The first best advice..."Run as fast as you can..."

Hello THE, Good advice but not always possible. There are times when it isn't safe either. There was a former TKF chief who, as a policeman was viciously assaulted by a knife wielding psycho. Running simply wasn't an option. I had a student who was a city bus driver. One night he intervened between an attacking male and one of his fares. When he did, the guy attacked him with a knife. Again, there was simply no time or place to run. Defending against a knife wielder is always dangerous and to be avoided, when possible. Training is for those times when such a situation is impossible to avoid. Regards, MrE2Me2

hello all I tell my students to give the knife attcker whatever they want....... within reason. Having trained a lot of filipino arts I am fully aware of how difficult defending against a knife actually is. First of all ,the comment about not sparring with the knife attacker, very good point. I guess if you want to say you died trying you can add some sparring to it but wasted movement during a knife attack can be fatal. Blocking a thrust, or slash can be difficult to. If possible I recommend blocking with the outside of the arm. You may still get cut but, getting cut on the inside of your arm is more dangerous. There is more muscle and flexor tendons on the inside. Instead of a palm block, use a back hand block.... that kind of thing. However if you dont see it coming, it could be lights out. If you are walking down the street and a lone individual approaches you, you will become alert and maybe even defensive. You are more likely to be aware of an attack of any sort because it is just you and one other person on the street. If you are at a party, a bar or in a crowd and fight breaks out however , your degree of difficulty in being aware of everything going on increases ( for the worst) depending on your level of involvement in the fight. sifu shawn

I encourage my students to be aware of just how permanent losing (or even winning) a fight with a knife assailant can be. it's not to be entered into over even something so trivial as your wallet. However, if the alternative is to place at risk the safety of those under your care, you're left with little choice. First I tell student to expect to be cut, so as to avoid loosing concentration from the shock of getting cut. Next to keep the technique simple. Disabling the opponent is more important than controlling the knife in some artsy-fartsy manner that slowed camera work makes look cool.

knife attacks
gowing up in northern alta before i started training as a teenager i was in a few knife attack situations. i always surviveded( was cut once, was stabbed in the arm once )these situations scared the #$@$% out of me. one of the main reasons i started training. i never looked for those encounters but who does but i decided to understand as much as i could about how to have a better chance in such random encounters. instead of techniques per say i dicovered the answer lay in mind training and the study of the samurai confimed this. also i happened to have lots of what i used to call guinee pigs to practice on. black belts instructors phs anyone i could give a practice knife (wooden) to i would . one knife two multiple attackkers. i always told them (still do in all demonstrations) just come and get me. if they hesitated i would give them heck so they learned to just come get me. the benifit of the wooden knife is that you feel it when it gets you and it hurts. so your mind learns not to make the same mistakes twice. now you must respect the weapon but if you fear it or you fear death you are done. you have to learn to empty your mind and let it do its thing yes you may be cut but who cares if you survive. i used this same theory from the beginning of my instructor days and refined it. for example teachers remember your first technique demo. most of us were low in rank you have a black belt infront of you who is about to attack who has helped teach you everything you know and a whole class of students who you have trained with up till then. pretty intimidating. right from the beginning from that first demo in north edm. lots of phs lots of black belts i hammered it not because i am special but i understood to empty your mind rely on your training and let what happens happen if you can do this you will be amazed at how often you succeed cause you don't have a plan you just react. but you do have to train your mind to do this you do have to train and understand the techniques and theories involved and you most importantly have to trust yourself. if you think your dead you will most probably die. you must empty yourself trust me that in itself scares the #@$ out of your opponent. i worked at the drake hotel as a bouncer for 1 1/2 yrs in T.O. one night i got called to thne front door. there was a gang of kids looking for trouble i was called cause i was the kung fu guy (13 dollars an hour not worth any kung fu) anyway i went to the front without looking assessed the situation. walked to the front and went into meditation mode( emptyed my mind and stared vacently forward(could see everything but paid no attention to anything in particukar. they had been there awhile harrassing people but within a couple of minutes of me showing up they left. to see someone with no emotion or thought is very unnerving. another time i was coming back from a resteraunt in T.O. with a junior instructor to the scar. studio there was a night club next door ( shootings and stabbings occured frequently it was closed later) this night after returning to the studio we trained for a bit,. we lived there so we did this alot. anyway i heard a commotion in the front parking lot. two gangs were squared off with weapons out ready to get "er done. they had left the club it was an all ages night. anyway i freaked out i was just a kid a brand new cheif instructor and i thought this will be bad publicity so i told the inst, to stay upstairs to watch and call the pokice if necessary and went down and walked directlty to the center or the two leaders who where squared off a couple feet apart one had his belt off to use as a weapon the other had a knife. they looked at me and asked what the $$$$ are you doing here. i told them this is my parking lot pointed at the sign then told them i couldn't give a $$$$ if they killed each other but not in my parking lot. they didn't know what to say then the bouncers from next door started yelling yea get the #### out of his parking lot shortly after after checking me out they left. once again this same ability saved the day without violence. i will tell you though i was ready for anything that came my way like a coiled spring. if you can learn to make you opponent surrender mentally you will win the day. as for running it is the last thing you want to do in such a situation unless there is no choice. would you run from a bear, a lion no you don,t run from any predator for this triggers there pursuit instinct you've just become prey. it is best to face them with eye contact not to little or to much you have to guage this at the time. to little shows your submissive to much your challenging the assailent don't want to do that either. keep distance backing away and converse continually in soft tones until you can make a safe escape. kind of like an animal exept then your supposed to make lots of noise with big gestures. finally if you have to resort to defence to such an attack destroy them "it is better to be judged by twelve than be buried by six" O.E Simon trevor " how does one test the moment of truth when danger lurks in a quiet pond; action invites reaction, no action invites action; thus one must radiate ones own state of mind and true confidence then seldom will violence (a situation) occur." rough quote of GMS anyway this parable is where i gained this understanding and it works. ( heres a clue to GMS's secrets if you read his works carefully not getting bogged down by the run on sentences and find key parts he tells almost everything you have to piece it together though) one last thing it is always better to be unarned in an weapon situation save a gun situation then i would like to have a gun or wing boots know what i'm saying. but any other weapon limits the use of motion they have to follow certain rules if you know the rules with empty hands which are extremely versitile you can almost always win the day if you empty the mind train hard and beleive in yourself. if you pick up or brandish a weapon though you limit your motions are directly challenging the attacker and have taken away any chance of psycological victory. its like showing all your cards in a poker match then betting on the hand. " The truth will set you free and it is free"