got a new toy coming

[Andy_S]

Get some Philippino MA training. It is widely distributed now and is very easy to pick up and very difficult to forget (a bit like riding a bike).

Basis attacks with blade are slash and stab. The jury is still out, but most consider the latter the more dangerous strike. A good instructor will show you attack patterns that vary the two interchangeably: stab-slash-stab-slash ad infinitum. Such attacks are almost impossible to block/parry/catch.

A good basic drill is to hold the knife in a reverse ("icepick") grip and then work through your various elbow strikes. Note what the blade does....

[Alexatron]

If you're going to a fist fight bring a knife
If you're going to a knife fight take a sword
If you're going to a sword fight take a gun
If you're going to a gun fight . . . well just don't go I guess!

Regarding your new toy - are you primarily getting it as a self defense weapon? Just wondering how you decided on that model if so i.e. what do you look for in a knife for such use?

[vagabond]

alexatron, i use a knife on a daily basis for all sorts of little tasks, plus it's crucial for camping and hiking.

wanted something small enough not to fill my whole hand. i haven't held it yet, it's still in the mail but i'm hoping the small size and the deep choil will allow me to keep a good grip on it while my hand is still pretty loose, so i can pull of strikes, arm drags, etc. basically i'm aiming for something that can be in there as an afterthought, no real extra training necessary, just making striking and gripfighting a little scarier for the other guy.






similar to this. thoughts?

[GrahamB]

Yeah truth about TSA being ridiculous. As a waiter there are certain things I'm generally never without, a lighter and a wine key being the top among them. After I had the third wine key taken away I stopped carrying them but it's certainly stupid. Shawn threatens stewardess with a corkscrew screaming "take this plane to Cuba!"

S

Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "screw you!"

[chud]

Good lord looks as if you've been doing too much Giant Hand Conditioning!

LOL!

[klonk]

...to keep a good grip on it while my hand is still pretty loose, so i can pull of strikes, arm drags, etc. basically i'm aiming for something that can be in there as an afterthought...

A wrist loop of cord or thong might be helpful, if looping into it can be made second nature when you access the knife. Of concern here is whether doing so takes too much extra time.

[klonk]

A good instructor will show you attack patterns that vary the two interchangeably: stab-slash-stab-slash ad infinitum. Such attacks are almost impossible to block/parry/catch.

I wouldn't bother with edge attacks with a knife that short. The span of the cutting edge is so small that you get no benefit in terms of margin of error. What I mean is, a cut can hit an opponent's hand or wrist more easily than a thrust, if your knife is a foot long, but with a very short knife it is no easier to hit something with the edge than with the point.

[Andy_S]

Klonk:

The slash-stab-slash interplay gets your weapon pasts obstacles (ie if the guy grabs your knife hand or wrist, or simply throws up his hands in defence).

This, of course, if of use only if you are in a very, very severe situation indeed.

FYI, FWWI and IMHO, I don't agree with the many armchair commandos on this forum and elsewhere whose advice is "Never let him see the knife until you are already chopping him/gutting him/slitting his throat."

This attitude sees the only use of a weapon as tactical. In fact, in the history of arms development and deployment, from Ug with his bone club to Kim Jong-eun with his nuke missiles, the role of weapons is as much deterrent as tactical.

IOW, if shit goes down and you whip out your shiv and make clear your intent - which is to fucking well do the business if necessary, and your safety catch is in the "off" position - the other party may well cease and desist.

[klonk]

A series of thrusts can be highly evasive and deceptive. It can also be very fast. In any case I think that a tiny neck knife's point is far the more dangerous part of it.

Vagabond is looking to piggyback his knife use on his existing movement and contact skills. However he does that, I think the point will serve him better than the edge, considering the smallness of his knife.

John Steyrs, in his classic book Cold Steel, points out that the thrust, the snap cut and the reverse cut are all accomplished with the same basic motion, an idea that I find very useful. The book is free in PDF form:

http://www.slidelock.co.uk/Styers%20COLD%20STEEL2.pdf

Part II addresses knife fighting. I think his blade work is great and his footwork and stance work are not.

[Alexatron]

I got a couple of new toys last night

[klonk]

Not new exactly, in the sense that I have owned one of these for years, but lately I am rediscovering its charms. Chaps were more polite when they carried these, because being a jerk could get you kebabed.

[klonk]

Thing is, butterfly daos and small-swords have well defined techniques, historically validated. So far as I can find out, the neck knife does not.

Anybody here know of a formal basis of study for very short hand held weapons? That would likely be helpful to Vagabond.

[Pipefighter,PhD]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qPhsfqK1m5Q



Developing real knife skill doesn't sound like his intent. And that takes a lot of dedicated skill. And the speed disappears quickly when you aren't training.
Sounds like he wants to use his current movements and transition an edge into it.
Some thoughts about that approach
1. Be careful not to cut your other hand with your own movements. Practicing that coordination is good.
2. Cant use your knife if you cant get to it under pressure.
3. Pulling a blade escalates things. Be prepared to kill if you are going to enter a a blade into a fight, and have a legit reason before hand
4. Dont expect your opponent/attacker will stop because you drew your knife. It is very horrifying to pull your knife as a deterrent and realize that they are not deterred, and your cuts are only superficial, and they are still coming.
5. Thinking a "thug" doesn't know how to also cut you because he has no legit training is reckless. 2 or 3 real knife fights can supersede a year of legit training, IMHO.
6. If you draw your knife in a legal situation, like there are 2 or 3 against you, and one grabs your knife hand with both of his and the other guy is trying to run you down, it's good to have an idea for that, since that kind of thing is pretty common in my experience

[vagabond]

thanks pipe fighter. yea thats the hope, i may pick up some philipino or whatever practice at some poin but right now i don't have the time.
i was noticing i can hold the knife in a bucklefist without affecting how i strike, although i'm nervous to really go nuts on pads or a bag until i get a trainer for it. i was planning to wear it at appendix, that way i can access it with either hand and it'll be out and useful pretty quick if i do my part.

as to escalating or not, honestly i chose it because it gives the option of cutting as well as stabbing. i'd really rather scare people off than kill them, and the only fight i've ever gotten in that got that serious i'm absolutely certain it would've been over as soon as i had a knife in my hand. unfortunately i didn't have one on me.

[windwalker]

http://www.usarmycombatives.com/7-04-kn ... -sequence/
https://archive.org/stream/milmanual-fm ... 3/mode/2up

a thrust to the heart causes instant death. good to know

some reading for those interested.