Well written and good advice from my perspective. Good collection of knives. Notice that most of the folders are Karambit style. There's a reason that blade has been around for a thousand years. Very lethal and not always realized, but this knife works on the carotid better than a straight blade. The sternocleidomastoid muscle is pretty strong and not that easy to slash through and gives protection to the carotid. The Karambit can enter inferior to the muscle and the carotid easier than a straight blade and then with a pulling motion do a better job of defending oneself. Besides having been in the Marines and being a cop, also a surgeon so know a bit about the anatomy stuff. Before anyone carries such a knife very important to know state and local laws. For example, double edged knives are legal in Missouri but illegal in Illinois. I think the subject of tactical use of the knife is interesting, but have had many discussions with some of my Eskrima (Kali) instructors on the defensive use of a knife. One of the senior instructors is an attorney and represents most of the city policemen in legal cases. So when will you and can you legally use a knife in a tactical situation? Police can use a knife in a lethal situation when an unarmed assailant is attempting to take the officer's handgun. A civilian will not usually be in that situation. So using a knife against an unarmed assailant can easily land the individual in prison. A woman has a chance of getting away with this as does an elderly person. Now were into the knife vs knife situation. Not the movie version, but a real life confrontation. Something you want to avoid. We do a lot of full contact knife fighting as such in Kali-metal training knives and rubber knives. Impossible almost every time to avoid getting cut. And the cuts, were the inflicted in actual combat would at the very least require hospitalization and more than likely result in both parties being killed. It's shown in videos how many bullets the human body can take before the assailant is no longer a threat. A study by Applegate and Sykes showed that a direct knife wound to the heart from striking to death was 3 seconds. However, to the brachial or radial artery 1 1/2 minutes. If you're in a sustained fight and the assailant can keep stabbing and slashing you for 1 1/2 minutes, imagine the damage to your body. In a lot of videos on U tube a false assumption they tend to show that the opponent is not fighting back and is compliant. Never the case in real life. So as much as I enjoy working and sparring with the knife in Kali, but don't ever want to be in that situation. I've trained with the knife for several years, but not sure that I have much of an advantage over someone else with no training that is intent on slashing me to ribbons and stabbing anything he can get to. The knife as a defensive tool may work if you can get the first blow in and then get away as fast as you can. To stand and do all the fancy knife moves we all with practice can do will only get you killed, unless you're very lucky. Awareness, avoidance and training seem to be the key issues. And the training would be making a practiced move quickly and getting out of the fight before the fight reaches a force that is hard to contain. Welcome comments and or criticisms, as I'm certainly no expert and am a perpetual student. U tube has a few excellent videos and a lot of garbage. Some from the Ukraine are good such as School of Survival and Tactical Combat System. Also recommend the one titled "Is the Libre System Really an Effective fighting Method?" Hope I haven't bored too many of you with my rambling.
Thank you for this wonderful, insightful and intelligent comment, you have a lot of good knowledge. It has been my great desire to communicate with somebody with the skills and experience you have. I am very concerned about, not only legality, but morality. I strive to be a good, sane, sober, moral, prudent person with everything that I do. Ever since I have become a self-defender, spurred on by a robbery that took place at 18 years old, that made me straighten up my life and be a man, I have tried to do so morally and legally, so, everything you are saying is super-relevant and exactly what I am trying to learn about.
A large amount of what I train to do is fight with a knife in such a way that leads to the survival of an attacker and the escape of me. actually veering away from the (admittedly small) amount of Kali I've seen... while I love "fight stoppers", which is why I like the idea of a 12g or a .45, I don't want to just go for someone's neck, I don't want to kill, I want to disable, especially in a street fight. I like Janich's idea of disabling a limb, I know, harder said than done in a heated fight, but this is why I like the waved Espada, in a second, you can fillet a thigh standing a good distance back because of the length of that handle. That XL is truly an amazing knife, for how carryable it is. Just a random picture of my XL with sheath + PM2 and Black Talon II.
I like the Marc Macyoung quote "Most people when they think about "just running" think only of escape (i.e., the hazy idea of "If some- thing goes wrong. I'll just run like hell!"). That's as far as they take it. Well I got some news for you people — there's a good chance that ain't going to cut it. The term evade and escape is a two-point system. In the military it means evade contact and then escape. When those two points are mixed, it makes the whole shebang a lot easier. Also in the military sense, it means buying yourself time and distance by making your opponents reluctant to chase you at full speed.
While it also means the same thing in the street, there's a little bit more. First off, you must avoid damage; then you can escape. If you're gushing blood, you're not going to be in the best of shape to make an effective getaway. Not only are you going into shock, both from trauma and loss of blood, but you aren't going to be thinking straight. Even the dumbest street hood can usually outthink someone in shock."
I'm a small guy, and while I have been told small/stout men can still hold their own in a fight, I have been wary of this claim. I'm also peaceful to a fault, so if somebody is intent on hurting me, I want an equalizer, wish I could carry, but where I am, they won't issue. Always loved wearing steel-toes for this reason, not only do I love the look, they will keep you safe. This is why I carry a knife. I would spray, first, I'd kick and strike with my ring, I would do ANYTHING, give up my cash, whatever, to avoid getting into a deadly conflict. That is the worst thing, in my mind. I cannot stand the "make my day", types, when I said that I hated the idea of killing in SD, someone here told me "I can't live with myself if I let a scumbag get away", another said "I can't run anymore, so now, I get to stay and 'have some fun' if I get attacked"... I can't stand these attitudes, it's a solemn subject. To me, avoidance is a must, awareness is a must, those are your first SD tools. You don't have to fight 100% of the fights you don't get in. I also follow the "rules of stupid, don't go stupid places, at stupid timess, at stupid times, with stupid people. If I find myself asking, "What do I need to carry to go XYZ?" I will just not go there.
Living in LA county, we have surprisingly good laws on folders, all of my folders here are legal (except for a balisong and two autos that I do not carry, much less as emergency knives), no blade-length limit, just must be a concealed, non-automatic folding knife. So, my Espada XL, that's A-OK to walk around with, but my tiny UTX-70 that I use like a 5th pocket gentleman's knife, its a felony! Lol. That one only comes out on rare occasions, like, to a fancy party, never walk around with it on the street. But yeah, I don't go out looking for trouble ever, I always have pepper spray to "have something in between a strong word and a knife/bullet". My one single worry is an over-zealous cop calling my retention ring a "knuckle". I really would hate for that to happen.
Funny that you should mention Fairbairn and Sykes, their videos transcribed onto YouTube were some of the first techniques I learned and kept with me to this day - "Hold from the balance point, center your gravity". You mention all the fake compliant-assailant YouTube wannabe-martial artists, and I have a somewhat critical eye about staying away from this gimmicky, "BEST EVER" technique folks all over the internet. I admit that I am only a beginner in martial arts and self-defense, but I am trying to be on the right path. Fairbairn, Janich, and Keating, and John Correia from "Active Self Protection" are my favorite "teachers", so far, however...
I really need to start actually practicing with live partners. I unfortunately am not ingratiated into any type of martial arts communities, I don't know any police, military, anyone that comes from "that world" of the kind of hard-working, tougher breed of men, so I have to try to get there myself. I have pretty much came from stock who were not "real men" for lack of a better term, and whether it's fixing a car, how to treat a woman, or how to defend yourself, I learned every bit myself, so all I know is that I don't know nothing. I have a few trainers that I use to practice dexterity and striking, but I know I need a real school and real training.
Again, I thank you for your words of wisdom. Will be checking out those YouTube videos you mentioned in short order. I certainly do not want to impose myself on you, but as I said, I really do value the opinions and advice of men such as yourself. If you'd ever like to communicate further on the subject, my email is
r.du.snyder@gmail.com and no worries if you choose not to! I respect your privacy.
