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darrianation · 09-28-2007, 09:29 AM

I hate critiquing a video because it seems everyone gets mad at me so Tom please don’t think this is a personal attack because it’s not.

I often wonder where these knife defenses come from and if folks actually attempt these things in live FonF.

Blocking the highline as shown many times in this video leaves you open for the knife coming in under the armpit if you guess wrong and I’ve seen a lot folks guess wrong during FonF fighting (force on force) as well as in the real world. Of course this is bad because the knife may likely penetrate the lung and the heart. The armpit area is favorite target for prison shankings (so is the neck). Also, many experienced knifers ala “prison style” will sewing machine their victims which many defenses you see in many martial arts including this video will not work against it, at least not well and could even put the user at greater risk.

And catching wrists in midair against someone using real world sewing machine energy is nearly impossible. These defenses are easy to pull off using demonstration energy where both the attacker and defender are on the same page and work together and less easy but still doable when you know the attack but not so easy against a “real world attack” where you don’t know what the other guy is going to do or if he even has a knife. Remember some 85% of knife victims don’t even see the knife until after they are stabbed and around 60% don’t even know they have been stabbed until the fight is over thinking they were being punched. *Data taken from Darren Lauer studies and independently verified by my own observations as a paramedic in places like Baltimore (Shock Trauma) and Washing DC as well as working in other dangerous places around the world.

Any defense has to consider a “catch-all” type approach for when you don’t know if he is armed or not (you haven’t seen empty hands before the strike). The movement pattern needs to account equally for a punch or knife coming on the high line, midline, or low line and for increased stress levels and body alarm (fine motor techniques are very difficult to pull off in this situation).

The best defenses I have experimented with are usually fairly plain and ordinary looking….anticlimactic really.

09-28-2007, 09:29 AM	#2 (permalink)
darrianation Registered User Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 2,061	I hate critiquing a video because it seems everyone gets mad at me so Tom please don’t think this is a personal attack because it’s not. I often wonder where these knife defenses come from and if folks actually attempt these things in live FonF. Blocking the highline as shown many times in this video leaves you open for the knife coming in under the armpit if you guess wrong and I’ve seen a lot folks guess wrong during FonF fighting (force on force) as well as in the real world. Of course this is bad because the knife may likely penetrate the lung and the heart. The armpit area is favorite target for prison shankings (so is the neck). Also, many experienced knifers ala “prison style” will sewing machine their victims which many defenses you see in many martial arts including this video will not work against it, at least not well and could even put the user at greater risk. And catching wrists in midair against someone using real world sewing machine energy is nearly impossible. These defenses are easy to pull off using demonstration energy where both the attacker and defender are on the same page and work together and less easy but still doable when you know the attack but not so easy against a “real world attack” where you don’t know what the other guy is going to do or if he even has a knife. Remember some 85% of knife victims don’t even see the knife until after they are stabbed and around 60% don’t even know they have been stabbed until the fight is over thinking they were being punched. *Data taken from Darren Lauer studies and independently verified by my own observations as a paramedic in places like Baltimore (Shock Trauma) and Washing DC as well as working in other dangerous places around the world. Any defense has to consider a “catch-all” type approach for when you don’t know if he is armed or not (you haven’t seen empty hands before the strike). The movement pattern needs to account equally for a punch or knife coming on the high line, midline, or low line and for increased stress levels and body alarm (fine motor techniques are very difficult to pull off in this situation). The best defenses I have experimented with are usually fairly plain and ordinary looking….anticlimactic really. __________________ A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -G. Gordon Liddy A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. – George Bernard Shaw NOBAMA!