One Knife One Weapon

One Knife One Weapon

here are certain aspects of the attack scenario that are common among all physical confrontations between individuals.  By becoming aware of what those commonalities are, you can prepare for them and use them to your advantage.

The first commonality is that 85% of the population is right handed.  Almost without exception, a person will strike first and foremost with their dominant hand.  Further, the second commonality is that a majority of the time, they will strike over and over with the same punch/strike again and again.  Remember, as much training as the terrorists may have had, they are not trained to the level of a professional fighter.  An amateur or minimally trained fighter when faced with a real fight will inevitably revert back to this repeated strike mentality.

A third commonality is that this one strike effect is multiplied if the attacker has a weapon in his hand.  In this case there is so much focus on the weapon that it overrides the individual’s ability to strike with anything except the weapon.  In this case you can be assured of the same strike over and over.  It doesn’t matter what the weapon is, knife, pen, stick, tray, etc.. The mental fixation on the object held in the hand dominates the mind.  This works to your advantage because if you see or identify anything in the attacker’s hand, that’s what he’s going to hit you with.  This gives you a heads up on what you’re going to have to defend against.

Un-Armed Counters To An Edged Weapon Attack

Any edged weapon attack involves two priorities.  First, limiting the damage to yourself, especially the face and neck and secondly controlling or negating the ability of the attacker to strike effectively.  How do you employ these priorities?

The first principle is to cover effectively but not submissively – (the universal cover and ready stance).  The next principle is to present the least vulnerable target.  The outside of the arms – (the triangle defense) and other “hard targets.”

The third principle is to close the gap and tie the opponent up so that he can no longer strike.  This also forces the opponent to start reacting to you so that in effect he must go from an “offensive mindset” to a “defensive mindset,” due to your counterattack.  This change in mindset is key to fighting off the attack effectively and must be your overall priority in defending against the edged weapon attack.  An attack with an edged weapon is quick and vicious and you must expect to get hit several times during your initial defense against the attack.  However, this must not deter you from changing from being the defender to being the attacker.  You cannot hesitate or be indecisive.  Remember, in most edged weapon encounters, the defender dies.

Copyright © 2016 Ernest Emerson