Defending Yourself Against a Knife

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Before you even study the following self defence series you need to understand that an attacker with a weapon i.e. Knife is a very dangerous situation you find yourself in. You need to do whatever possible to try and avoid the situation altogether including running away or to use objects in your immediate environment to successfully defend yourself so you can escape the situation.

The best way to deal with weapons when this kind of scenario presents itself is:

  1. Run.
  2. If you can't just run use objects in your surroundings to create an opening to run/escape.
  3. If you have loved ones with you whom you need to protect try and create a opening for them to escape while you deal with the attacker. Using an object like a chair, dustbin lid and table between you and the attacker is a useful tactic.
  4. If you have no other option then you need to confront your armed attacker.

Defence against a knife

Morné faces opponent who has already drawn a blade. Turning his palms inwards and hands up Morne squares off with opponent. The inward palm minimizes fatal injuries to the arteries of the wrist.

Defence against a knife

Opponent executes a thrust to Morne's midsection which Morné slaps down and away while the other hand is kept up protecting the neck and face area.

Defence against a knife

Morné keeps moving around keeping a safe distance and is totally aware of his surroundings.

Defence against a knife

Taking note of his opponents every movement, Morné's last resort is to suddenly move in and secures a 2 on 1 grip on the blade hand. Your thumbs covering both sides of the forearm/wrist, i.e facing in opposite directions and not facing in the same direction.

Defence against a knife

Morné keeps his momentum going forward and crashes with his shoulder into his attacker securing the blade at a safe distance. Important to keep your shoulder driving into your attackers chest moving him off balance and backwards and to keep your head tucked in  tight against your attackers shoulder. This will assist in avoiding being hit with your attackers free hand. Many things can happen from here

Defence against a knife

Morné ensures total control of the blade hand while the struggle goes down to the ground.

Defence against a knife

Morné steps on the blade while shoving his attacker backwards.

The attacker looses his balance falling down.

Defence against a knife

This creates several options for Morné such as:

  • Escaping
  • Getting rid of the blade and submitting the attacker.
  • Picking up the blade and finishing the attacker off.

Article written by Morne Swanepoel

Morné is a full time coach and practitioner and is certified as one of the most qualified Reality Based Personal Protection High Performance Mixed Martial Arts coaches in the world. Travelling countless times to International destinations in the past 15 years and featuring in almost every media medium across the globe the past couple of years, Morné has become one of the leading figures in realistic Martial Arts today.

The 2 mains streams of CombatCoaching.com are:

1- High Performance Street Fighting is a unique blend of Reality Based Personal Protection High Performance Mixed Martial Arts training methods, techniques and tactics preparing you to survive the streets of today.

2- High Performance Mixed Martial Arts will expose you to dynamic combat athletic training methods, techniques and tactics preparing you for the modern No Rules competitive arena.

Students of Morné Swanepoel’s Combat Coaching are coached as combat athletes. The focus is on Performance (Aliveness) orientated training in all the ranges of combat against a resisting opponent. Besides correct training, our students are also educated and encouraged to improve their performance, health and well being by supplementary training advice, correct use of nutritional supplements, positive thinking, healthy eating and sleeping (resting) patterns.

Morné emphasizes the importance of coaching his athletes instead of instructing them. Our staff are actively involved in the classes, training in an alive environment with fellow students as our focus is on Performance and not titles, hierarchy or rituals!

“Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them. This idea is not new; Socrates had voiced the same thing 2000 years ago. If the quality of Performance or learning from experience is important, coaching is a must. If neither is, then tell if you must” - John Whitmore –

“No Rules Anything Goes Are You Ready” is a guiding principle at Morné Swanepoel’s Combat Coaching.

The most common reason for people studying the Martial Arts is to learn how to defend themselves and their families. Morné is a leading figure in the world when it comes to training to prepare oneself for an aggressive street assault. A full time coach and practitioner in Reality Based, functional Martial Arts. A Pioneer in Combat Athletics. Over 30 years of Martial Arts experience in various styles. Personal experience in the streets of South Africa. Training Special Forces and social groups forms part of Morné’s daily and weekly routine. Working as a professional doorman has ensured that Morné stays informed and is able to share functional and realistic training methods and techniques with his students and those who attend his hands on training seminars abroad. Experience in Tactical weapons and urban surveillance. Morné also forms part of a specialised Anti hijacking vehicle tracking response team in South Africa.

On the competitive scene i.e. High Performance Mixed Martial Arts, Morné is a full time coach in the Mixed Martial Arts. Pioneer in combat athletics. Morné has trained with and researched various Mixed Martial Arts professionals i.e. Burton Richardson, Baret Yoshida, Marcello Garcia, Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock, Matt Thornton, Leo Vieira, Rickson Gracie, Felipe Costa, Chris Haueter to name a few. Over 30 years of Martial Arts experience in various styles and noted as one of the world’s best Mixed Martial Arts coaches internationally.

Morné hosts and conducts international and National training seminars where people from all over the world come together for a cutting edge reality based high performance combat athletics training experience. Morné shares his knowledge and experience to anyone who wants to survive the streets of today. The demand for functional and realistic training is rapidly on the increase as more and more people are moving away from the traditional, classical forms of Martial Arts. Morné now has training groups worldwide in order to meet this demand and also offers long distance training programs, this has drawn enthusiasts from all over the world to train with him. Morné has also developed a dynamic in-service instructor program to ensure that Morné’s roll out plan to exposing more people to training in this High Performance combat athletic way.