Knife

[ghostwolf0]

People who don't train weapons all that much always chirp in that you won't have time to get your weapon out. In many situations, that is true. But, guess what, chances are...mine is already out & ready to go.

Well I do train weapons a lot and i'm not just chirping, I'm speaking from experience (10 years as a bodyguard and 4 years as a cop). I have yet to have the "pleasure" of a "gunfight " scenario where some one calls you out for a fight. Usually they just launch their attack and you had better be ready. Judging by your statement above you must agree because you're stating that you already have yours "out & ready to go". Sounds to me like we're in sync.

[William]

Whoa there big fella!!!

Yes, we're on the same frequency. I don't think that someone will walk up and say, "hey let's duel". It's the guy/guys who pop out of nowhere when your just diddy-bopping down the street (to shank you), our the one who inches closer flapping his mouth ( not showing a weapon) before he launches the attack that you have to look out for. It boils down to being aware of your surroundings and taking pre-cautions. As I said, if things don't seem right, or I know it's a bad area/situation, chances are that it's out (blade may or may not be deployed).

I'd rather know it and not need it,
then need it and not know it.

A variation on my mantra:

I'd rather deploy it and not need it,
then need it and not have time to deploy it.

William

[Veynn]

Originally posted by William


I prefer to think counter-offensively. I tend to walk around in yellow alert mode in public areas (and my own home after I've been gone for a while). Experiences in my life have led me to operate in this manner. I don't walk around thinking someone might jump out of every dark corner, it's second nature now and I don't stress over it. If you were walking with me and didn't know me real well you wouldn't even know I was doing it. I can carry on a conversation with you while I check out who and what is around me or coming up as we move about. I make mental notes about possible ambush areas, people or places that would put me at a disadvantage in a confrontation. In some situations one of my weapons will already be deployed ( as a precaution ). One example: as I exit my car (our art studio was in a very industrial part of town with many homeless, train hoppers and druggies around) when arriving to work at 5:30 a.m. A number of times I have had people hop out from behind train cars or dumpsters hitting me up for money or chattering nonsensically (BTW, I've seen many of these people down here with a wide array of weapons that run the gamut, from metal pipes to box cutters). I give these areas a wide berth and my blade is already deployed as I approach. I haven't been attacked down here yet, but I am ready to go at all times. People who don't train weapons all that much always chirp in that you won't have time to get your weapon out. In many situations, that is true. But, guess what, chances are...mine is already out & ready to go.
Once I get into the studio and scan the area, I forget about and go to work. Once I lock up at the end of the day and walk out, I'm back into yellow alert mode until I get home. As I said earlier, I don't stress it, it's just what I do - second nature.

William

I do the same thing. It's one of the things Grand Tuhon Leo Gaje taught us.

[William]

I do the same thing. It's one of the things Grand Tuhon Leo Gaje taught us.

I'm not surprised. GT Gaje is on top of the blade oriented systems (IMHO).


William

[William]

Gaining control....Something to consider

Gaining contol of the weapon hand is vital in an attack, but, consider the following (something I posted elsewhere but is very relevant here):

BTW, as far as gaining control of the blade hand, remember that nothing is
certain. A relative of one of my instructors, a Native American and very
familiar with Penitentiary tactics, has an interesting way of setting people
up (one of many). He'll pull back his jacket exposing a shoulder rig with a
fixed blade (handle down) under his right arm. Standing right foot and
shoulder forward, body turned slightly away. He'll inform you that; "if you
can get to it before I pull it out, you might have a chance". If you go for
it, he's already got the blade out of his left shoulder rig, (which you didn
't see him un-sheath under his jacket when he turned and showed you the
right side blade) ready on the blind side for you to come in and get pumped.
He's betting you'll try to pin/grab/contol his right arm before he can pull
it out.
Yes, I know most blade confrontations happen without the victim ever seeing
the blade come out. But, there are some folks out there who don't give a
rats-u-know-what whether you see it coming or not.

As I said, nothing is certain. Just train realistically against skilled
uncooperative opponents (hand to hand and weapons) to better your odds.

William


Disclaimer: Do not try the above-mentioned maneuver without consulting a
physician and your local police department first.

[Airyu]

Hello Everyone,

This thread continues! Great work, it's great to see everyone sharing their information.

William: Awareness is the key! As Jeff Cooper stated in Principles of Self Defense(way back!) most people are just to "blind" to be aware. That would take work and responsibility for their own protection. I fully agree with you that people who only practice infrequently or not at all with weapons, will always pop up and state that you won't have the chance to deploy your weapon. It could happen, but is highly unlikely if you are aware of your surroundings and are prepared. I also work early (5:30am) in Boston near a large homeless shelter, so I have been approached on several occasions, never mind the slightly crazy people who have forgotten to take their Med's in the morning. Each time I had already deployed, either in a closed position(for my folder) or rear open position behind my leg. Always ready, even if not needed.

Train Hard, it is the Way!

Gumagalang
Guro Steve L.

https://www.Bujinkandojo.net

https://www.Sayoc.com

[pcarney]

How is awareness taught, other then telling someone 'be aware'?
That is, alot of what your talking about is common sense..avoiding situation where you can be attacked, dangerous places, etc. what more can be done?

[Veynn]

For me its self-preservation coupled with paranoia.

[Airyu]

Hello,

How is awareness taught? Here is a simple drill(one of many) it is currently being utilized by Tony Blauer, it was also used by Jeff Cooper and many others,

"What would I do if..." The underlying principle to this drill is to take a moment and determine a path of action "If" something happens or someone is to attack you. Is there a way to escape, is there a way to avoid the attack completely, if they attack am I able to access my weapon?, etc. etc. It starts a student thinking about awareness, and being in the "yellow zone".
At my school this drill is practiced as an introduction to "awareness" not an all knowing method, but a tool used to stimulate a student to start the process.

A bad awareness example: walking one day with several friends of mine, here in Boston, I noticed that directly in front of us was a drug bust in progress, 2 LEO's stepped out of a van weapons at the ready, trained on an individual. I went to stop the 2 individuals I was walking with, but they walked right through the middle of the whole thing, I quickly went around the officers and stopped my friends and said didn't you just see that? See what? they replied, The drug bust you just walked right through! Being in their own world they put themselves in direct harm, and didn't even know it.

Veynn, I fully agree self- preservation and paranoia!!

Train Hard it is the Way!

Guro Steve L.

https://www.Sayoc.com

https://www.Bujinkandojo.net

[William]

Veynn, I fully agree self- preservation and paranoia!!

I second that!!!

I have always told my students that I am slightly (Slightly being key) paranoid. As I stated earlier, it's second nature now. It feeds off the "what if" that Airyu mentioned. I also touched on it briefly back on page three of this thread. I'm also a sneaky bastard so I look at it from both sides. If someone wants to hit me, what would they do? On the flip side, If I wanted to hit someone, what would I do? By looking at both sides, I may notice something I might have missed from a one sided viewpoint.


The underlying principle to this drill is to take a moment and determine a path of action "If" something happens or someone is to attack you. Is there a way to escape, is there a way to avoid the attack completely, if they attack am I able to access my weapon?, etc. etc. It starts a student thinking about awareness, and being in the "yellow zone".

It's all about mental preparation. If you've already mentally considered that someone might be behind that dumpster, with a possible plan of action, your less likely to be surprised and more likely to flow into a proper mode of action (not be caught off guard). If you do this enough, it eventually becomes second nature and you do it automatically.

Back on page three I mentioned visualization exercises. If you visualize different dangerous situations (Not when your walking down the street) that you could encounter and work a mental plan of action to those scenarios, you'll be more likely to follow that successful plan of action if something similar happens. Of course you can't predict all outcomes, but you'll still be better prepared mentally to handle a situation if it happens then someone who hasn't (can you say: deer in the head lights?).

Elite athletes use visualization exercises to help prepare for competition. They visualize themselves performing their race (what ever it may be) succesfully and winning. Sometimes you see downhill skiers at the top just before their set to go, crouched in a tuck, eyes closed, swaying back and forth as they visualize going down the course. They are visualizing a "successful plan of action". These same types of techniques can be utilized for confrontational situations. There are probably some good books out there on the subject.

A related story:
Back when I used to race competitively, I was sitting at home one day and started thinking about: What would happen if I had a tire blow out at 55-60 mph flying down a hill? What would I/could I do? I went through the scenario, what I thought I could do to keep from getting myself killed. You know what, two days later I was ripping down a decent and my back tire blew out completely. I'm on my back rim at 50+ mph. I did exactly what I had visualized two days before. It wasn't thinking back at the moment, I just did it. I had burned a neuro pathway in my brain when I visualized the scenario, and just reacted when it happened. It's worth thinking about.

How? As I said previously, Use visualization to put yourself into a
dangerous situation and imagine how you would react to come through alive.
Develop the attitude that you will not stop/give up until either you can
escape or take them to the point that they're no longer able to continue the
attack.(look again at what Airyu posted above)



William

[William]

I came across this article about Fred Perrin, the French knife maker and combatives instructor. I thought I'd post it here because he covers a number of points that myself and others have presented in this thread.

And all things aside, I really like the weapons he comes up with, several of which I employ myself.

William

***********************************************

During my stay in Paris Fred was kind enough to spend several days showing me around as well as discussing the state of violence and self-preservation in Paris. He takes this subject matter very seriously because he's exposed to the problem day in and day out. Fred's opinions are based on first hand knowledge.

*On criminals:
Fred says, "there's a commonmis perceptionn [everywhere] that criminals are stupid, they're not, a good majority are very capable. That's theirfull timee job; they don't do anything else all day except dream up ways of taking your money and hurting you when you resist." Some of them have access to guns and knives, but the majority of criminals have makeshift weapons that are just as deadly. At a minimum every criminal in Paris is carrying a box-cutter, and civilians are completely unprepared for sudden assaults by these thugs, the majority of which are scared to carry even a penknife.

* What gangs do
Gangs run rampant in Paris, it's very similar to the '80s in the U.S. where there were car jackings, gang warfare, home invasions and hard-core criminal activity. Gang fights within the confines of Paris are almost a daily occurrence. And the first course of action is not to ignore it but to be aware of it and prepare yourself.

A favorite weapon of gangs is super glue. The run up to go, squirt it into your eyes, then roll you and do whatever they want.

They often put OC spray on the car door handle, follow you by car then attack you when you stop to take care of the problem. A major concern for criminals in France ID checks by police. Since so many aliens are illegal they don't wish to be stopped. As a method of escape they attach one or two razors on the edge of the passport of credit card, and if stopped they swipe the officer.

Just like in the U.S. years ago, criminals in France train attack dogs to do their work for them, but here it's done in a special way. The dog is trained with a laser pointer, so whenever the light beam hits the victim, the dog attacks that area of the target. You can't pass without giving up your valuables.

Many gangs use fishhooks and weights in caps, they slap their targets then hook them on the head and pull them down. They also smash victims with weighted sap caps, then slash the throat with a penknife. Criminals also wear bandanas with heavy metal bands hidden inside which can open large gashes in the face and head. Screwdrivers, table knives, and simple tools from hardware stores are all used in sudden attacks in Paris.

* On martial arts
Fred is not connected to the mainstream martial arts in France because they are still not able to face reality. The philosophy and attitude towards martial arts here is at the same stage it was in the 1980s in the America. People pay too much attention to the movies for their examples of real fighting. If the arts are not exotic people think they're automatically ineffective; if it's simple and works, they couldn't care less. Western fighting is not respected in the least, and forget about cross-training, the majority of martial artists are quite content studying and teaching one style for life. Like everywhere else, traditional martial artists don't practice for reality. If most martial artists [in France] were attacked with a knife, ice pick or a razor blade, they wouldn't know what to do.

* On Reality Defense
One of the renowned pioneers of self-defense in Europe is Charles Joussot. An experienced silat and edged weapons instructor and designer, Charles created FISFO, an organization dedicated to teaching civilian as well as police defense. Charles has taught many police agencies in Europe as well as the U.S. But besides Charles and Fred, there still isn't that much interest in reality-based defense.

One good sign is that during the last decade, mixed martial arts have been attracting interest. Things like the UFC, Vale Tudo and even combatives, vis-à-vis krav maga is getting attention. The topic of grappling vs. standup has also been making the rounds. In France 70% of altercations with the police end up on the floor.

Fred states that the most important component of self-defense is not technique at all, but the mind. Your awareness, your state of mind and how you deal with the situation comes before everything else. The second thing is technique, but with the use of "very few - simple techniques," because you can remember them at anytime. Most people only use 10% of what they learn anyway. In real situations, people respond with rapid reactions and movements, there will be lots of mistakes, but it's much better to employ a few effective techniques now, than too many later. And don't use only one approach; constantly practice at all distances using all styles. You also need to practice many different scenarios with and without weapons. Don't move too much, it's not necessary, 80% of self-defense is good footwork. People who have a gun don't move around like rabbits.

* On Knife Fighting
The mental attitude is much more important than great technique. For those who say fencing is completely different than knife fighting, Fred disagrees, he says, "fencing and knife fighting are really the same, except for the gap. In fencing you can use kinesthetics for feel, but for knife it has to be sight." Fred states, "the goal of knife fighting is to cut and not be cut, but the reality isn't so. Be prepared to get cut, but don't rush into it either."

When fighting with a knife, the first target should be the hand and forehead. You want to attack their vision, stop their mobility and cut their breathing. Fred often uses a training knife (a drone with a dull blade) to fight because it can still do extensive damage without cutting someone open. Fred says, "how can you tell the judge you were only defending yourself, when the guy has more than 40 deep cuts on his body?"

Many people learn to use a knife but very few people understand what to do when they're cut. For this Fred carries around his own survival kit, with antiseptic bandages, medical stapler, clamps to hold arteries, and other life saving tools. "It only takes a two-centimeter cut in the right place for a person to bleed out, and that only takes two minutes."

* On all-out fighting
Just like Kelly McCann and James Keating, Fred is a firm believer that the mind is the most important self-defense tool. "Remember to use your mind first, then use any tool around you, use the environment." Anything can be used as a weapon, a chair, a pen, a rolled up magazine or newspaper. One of Fred's favorite weapons is a medium size rubber snake. At first I thought he was joking, but that thick rubber snaps like a whip and you can easily entangle someone in it. Don't forget about throwing objects either, they don't have to land, they have to distract, so you can branch off and use other weapons. Some favorite objects he likes to throw are credit cards, small sharp objects, anything, these are meant to give you time.

Fred also believes in body protection whenever possible and when I met him he had shin and arm guards (with metal corners) under his clothes. This is necessary in Paris, especially when you enter dangerous neighborhoods. Muay Thai is very popular with much of the youth and you need that edge to survive.

Finally, the most important factor is awareness, that is, knowing where you are, your environment, checking your surroundings, being aware if someone is following you, not flashing your wallet or money around, checking for exits wherever you go. When in a hotel, using a rubber wedge in addition to the lock on the door. And whenever possible at least carry one type of weapon.

[William]

I had a chance to watch the LEO tape "Surviving Edged Weapons" again this weekend. Always good for a reality check. GT Gaje and Guro Inosanto were involved in the production of this video. I highly recomend veiwing it if you have never seen it.

Anyone know of any other vids that deal with edged weapons from a realistic stand point (not just technique)?


William

[ryanhall]

Anyone know of any other vids that deal with edged weapons from a realistic stand point (not just technique)?

Yeah. Try Richard Dimitri's On the Cutting Edge video. I've heard it's great. Sammy Franco's Control and Conquer tapes are supposed to be good as well--haven't seen them, but the knife stuff he teaches in-person works very well. Lots of good non-technique stuff taught by both instructors.

http://www.senshido.com/sshp1_2.html

http://www.sammyfranco.com/controlseries.html

I'm sure Geoff Thompson has some good stuff as well.

[William]

Greetings,

I have been playing around with Fred Perrins LaGriffe knife for a while now. I have to say that I really like it as a back up blade. The cost was a bit high so I purchesed a CRKT Bear Claw which is very semilar in design and at $25.00 dollars it's a steal.
It has a slightly different feel than the LaGriffe. The Handle is a bit longer so it sits a little deeper in the palm. It has the same type of finger hole that gives it that passive grip that I like so much (as opposed to the active grip of a standard type blade). This is one nasty little blade.
The passive style grip allows the ability to grab cothing, hold a flash light etc... while still holding the blade. Essentially you can open and close your knife hand and not loose the blade. In the reverse grip with your pinky through the finger hole, it's a bit more stable than the LaGriffe due to the slightly longer handle. Hitting a hard target in this grip could still be a bit problematic, but not as much as the LaGriffe.

Bottom line: at $25.00, it's a great deal.

I am going to try cutting the handle down just slightly. Due to a baseball bat smashing my right hand in a local turf war incident when I was younger, the top knuckle of my pointer finger is fused which makes the reach to the finger hole slightly uncomfortable. Shortening the length slightly should alieveate this and give it a little more of a "LaGriffe" feel.

William

[Yahoma]

videos

Hello
I´m colect martial arts video tapes. If you want I send you list of my titles. If you are interested, send me your list of video tapes. We could exchange something.

Thank you
Regards
Roman Bittner

Please write my her:
Bittner.Roman@VingTsun.cz