No issue with most of that Garland. However I personally don't teach any civillian the weapons arts from a reference point of wounding or harming anyone. I just use it as games and drills to enhance attributes, have fun and take a break from being punched in the face.
Whenever I teach the knife to a group of everyday people I always stress that its just a training tool to have some fun with. I say don't ask me any questions about "well would I stab him here or stab him there" because I don't want to know....and if you want to know, I want to know why you want to know.
A guy emailed me just the other week and wrote "For years I have wanted to learn how to use a knife in a fight". I replied "Then you have some issues my friend, go train with someone else".
Knife Defence is a different story. I have a knife defence program that I teach to the Police and many civillians, and it doesn't rely on knowledge of severed arteries and bleed timetables, its all too late by then anyway.
Garland I'm not dismissing the need to look into the implications of your art in detail, I applaud that. And I don't want to be hypocrite beause I teach knife to the Armed Forces, and some of the stuff I teach is very unpleasant. I guess the reason I write what I do is because for years and years now I have been surrounded by people in martial arts who live in a fantasy world about the knife, and pass those fantasies onto their students. I will be up front and say that I don't like Sayoc. They have made a hugely successful industry of teaching anyone who rolls up at their door some pretty horrific concepts and methods. Their system is pretty much based around the ability to take a life with a blade, that just doesn't sit well with me. You want to talk about being irresponsible, you should see some of the shit taught in this country about "knife fighting" and how many instructors actively encourage students to carry knives (illegally).
If people had ever seen a knife fight, or faced a knife, or watched someone die from a knife - they would want nothing to do with it.
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