Knives and the problem on the streets... Take a min to read this please.

The video you linked to said "knife defense is impossible". I would argue that it IS possible, and no, I am not a keyboard warrior.

You can defend yourself for long enough to get yourself in a position to get away. OK you might get cut but it IS possible.

Although not personally trained, I just showed this thread to my Dad who deals with these sort of situations a lot of the time (its part of his job that he is first on the scene when things like this happen) and I believe him when he says it is possible. After all, he has been there, done it etc and although sometimes he comes home with blood on his clothes he has yet to be cut.
 
Tony Soprano said:
I'd say the knife fighting expert because he'd know exactly where to stab you if you went for him. The shakey kid would be unpredictable, but I'd much rather face someone like him than the expert.
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I would say that both of them are equally dangerous, but for different reasons.

To follow on from what Tony Soprano has posted, let's think about it differently. It's possible that Mr Expert will know that he can frighten you enough so that you will capitulate, therefore he may not need to physically attack.
Mr Nervous though may just flip and lash out in a panic of not knowing how to get himself out of the situation.

Interesting discussion.
 
Lowe said:
This leads us nicely into another facet of the problem.

Who's more dangerous - the knife fighting expert or the shakey kid who's nervous?
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first off, thanks for the links, yes interesting, and probably no, not really suitable for the forums (IMO). to those that aren't gonna get to see them, you've been in a butchers shop yeah, butchers prepare their wares for sale using knives, not lightsabers...

i hope i didn't come across in my earlier post in any way as recommending standing and fighting. i'm not recommending it.

the answer to "what should someone do in a situation like this" is not an easy one to answer. i read the question as if it was directed at me, "what would i do", and answered honestly in that i don't have a preplan. i'd make a snap decision at the time.
i would NOT (i hope) be making that decision based on my assesment of my relative chance of winning (ie. fight back if i thought the attacker lacked skill/confidence/ability/speed etc).
i would (again i hope) only decide to fight if at the time i felt fairly confident i was gonna be attacked with the weapon anyway. these are rare circumstances granted, but it happens.
i was gonna give a couple of examples to illustrate my point but the ones i came up with (real life examples) are grim, and i don't want push the thread in that direction.

who's the more dangerous, the expert or the nervous kid.
first off, they're both equally dangerous, they're both attacking you or threatening to and have both drawn weapons. neither should be underestimated. they are equally dangerous threats to your life.
if we're really stretching this as a theoretical exercise though, the inexperienced kid is IMO more dangerous because if anything he is less predictable, he may not even know himself, the limits to how far he will go in the situation.

i suppose i would err on the side of advising people against fighting back, but as i said before i prefer not to give advice. there's so much variability around this situation. there are always gonna be plenty of examples where not fighting back could be the wrong thing, like if you've got your kids with you and you really think they are gonna get some, or where you really believe you're gonna get some after you comply etc.

i do think anyone who thinks they could deal with this kind of situation really should reconsider. even so called trained experts get it wrong. on the other hand, police officers / security / doormen might have to deal with knife wielding attackers to protect the public.

at the end of the day, fighting back might just save your life.
or it might lose you you're life. this is why i would rather not advise.

people have to take the responsibility for their own lives and (heaven forbid) they are ever in that position, should make the decision based on what they feel is in their own best interests, and not what someone once told them to do.

that's why i would advise people do a bit of fight training. not because it will teach them 100% safe defence (it wont), but because it will increase their general awareness, and ability to assess and if need be react speedily.
 
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the other aspect of knife fights that is worth a mention is this.
if you actually get to see the knife, think yourself lucky.

a real bad boy wont get it out till he's stood right behind you. you wont even get the option to fight back. i have seen this happen more than once in clubs, and it scares the hell out of me.
 
Brilliant response Mr Whippy, and I agree 100% :)

I'm gong to duck out of the thread for a while, see how it matures - buut hopefully a few people have had their eyes opened to the realities of blades and how it can easily go from life to death... Cheers peeps :)
 
I just want to add that it's refreshing to see a thread such as this not be filled with replies such as ...

"I'd just hit em, nd nock em out. My m8s *** bak me up".

Very interesting (but slightly depressing and worrying) thread. :) :cool:
 
Von Luck said:
The idea of fighting someone else, regardless of weaponry, wouldn't even occur to me.

I'm fairly sure that my 'fight or flight' gene is turned fully clockwise to 'run like the wind like the yellow bellied coward that you are'.

I'm not a fighter.....I'm a lover. Yes ladies, I'm talking to YOU. ;)

:p
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Same here mate, im very much a placid person but i do have an awful temper but takes a lot for me to totally flip out.

If someone pulled a knife out on me, i would just do what they say...my life is much more important than say my mobile phone, ipod and my wallet...those things can be replaced easily...my life cant.
 
Depends, if I was on my own I'd be gone like there was no tomorrow. I'm lucky that I am a pretty fast sprinter.

If however I was out with mates or a girl or someone who I thought might be in some kind of danger if I were to just leg it and leave them, I think I would stay and do my best to help them get out of harms way before I then sorted myself out.

I know that probably isn't the most sensible stance to take in regards to my own safety, but there are some people I would never be able to forgive myself if they were hurt as a result of me trying to save my own skin and leaving them behind.
 
MrWhippy said:
the other aspect of knife fights that is worth a mention is this.
if you actually get to see the knife, think yourself lucky.
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If you're in the confrontation before the knife is even drawn, then chances are that you might not even notice that the knife is there, and perceive the incoming knife attacks as just normal blows - in a panic situation you often can't see the wood for the trees - and it would be easy not to even notice a knife. One minute you're having a good old fashioned bar room brawl, and the next you suddenly notice that you have a gaping knife wound in you belly.
 
OCdt Stringy said:
If you're in the confrontation before the knife is even drawn, then chances are that you might not even notice that the knife is there, and perceive the incoming knife attacks as just normal blows - in a panic situation you often can't see the wood for the trees - and it would be easy not to even notice a knife. One minute you're having a good old fashioned bar room brawl, and the next you suddenly notice that you have a gaping knife wound in you belly.
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too true. i was once stood with a doorman after he'd been in a scuffle and ejected a trouble causer, and was just asking him if he was ok.
he said not bad, just a bit sore where the other guy had got a lucky shot in.
as he indicated the area with his hand, it came away wet and red.

he'd been stabbed, not felt it at the time, and still not felt it a good five mins later. he was lucky, no serious damage was done. just shows what a dollop of adrenaline can do.
 
I have been mugged at knife point, and my first instinct was not to run, but to stay as calm as I could and give as little as possible. I know that if I was faced with the same situation again, I would have to do the same thing as I'm not a good runner.
I always keep my purse at the top of my bag, and the first thing I would offer would be my debit cards. I can live without them, I can also have them cancelled instantly.
However, I do try to avoid getting into such situations in the first place. If I have to walk alone at night, it will only be in an open and busy area. Otherwise I always have someone with me, and I still won't go along side-streets or anywhere dark.
 
to be honest it would depend on the situation for me, im not good in fights an cant run that well cos im a fat tub of lard but if a skinny little runt tried muggin me with a knife then i wouldnt really care i'd be up for a fight, but if it was a big beefy guy who looked like he could overpower me an hurt me with the knife then id just hand over everything. now that logic may seem stupid to you, but im usually in a ****** off mood an if some runt decides to pull a knife on me then im up for it, ive always wondered what it would feel like to get knifed
 
Is there no way of grabbing the knifeholders knife arm and getting out of it that way, bas rutten demonstrates how in his vid i think. But even he, one of the hardest people on the planet, says the first thing you have to do is run if you can.
 
the other aspect of knife fights that is worth a mention is this.
if you actually get to see the knife, think yourself lucky.

a real bad boy wont get it out till he's stood right behind you. you wont even get the option to fight back. i have seen this happen more than once in clubs, and it scares the hell out of me.
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I trained for several years in martial arts, and this is one of the things that was emphasised to us - if someone shows you the weapon they're probably trying to scare you, and if you hand give them what they want that'll usually be it. The ones that keep a hand concealed or in a pocket are the ones who are more likely to want to hurt you.
 
Lowe good thread, i agree you can't defend a knife attack most of it boils down to luck, i have tested this myself many times in format of 1 knife man vs 1 non knife, 1k vs 2non and 1k vs 3non every time someone got cut and these are trained fighters, for info the knife man was a small irish m8 who has no fighitng skills at all.

soz for the rushed reply i have to go, something to sort, also note knife man used a stick with red paint on end of it.
 
i dont think i cant link to it as it contains an uncut video of the attack on CCTV but the sun newspaper has an online petition to maek sure the killer of the guy that was attacked with his mate one night that was waiting to pick up his sister (it was on the news the other week) is locked up for life and life meaning life.

currently it has 48000 odd online sigs
 
That'd be my advice to anybody, run or co-operate. Its not worth getting hurt over. As Lowe has said, when a knife comes into the equation it doesn't matter who you are chances are you will get hurt.

I remember doing a bit of Tae Kwon Do at uni, now my background has been amateur boxing and its never let me down when I've had to protect myself. But they tried to teach us anti-knife techniques and I remember saying it was all a bit pointless and being chasticed for saying it.

I also remember thinking that when a blade comes out, fancy techniques go out the window. I also know from accidentally putting a knife nearly through my hand, once you got cut, its game over. Technique and thought will go out the window. Dead meat.

The best defence is to not be there in the first place. In most cases people can sense a bad atmosphere and ignore it. Always trust your instincts.
 
If I was on my own I would run very fast if I could.

If I was with my girlfriend I would do what they say, she can't run fast at all.

I was on a bus with my friend and our girlfriends. A scumbag chav (1 of 2) spat in my mates girlfreinds hair. We just sat and did nothing. I was not willing to put my girlfriend at risk by being provoked by them. It's absolutely soul destroying tho and makes me feel like a complete coward basically.
 
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