone with a knife & you didn't start off the struggle with the blade inside you, you're already doing *relatively* well. In any case, the advice not to give up strikes me as key. I know a number of folks who've fought attackers after initially sustaining a serious strike, such as a crowbar or 2x4 to the head.
@Jon Goat He's much stronger, faster, & practiced than I am. (I'm perhaps average to a bit below in strength & only around 150lbs. I haven't sparred in years.) Assuming a duel situation, it's unlikely I'd be able to connect at all. A knife wouldn't magically make my footwork better, reflexes swifter, or improve my muscle memory.
@Jon Goat I wouldn't take my chances. I can't stab if I'm stunned or knocked out from a punch. (Yes, striking can work against people with knives. You can find various videos & accounts to prove it. This requires powerful striking game, of course. MMA fighters have that.) I can't stab if my arms are broken or restrained. Etc. Ordinary people fend off knife attacks all the time. Sometimes they get badly hurt; sometimes they don't. & these attacks often come by surprise. Thinking a little blade equalizes things between a random person like me & a professional fighter is absurd. Sure, I could potentially stab anybody if they didn't see it coming, with highly variable results as is the nature of wounding. But that doesn't mean a knife would let me win a duel with a professional fighter.
Thanks Matt! Please do keep the videos about 19th C British knives and makers coming!
Some great advice. Would love to see at least one or two Hema daggers videos
The important thing missing ironically is context. As a private citizen going about your day in a relatively safe and affluent area, it's unlikely (probably less than 1% chance) that someone will just attack you with a knife. Even a terrorist attack is less likely on balance, then being struck by lightning, or falling off a horse. So you need to be specific. If a mugging, give them your money. if there is a distressed person who is armed, you are going to see them coming most likely, so retreat indoors and call the police, who will be better armed and able to approach from a distance. In the London Bridge terror attacks, on at least one of the occasions, the attackers were wearing fake bomb vests and had taped the knives to their hands. Some random passing pedestrians confronted them using improvised weapons, but most where stabbed and slashed multiple times in the attempt, only holding them off when they had outnumbered them. On each occasion, the attacks were ended with the police shooting the attackers. In all of these contexts where a private citizen come across a knifeman, wrestling/grappling (unless you outnumber the attacker) would not have been effective at even reducing the damage, even experienced police officers wearing body armour reacting to terrorist attacks have been sadly killed by knife attackers. It's funny that in a video on knife defence where Matt talks about the technique one might use, he shares the story of two black belts who died against a knife attacker, and a 14th-century master (who fought with swords!) saying Nah, it's too risky. No one who, in a professional context, who has to deal with knife attacks as part of their duty trains specifically to go one-to-one with an armed attacker as a first response. They will do everything in their power to avoid an encounter on those terms (Hell, check out the 21ft rule and that's for officers who carry guns!) So spending an evening in a HEMA club or other contemporary martial arts club practising knife defence is filling people with a false sense of confidence, that could lead them to stand their ground, when really they should have run. It's totally correct to say knife defences don't work. Most strips and disarms happen after the defender has been stabbed, and even a slash to the forearm, which essentially unavoidable, could be life-changing. Just grab a rubber knife, put on a mask and run the drills at full speed if you doubt this. Obviously, you have to do something to protect yourself, so look at the bigger picture, think about the context, be aware of the environment and situation, created distance between you and potential attackers, and err, maybe don't allow your self to be down a dead-end ally, with a crazed knifeman on the other side, and your elderly parents on the other?
That's one of the most sensible bit's about the UK's self defence err defence, if you can run, run, if you can't you defend yourself until you can run and if you could of ran but you chose not to, is it still self defence? since you chose to put yourself in harms way and inflict harm on the attacker. (self defence in a bedroom is different since that classes as a person's last heaven and just about anything goes)
I disagree. There may be situation where you cannot run, or you didn't see it coming- simple, you are drunk or too focused on your wife/girlfriend- you kiss and cuddle and giggle, and sudenly there is a bit darker portion of the path, and a guy with meat cleaver tells you to fuck off- he wishes to "talk" with your companion a bit, and she is in high heels... or you step out of the cinema, late evening- and two guys, wired out of their minds- hence you see possible danger only when they are close enough so you can see the eyes- approach you from front and back... And every nervous movement will tick them off... those are two real situations i got from people i know, both encountered in the middle of city, near Kain road, with lots of people no further than 50 meters away, unaware of mugging in the process... both resolved by arrival of third party, who decided to engage, but thatis beside the point
Your understanding of the subject is naive- to put it mildly. NOBODY who trains, hence he/she has basic understanding of what might happen, even when it is "only" fist(they know what they might do, and what could happen to them even in a drunken brawl)and isn't complete fucking moron, will look for a knife fight themselves. But if it happens, and there is no way of running away or letting the professional deal with it- they at the very least will know how to fight, and they will have a set of "tools", instead of just flailing around helplessly.
Next thing- we aren't vigilant all the time ... yes i am aware of stuff around me, but many people often aren't. I already pulled my friend from under the falling brick, and grabbed the kid before he ran into traffic, as his mom got distracted with something on the stroller. But that is me and my paranoid brain. When i speak about minding the fucking surroundings, i usually get either blank look of a sheep, or anger, that i make it sound, like it is a victim's fault... And i agree. Being vigilant 24/7 is exhausting. You can't live like that. It is physically impossible. And one more thing- i almost got smacked with beer bottle, because crazy guy didn't like my face. And he didn't look crazy. But i expect the worst in humans after darkness has spread her raven wings, and so i looked back. But what about someone normal ? Would they see the "crazy"? That sounds like a boast- but i think not. I have a thing for recognizing humans' nature by their faces, but i am honestly only one person, that i know, that hates from first sight, and i right about it... again: what about someone normal? Someone who does not see danger coming? Training at least gives you some tested options... sorry for a rant, and how disjointed it is, but i am on drugs after minor operation :) so point me my mistakes, and i will kill your argumenst, when painkillers wear off
@@heretyk_1337 Wishing you a speedy recovery from your operation. The problem with your argument is that if you don't see it coming, (Knife, gun, or sucker punch) You are basically done. If someone you didn't see chooses to stab you in the back, then you get stabbed. And most of the "tools" people train in to stop an armed attacker, don't work. We are guys, and we want to belive we can survive anything, outfight anything, but there are some fights you just have to avoid as best you can because even if you "win" the injuries will be with you forever. I don't really fancy losing the mobility in an arm, or having a colostomy bag for the rest of my life, because I slipped while trying to disarm someone. Have you ever had to fight someone with a knife? I have once, and I have scars on my face and hands to show for it. It was basically dumb luck that I wasn't killed. Would that stop me from jumping in if someone was being attacked? No. I'd still go after an attacker to protect people I love, but I would be keeping my distance throwing stuff at them, trying to draw attention, de-escalate, etc. But honestly, I don't have to worry I just avoid sketch areas and plan ahead, I'm not Batman or an MI5 agent, It's very unlikely that I would see that kind of trouble. Here's what I would say, as a fighter, next time someone is teaching knife defence, turn it around, think if you where the attacker how you would beat that technique? I swear, every time man if you've got the knife you are going to get them, at least once before they get the knife, you don't even need knife training.
I am in the school of "Knife? That's not a knife. THIS is a knife."
That's a spoon...
@@Hubert_Cumberdale_ I see you've played Knifey Spoony before
@@paulconrad6220 I love how much of the comments is this joke
Beautifully articulated, as always.
I like that you point out the benefits of asymmetrical training Matt!
Knife defense techniques are the best thing you have if you have no other option than to fight unarmed. The safest option is almost always to run, if you healthy enough, but otherwise, having something is better than nothing. Knife defense techniques are that something when you have nothing to fight back with. Just don't expect to get out of a fight with someone who has a knife unscathed. I think that is why knife defense gets such a bad reputation, people think that they are supposed to keep you completely uninjured, when in reality they just exist to get the knife away from somebody and keep you uninjured enough to NOT DIE.
"keep you uninjured enough to NOT DIE," if you're lucky.
@@vanivanov9571 ya, but you always have to be lucky to not get killed by a weapon if your against one. After all, its their intended purpose to kill you.
"Thats not a knife, THIS is a knife!" Best way to prevent a knife fight is to have a bigger knife than the other guy lol
Thanks for this important video, Matt.
Peace. ☝️😎
This needed to be said. Thanks for bringing a rational voice to this discussion.
Let’s be honest, most people who threaten you at knifepoint want something other than to damage your fragile meatbits. In general, it’s probably better not to engage, especially if you don’t have any way of evening the field of play. Yes, it’s better to fight (and be prepared to fight) if they do want to physically attack you full stop, but I think the criticism many people have of knife defense, or any self defense, prep videos is that they don’t emphasize enough that not engaging-IF POSSIBLE-is universally your best defense.
I agree that being ABLE to defend yourself in the unlikely scenario that you have no other option is ideal, and that having at least a little training in how to do so should honestly probably be a part of basic education.
Sorry for being part of the problem.
I've been threatened multiple times by weapons and wasn't mugged even once!
Most of the cases were when I was between 12 and 18 and the ones threatening me were around the same age. Hurt pride, jealousy and derangement can be really dangerous...
One problem is that giving people a bit of training, or believing the BS people in instructional videos often give, is that it gives people overconfidence. They now think they know how to defend themselves, believe it will definitely work, and forget the odds are still masively stcked against them. So they will then get in fights they otherwise would have avoided because they think they can handle it. If any instructor doesn't open with what you said they will probably endanger more people than they help!
@@svenblubber5448 I totally agree. I had an encounter with two victims (mother and daughter) of such a self defense course. Some "expert" taught the daughter techniques to escape from someone who grabs her arm. They were way too eager to demonstrate it. It is beyond my understanding how either of them could believe that a petite 7 year old could allow a trained adult to get a good grip on her wrist and then escape with a weird levering technique. The technique seems to rely on a very compliant attacker. Needless to say that the mother was mad at me. The kid might get the idea the technique may not work that well after all.
I was just inspired to look up Systema, and the results I got did seem to mostly show utter bullshit. The more "serious" the man, the more likely he was to show a technique claiming to knock someone on their back with a gentle nudge. The closest I saw to legitimate was a bunch of dudes who clearly practiced taking a lot of gut punches and a little bit of landing them to the solar plexus of a still, squared-up dude and pretending they'd done something magical.
So thank you, I've now seen some truly goofy "martial arts moves!" Excellent video!
agree with this video. and emphasise that best bet when facing a knife is to avoid if you possibly can. i have a black belt in tae kwon do and we often trained against simulated knife attack for self defence purposes. even black belts against beginners and schoolkids would mostly get "stabbed". one day i got attacked by a guy who pulled a chain from under his hoodie collar before i could get away so I had to face and fight. managed to block the chain with minimal damage to me and sent him flying backward. when I followed up he then pulled a knife at which point i decided to run. i was willing to risk a hit from the chain because while I believed the chain would hurt I didnt think it would disable me before I dealt to him. but its another thing to risk getting stabbed. when I saw the knife I got away when i could.
Thanks for the really good video. 👍
As someone who is usually very critical of knife defense videos I must say, that I agree with basically everything you said. My main criticism usually is, that the video exaggerates the chances of success and inspires false confidence (I remember one particular video that showed knife defense in a mugging context, suggesting that if someone with a knife comes for your wallet, that’s how you should react). That’s a problem of self defense videos in general, but if you misjudge the effectiveness or applicability of your techniques in a fist fight, you might end up bruised. If you do that in a knife attack, you most likely end up dead.
Another aspect is, that many self defense videos or even lessons from instructors assume fairly unrealistic situations. For a knife defense technique to work, you have to basically expect an attack. Probably the most likely scenario for that is, that the attacker shows you the knife to threaten you. But if someone threatens you, they probably make demands (like in a mugging scenario) so in those situations, you might be better of following these demands. So unless someone threatens you with a knife and demands something that you deem valuable enough to die for, knife defense is not that applicable.
In the end, it comes down to the quality of the video/teaching, and the honesty about what it can realistically achieve.
Most knife defence never seems to focus on counter-ambush. Sometimes they talk about hostage situations, or how to escape a kidnapping, but not so much teaching you how to break a robber's neck when he leans into a register. Always found that disappointing.
Have you ever watched a Latin American machete fight? There are plenty on YT and there is a very distinct way they fight which goes against so many principles of HEMA. What do you think the best way to fight with a machete vs an incompetent opponent?
Probably binding their blade with your own, pinning their weapon hand to their chest, and liberally applying sharpened steel to their face until they turn and rapidly advance in the opposite direction or until their soul falls out of the holes in their face.
Of course, the most reliable method is to hit them with a car.
@@SirJesusFreak Cars are very effective so are bullets, though against the incompetent deflection and reposte can be effective, or parry sidestep counter, I belivfe shadiversity displayed the latter against his brother along with quick thrusts or attacking the hand if the hand is disabled they cannot hold the weapon very well if at all
@@hismajestylordsmenkhare5878 I believe overkill is the only kill. So attacking the hand is nice, until you get sued for grievous bodily harm in civil court and lose your case on the grounds that the permanent and debilitating damage you inflicted was excessive force.
So, hit em with a car friend
Let him overswing and miss, then cut his head or arm off. If he isn't quite that incompetent, you might play defensive until you see an opportunity, or you might immediately dash in and get behind one of his shoulders, unbalance him, and hack him to bits. Immediacy can be good, if he's still trying to psyche himself up for the fight. You might need to be defensive until you work out what's going on.
Binding doesn't work very well with machetes.
@Joe Blow Afraid not. They reckon that a stick is used the same as a knife/blade... so they know nothing about cutting. Filipino knife fighters are great practice for the "prison rush", they always go down in dramatic fashion.
Long time subscriber, never commented before. This was one of your best videos.
I think what most people miss is that in the dojo and in videos attacks have to be simplified so that students can see the technique and learn it, in my club we start off with simple attacks and defences and build up bit by bit until it's a full blown scrap where you're looking for a disarm/lock/takedown. To quote one of my students when she moved to my adult class and saw me and my training partner practicing "they're trying to kill each other!!!" because we were throwing each other onto tables, throwing chairs at one another and using anything laying around to defend/attack
Two hands on their knife hand, pretty much the only unarmed technique against a knife.
Probably the highest percentage chance, yes. Of course, this assumes that you've _seen_ the knife.
That sounds to me the most plausible.
I never walk the street without gloves and a brass knobbed walking stick. Something better than nothing...and I can't run.
Gloves... I remember the story of 2 austrian police officers who "accompanied" someone on a flight while a random guy wanted to hijack this exact plane with a knife years ago. One of them quickly disarmed the guy who could not believe that someone would just grab the blade of the knife. (he didn't think of cut proof gloves)
'Another mate of mine suggested wearing chainmail'.
BENNETT!
You thought wrong..
This was a very good grounded common sense video on this subject. Thanks Matt!!!
I'd prefer to wear the chainmail, but if you've seen any Islmaists' attacks you'd see denim is pretty good at resisting hacking and slashing attacks.
Truly depends on the quality of the denim
If you have to go somewhere you know is dangerous, makeshift body armour is a good idea.
Good overall presentation with no BS, but you left out one important thing- if you do make the decision to fight back, expect to get cut. That's part of 100% commitment of course but you absolutely must not be disabled by the sensation of being cut or the sight of your own blood.
True
I trained in Japanese Ju Jitsu (Okyru) for many years. My Sensei was a third degree black belt at the time, and a member of a Special Forces Group within the CAF. I trust his assessment of things. Although he taught us multiple techniques for defense against blades, sticks, clubs and the like, he said the best defense for a knife attack is to not be there. Even if you cannot run away, avoid the blade and don't let your attacker close the gap. If that's not possible, he hoped we payed attention to the other things.
Thanks for sharing. I did systema after I trained other martial arts. I quit after I insisted on sparring and they denied it... They are really affraid that their lie is popping up
Giving up mostly is the safest option, 99% of people on the street will want your money, not your life. Going in for the fight is going to increase your chance of getting killed of seriously wounded.
Most fights in Pubs etc. can be avoided, if you are prepared to put aside your ego.
Training can help, but that means really training, over years, multiple times a week. A little bit of training (from videos, o short course over a couple of weeks...) will only give people overconfidence, and they will end up in fights they would otherwise have avoided.
The most important lesson, and any martial arts instructor who isn't bullshitting you will agree, is always run if you can, always try to gett help first, and don't risk getting in a fight over your wallet or moblie phone.
Train as much as you can to increase your chances, but your chances will always be slim, even if you're a martial arts master.
There have been many cases of attacks by crazy/fundamentalist people. Here in Bilbao, even before the fundamentalist car and knife attack craze of the last five years or so, there was some crazy Iranian who killed (or at least seriously stabbed) a couple and went on rampage attacking other people until a couple of citizen-heroes smashed him unconscious with some slabs they found piled up nearby. It is a very real danger that a crazy person goes in rampage with some random weapon, of which the most typical is a knife. It's not just about money: there are people who just want to murder around and is for real.
(I think that you would like the Active Self Protection channel here on TH-cam.)
I agree that not enough emphasis gets put on avoidance. Not just evasion once a possible threat has been detected, but avoidance of the situation altogether by reducing your risk of being targeted, and avoidance of the places where these criminal behaviors tend to concentrate.
Avoidance is actually an even bigger deal when you're carrying a firearm. With exceptions of if you're in your own home, business, or vehicle, you have to shut your ego down and swallow your pride and withdraw, if there is any way to do so safely with everyone in your care. (Some places draw the line on that even more conservatively, but I consider such laws immoral and a violation of the rights of the individual. Another discussion for another day.) You have a duty to guard that firearm against unauthorized access. If you're carrying a firearm, you cannot allow yourself to be incapacitated or killed, because that is in effect surrendering the firearm. *_Any_* physical force (or threat thereof) used by either party has the inherent risk of escalation to deadly force when there is a firearm present. The other party doesn't necessarily know that there is a firearm present, especially if it is effectively concealed.
That old concept of defending against a mugger is changing now. Muggings usually happen in predictable places and are easier to avoid. We have far bigger problems now, mostly crazies who would randomly attack you because of religious beliefs. Going by the news reports of these kind of attacks, they seem to be more prevalent and unpredictable than mugging. Especially in Europe and UK.
@@insalubriousdithyramb1742
👍 "You only get mugged if you go downtown..." 🎶
In our rural community here in SC in the US, we rarely get this type of violence. However, when we do, it is almost always in some way, shape, or form connected to drugs. Domestic violence aside, of course. Specifically those drugs are meth, heroin, and fentanyl. The users tend to carry edged or striking weapons, because if they can get their hands on a gun, they sell it to feed their habit. The dealers will readily take a firearm as payment. Depending on what it is, they can get 300% - 600% at illegal sale, over the going rate of a legal sale. Meth makes people bat$#!+ crazy, they're irrational, and they're unnaturally strong and hard to stop if they are in a rage.
15:08 Also, there is no such thing as Systema in Russia. There are several "martial artists" that give no name to their "fighting style" but the name of their founder (for example, Sistema Kadochnikova), and almost every one of them is a scam that gets into different Bullshido compilations
Being someone who's studied it for about 16 years now- secondhand from someone who attended a lot of their gatherings- I can tell you there's some very real stuff to it, and also a lot of bullshit.
Mikhael Ryabko's father (or was it grandfather?) was stationed in the Wutang area during a time when a lot of very impressive masters were openly teaching. Then pappy Ryabko comes home with this magical lost Russian martial art no one seems to remember that looks remarkably similar to some Wutang mountain and Tibetan internal arts stuff with some Cossack pugilism.
Ryabko and Vasiliev seem to have marketed themselves astoundingly well, but anyone with a discerning eye might realize the only people they're REALLY teaching are Russian speaking Russian Orthodox veterans from Russia with an emphasis on the Russian part.
My teacher has picked up some very impressive things from both of them- but says there's a difference between what they're DOING and what they're TEACHING.
They also hand out certifications like they're (very expensive) candy, and seem to just be generally shitty with internal politics, so he doesn't really deal with them anymore.
Good video Matt!
Classic Matt Easton/shcholagladiatoria content, thinking Contextually by the content and circumstances depending on the situation you may be in, in this video's case "in terms of Knife Defence" I rate 10/10 for educating, clarifying and contextualising us much as you could. Matt Easton (IMO) tried to keep this short as he could, he could've gone into full detail but yeah overall great video.
Matt Easton hit the nail on the head when he mentioned MMA Instructors (generally) don't teach about the use of Weapons in a Street Context. Of course, under a different circumstance, as he mentioned in this video. You don't just Give Up!, such as giving your Life, or running away is not always an option.
As a Filipino Expatriot, based on my understanding of Filipino Martial Arts, it is more well suited for both street and military contexts, as you may have to find a solution to defend yourself (OR your people) such as your family, friends, etc OR your country in terms of defence because giving up is not always an option as Matt Easton mentioned.
Such as the weapons you have or the environment you're currently in. Most FMA (Filipino Martial Arts) emphasise the use of weapons first or weapons only because, culturally and historically speaking combat was done on a larger scale, for example, Naval OR Tower Defense because of how close they were to water sources. In the context of towers, they may have certain structures like a watchtower placed on higher ground so they can see oncoming invaders such as Foreign Boats OR Unknown Groups of People. Hence why Filipinos have blade culture, similarly to Gun Culture in the US because of their history and culture with Weapons and Warfare.
This can also be applied to street defence as I have mentioned, there are factors to include when considering to fight (When giving up is not an option) in a street setting. The weapons used by the offender as it could be a bladed weapon or a firearm, the time of day, how many people are there or who is present in the street+who is watching, why is the offender trying to hurt/kill you?. Was it a party/parade/festival? Etc, Stuff like that.
But yes, Thank you very much for clarifying and informing the viewers for this possible scenario/situation as he clearly thinks of realistic scenarios and settings in the context of Knife Defence. P.S Sorry for the long and boring comment but yes Great Video @scholagladiatoria
I used to carry a knife. I got old. Now I carry pepper spray, and I practice often with expired spray canisters.
Here's hoping it works out until I finally succumb to old age.
@Joe Blow Peoples Republic of California
@@RAkers-tu1ey Bear repelent?
@@SarsTheSecond Nope, just good quality LEO pepper spray. If your spray says "Bear Mace" on it, you can be liable for assault charges in CA, because it is considered "cruelty or "mayhem.". Bear mace canisters are typically much larger, more expensive, and only slightly higher in Scoville value. Their main advantage is the 20 to 30 foot distance they can send a narrow spray stream. I don't feel that extra bulk and cost is much of an advantage for my specific purposes. 10 to 15 feet is OK with me.
I prefer to buy $8, 10 gram, American made, single use units, and replace them every six months. I practice deployment and spray accuracy with the expired ones. so far, every one has worked perfectly. Even those that are 2 or 3 years old.
@Dan Didnot well, things vary from county to county, but mainly, one has to prove a "good reason" , or "good cause" to carry, to which the local sheriff must agree, and they typically don't or won't.
Eh, just wear a properly made and tailored mail.
Would it work against screw drivers and ice picks ?
@@eoagr1780 Ice picks? Likely no. Screw drivers? Likely yes. You need force to pierce mail. A screw driver isn't really made to apply strong stabbing force.
@@eoagr1780 Depends on the diameter of the icepick and the size of the ring. Pretty sure almost all mail would stop a large screwdriver. On the bright side, *most* knife attacks are with what they are named for; knives.
and that is precisely why i always conceal a pair of eyeglass repair screwdrivers when i'm going out.
There might actually be a market for that right now.
You are correct. As someone who has done martial arts for 30 years I agree. Ju jitsu, wrestling, kapap, sombo, bjj, mma, muy Thai and bits of others. Better to have something than nothing and train for this. Stifle and control the blade. Reduce the damage rather than do nothing. End of.
I'd love to see a series of videos on the proper forms with the rondel dagger.
"if you don't have a pistol...." Heaven forfend such a calamity befall me! ;)
Matt's training means he can wave his hands around while holding a knife without cutting himself! Bravo!!
thank you! There's a video online of I think a Green Beret showing a Navy SEAL what to do and it involves a two-on-one. grabbing the weapon hand or bicep control with an underhook (so foregoing head control for controlling both arms. Taking the person down disarming the weapon or using Jiu Jitsu arm locks and things like that. And yes it is very difficult but you should know what you can do
I like how you argue your points!
Fun fact: I personally know someone who was injured by a spear (improvised from a kitchen knife by a British Hooligan) and I was wounded by Katana (accident) and once threatened by a rapier (a classmate ripped it of a wall; it belonged to the father of the host) and I know a bunch of people who were injured by knives, including attempted murder. However, I know personally only one person who was shot after WWII. I think that tells you something about weapon laws...
(you can get a gun, but why risk it and why not go for a cheaper weapon?)
It doesn't tell you a lot, because you can look at places like Belgium, France, the Czech Republic, Norway, Austria, and Switzerland, all of which have relaxed gun laws by UK standards, but have similar gun crime rates and way, way less than in the US, which harbors a lot of violent individuals and (sub)cultures.
@@45calibermedic it's fat more complicated actually. I lived in Germany and Switzerland and I'm Austrian.
Guns are not necessarily used in crime, if less gets the job done as well. (cheaper, less risky, lower profile...)
Guns are often used in suicide and increase the risk of accidents.
Going Postal seems to be a very specific cultural thing.
Guns do seem to work well in non lethal self defense as brandishing is often enough, wheras fools still attack defenders with knives...
On the other hand: some of those people you mention would likely be dead if the assailant had used a gun instead of a blade. You know fewer people who've been shot not only because it happens less, but also because you don't meet dead people.