The Defensive Edge — A realistic look at knife fighting

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In all of my training and experiences, the one area of the martial arts or realistic combat that frightens me the most is the knife. It is hard to convey the ugliness of the knife as a weapon. Anyone, trained-untrained, man-woman, is at a significant advantage with a knife and a great disadvantage against one. So, how do we prepare ourselves for this fatal encounter?

REALITY is the key here, as most martial artists train primarily to defend against a face to face ‘Hollywood’ type knife attack. We need to distinguish between that which looks good for demonstration purposes and that which will work in actual knife fight. Look at the way you are training. You need to develop your training to gain the necessary skills and attributes to deal with high-speed aggressive blade attacks. Training with edged weapons is virtually useless unless it is balanced out with experience or realistic training methods and functional techniques. Research has shown that fine motor skill techniques require a certain degree of awareness, skill, proximity sense and exact timing to pull off, quite a bit to ask in a real self defence situation. The best techniques are those you have tried and tested over and over again in as close to reality environment as possible. Make things simple so it works under pressure and ensure you incorporate functional training methods to compliment your techniques.

We get this experience via resistance training or through actual sparring. Reality knife fighting occurs at combative speed and this is where we need to be functional and effective. This doesn’t mean that you should neglect the various drills that allow for creative, relaxed and playful training. When you are in a confrontation that can cost you your life, you have no excuses for not having prepared as thoroughly as possible in your training. This means that your training exploration has to involve everything that works in a full resistance environment, and that you have to thoroughly prepare yourself for these defensive and offensive tactics.   

So why then should you train in offensive knife fighting skills? You need to understand the offensive elements in order to develop defensive tactics for any offensive techniques you might encounter. Knowledge of weapons working will give you an advantage if you must defend yourself against one. Improvised weapons are often available, so we need to practice fighting with a weapon to develop those skills. One needs to also focus on Knife vs Knife and then working empty hand against a weapon. You must always consider surrendering whenever a weapon is used, unless you believe that doing so will place you in greater danger.

When training with weapons it is also important to understand the various levels of confrontation one should implement.

  1. Avoid
    Improve your awareness and avoid. There are various ways to improve ones awareness towards violent crime. From the training you do to studying the criminal mindset and statistics and cases relating to the topic.
  2. Escape
    Set up various scenarios in your training and learn to always look to escape. Mentally ‘create’ various situations in your mind and plan how you would escape from it. One can also create a situation in your training where you need to ensure the escape of a loved one etc.
  3. Use Environment
    Throwing objects or putting a obstacle between you and your attacker or using and object  to hit weapon hand or attacker. One can set up various training methods to simulate this i.e. using focus mitts, boxing gloves etc. which will represent the difference between objects one can throw and those you can use as a weapon.
  4. Mobility
    Working on ones perception of distancing, timing and accuracy not to engage and to escape the situation as safe as possible. One needs to also work one ones mobility tactics when having a loved one with you to protect.
  5. Engage
    This is extreme and is really only worthwhile if saving a loved ones life is at stake or if the situation or environment requires one to engage with attacker. When engaging it is imperative that one grabs the weapon hand with both hands to secure and to then set up your escape or attack.

An important guideline is to avoid focusing on disarms unless the situation presents itself. It is also important to use various size training knifes and improvised weapons to ensure a well rounded approach to a realistic encounter. Add realistic drills in your training and ensure correct drilling before and after ‘techniques’. Train in various environments and test your techniques all the time to ensure you get the correct feedback with the ‘techniques’ you are using.

Adding blade training into your arsenal for realistic Street Self defence is essential. One must not make the mistake by thinking you are invincible and that it is now OK to take on a attacker with a weapon. Avoiding and Escaping should always be your first priority. This is by no means a cowardly reaction. Your possessions can be replaced your life cannot. There can only be one winner in a knife fight and more often than not there are two losers. There is an old saying that says ’ When two tigers fight, the one will die today, the other dies tomorrow due to all it’s wounds it suffered’ Don’t just dismiss training with weapons because you think that you’ll never use them and that you will be able to avoid this type attack in the street. You will gain more insight, be more prepared for any situation, improve your attributes, and its loads of fun. Training with weapons is part of becoming the best that you can be.

Morné Swanepoel
President JKD High Performance Street Fighting
JKD Unlimited High Performance Mixed Martial Arts
Website: www.jkd.co.za

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.