MantasDaga | Indigenous Filipino Knife Fighting Tactics

Over 75% of the martial artists out there would lose if they were ever attacked with a knife! Get that? Over 75%.

Why ?

Because they aren't thinking outside of the box. You have heard the term -- it refers to looking at a situation from a perspective not in the normal thought processes. Most people can only view the problem from within their own paradigm.

Here's one from a friend Gene;

Knifers never leave home without it..

Huh ?

Applied to self defense, it means that a lot of techniques wouldn't work in a real emergency situation.

The majority of martial artists practice their knife self defense against others in their same style or system. You have shotokan practicing against shotokan, white eyebrow practicing again white eyebrow, tang soo do against tang soo do, etc....why not some real street smart scenario.

If these folks ever get attacked, their defense techniques probably won't go as planned. They are fighting someone out of their frame of reference.

There is a great word in the English language. It's 'verisimilitude.'

I think martial arts techniques need to be put to the test, don't you?
You need to see and feel that the move is a practical self defense maneuver or I may say Practical counter - offensive maneuver.

Here's One

Knife Fighting

Knives are an interesting category of weapon. They are capable of inflicting great damage yet they are freely available for purchase unlike guns, in the hands of a skilled knife-fighter they become much more dangerous. This article will portray a picture of knife fighting and issues connected to this skill.

Knife Types

There are only three types of knives worth discussing for our purposes. The simplest type of knife is the Full Tang Blade, this is a knife that has a handle molded to the extension of the blade, i.e. it consists of only one part of steel covered by a handle for grip. Another type is the Folding Blade which is the commonly known knife that can be compacted to half its size by folding the blade into the handle. And finally specialty knives such as belt buckle knives and credit card knives which exist in a category of their own.

Choosing a Good Knife

Even with the wide proliferation of knife manufacturers good knives are hard to find, not any knife is suitable for knife combat. There are several factors to consider. The size of the knife is very important, although the largest knife is the best in practical civillian use a large knife can be uncomfortable to carry and very difficult to conceal. The generally accepted ideal knife size is a blade length of 3 inches and perhaps another 3 or 4 inches for the handle. At that size the knife can be carried comfortably, is of light weight and easy to conceal. Quality is another factor which can be very serious in the case of folding knives. A bad quality folding knife can close on the carrier's fingers when striking a target causing self injury, quality should always be a deciding factor in the case of folding knives. Folding knives are usually chosen because when closed for carry they are small in size fitting neatly into a trouser pocket. Unbranded steel types such as 'Stainless Steel' should be avoided as it is a sign of poor quality, it is preferable to select a special type of steel such as 'stainless steel 420' or 'stainless steel 440', other excellent choices are also available. Finally a few Full Tang knives come with their own carry system, i.e. a sheath in the form of shoulder carry or belt carry that allows the user to conceal the knife very easily. Prices for good knives can vary from $40 USD upto and more than $200 USD for the best.

Knives usually come with their own sheath, knives meant for civillian use come with their own concealed carry rigs such as the shoulder rig which carries a knife upside down on the left side (for right handed persons). This allows for a quick draw of the knife, a quick drawing of the knife into the combat position is essential in self defense situations, a knife fighter will have to be able to draw his knife into the attack position in 2 seconds. Anything slower will mean that the opponent will have time to react offensively.

Concealed Carry and Draw

Correct Mentality

When someone carries a knife for self defense that person has to be prepared to use that knife with lethal effect if necessary. In a self defense scenario there should be no doubt that the attacker intends to perform serious bodily damage, to prevent that from happening the knife user should be prepared to take any action necessary for self defense. Any hesitation or withdrawal from the fight could result in serious consequences.

Grip

The normal way a knife is usually held is the wrong way to hold a knife for fighting. The normal way is at fault because all the pressure on the handle of the knife is placed near the blade, on striking a hard target the knife will slip and cause self injury. This is the correct way to hold a knife; put the knife's handle at the base of your fingers, close your grip and apply pressure using the last three fingers, place the thumb on the blunt edge of the blade. This way a lot more pressure is applied on the handle and you are capable of sustaining large forces of impact on the knife's blade. The thumb is used to direct the blade to its target as you would naturally use your thumb to touch something.

Footworks

The correct stance to use has to be such as to prepare the fighter for any sudden movements and shifts in position. This is usually done by placing the right foot forward and the left foot is kept at the back with the heel off the ground. This is the easiest position to use for the footwork.

A fighter's body should be able to move in all directions either to avoid a strike by the attacker, to attack or carry out a combination of moves. Footwork will be used in combination with knife attack and counter-offensive moves.

Counter and Re - Counter

The simplest knife moves are those of cuts and thrusts. According to fight science when applied to knife combat the knife should move as fast as possible when cutting or thrusting. To do this the arm should be relaxed during the carrying out of the move. A lot of strength is not so necessary as a knife blade will concentrate your energy into one sharp point. Defense moves are also in the form of cut and thrust where the attackers arm is damaged to limit further attacks.

Knifer's Mentality

When someone carries a knife for protection that person has to be prepared to use that knife with lethal effect if necessary. In a real-life scenario there should be no doubt that the attacker intends to perform serious bodily damage, to prevent that from happening the knife user should be prepared to take any action necessary for his protection. Any hesitation or withdrawal from the fight could result in serious consequences.

Combinations

As with all fighting techniques attack, counter-attacts and footwork are all merged together into combinational movements with the objective of disabling the attacker.

Knife Drilling

Good quality knives have special versions of the same with a blunt edged blade for use in training. Rubber knives are also available to this purpose. Knife training usually involves more than one person where one holds a stick covered with rubber or foam and the trainee practices moves on the moving target. As the trainee drills more the knife fighting technique develops into part of instinct allowing for very fast reactions to attacks and confidence in the field.

Targets

There are three major target groups in a knife fight, muscles and nerves, blood vessels and vital organs. severing the muscles and nerves disables the attacker's limbs eventually achieving the purpose of self defense. Severing blood vessels and vital organs causes eventual death, the last form of deterrent to an attacker.

Kill By Knife

Using a knife to kill someone is better than doing it by hand as it gives the assassin the advantage of using a tool. Knife combat is the process of disabling a foe and finally applying a fatal hit with the knife to cause death. The first target of a knife should be the muscles, when severed they will not be able to function especially true in the case of the target's arms and legs. In such cases not only the tendons are severed by a knife but also nerves that control the action of the limbs. The second target should be the blood vessels which can be found in large concentrations around the neck and limbs. To sever the vessels in the neck the knife should be slashed across both sides of the neck in two rapid movements causing more damage than one slash. Finally the vital organs are targetted by knife thrust techniques such as the lungs. To reach the lungs the knife would have to be stabbed through the rib cage, once there it is very difficult to retrieve it, however a hit to the lung can result in several types of breathing complications resulting in death if first aid is not administered. Any stab attacks to bone such as the skull are usually undesirable as the knife could easily slip through the assassin's fingers causing self injury.