[Gabicho]

I got together with a few other guys that trained manny different things (from BJJ to JJJ to Kali to Systema to Nintendo-ryu), and what we did was have one guy with a rubber knife, the other one unnarmed - and running not being an option.
Headgear, shin guards, groin protectors (and mouthguards, of course).

What i got from those "sparring" sessions is this:

Bottom line:
1.- If you're against someone who doesn't know how to use a knife, you're screwed. (most of us got "killed" 8 out of 10 times against these).

2.- If you're against someone who does know how to use the knife, you're utterly screwed. (against the kali, systema, or jjj guys, it was more like 9/10 - and the one time the unnarmed guy made it out, was because the guy with the knife screwed up majorly).

3.- If you're against someone who knows how to use the knife, and also is "better" in unnarmed combat, you're totally pwnt - because if you had already little to no chance to beat him while he's unnarmed, your chances go near 1% when he is armed with a knife - he will kick, punch, headbutt, slam, throw, sweep, bite, and choke you... while he stabs you.

4.- Nintendo ryu guys were the least effective with the knife, but mostly because of the fact they were intimidated to some extent by the "trained" guys (this is just my opinion). Which doesn't matter that much, because in the street, "Mr. Juan with a knife" doesn't know you are a black belt in Judo and just won a medal in the Combat Sambo European Championship, so he'll attack you just the same.

5.- If there's a knife, there's going to be a cut. Getting cut doesn't mean you have to stop defending yourself - use your hands! It's better to get your hands sliced over and over again, than having your neck sliced one time.

6.- While some styles proved good to avoid/stall getting cut, they were entirely unable to disarm or defeat the armed attacker - so if your mom is not coming to help you, you're screwed by being passive.

7.- It was just a very hard sparring session with protective gear and a rubber knife, so 95% of this is entirely innacurate and should not be given too much thought

[Trim Reaper]

the best knife disarming technique is; grab the blade really hard so that he cant hurt you with it and make sure you squeeze the blade till you bleed so he knows you're not scared of him or his pussy ass knives!

[deckingdutchman]

A friend of mine has been studying different sword/weapon arts since he was like 5 (he's 18 now). For the most part he has studied a tanto and katana based art, a Vietnamese style, and Celtic Broadsword. I'm just a kickboxing guy.

We fuck around a lot with rubber knives and such, and I can tell you, whether we both have knives/swords, or if i have a knife or sword and he's unarmed, I get powned. Hard. I don't come even close to standing a chance against him.

So I'm gonna say, yes. You can definitely train knife/sword fighting/disarming.

[nw kor-am]

krav maga

[ne12o]

Spar with a painted plastic knife with a buddy. Then you'll know. If you plain suck, IT's better to sacrifice something to disarm him... just make sure your sacirfice isn't wasted.

[Leviathan]

Does anyone think fencing would assist in knife fighting/knife defense at all? I hear a lot about escrima and kali, but almost no one talks about western fencing.

I am not suggesting it does or does not, I am just curious. The footwork and technique for fencing seems to be based around quick movements in and out, any opinions?

[Coldindian]

The best technique is if you have room, get out of there. With all seriousness, avoid the situation at all costs.

[Coldindian]

Originally Posted by pandaman

I agree, kicks are a good bet. Likely you'll be wearing shoes, which could give your feet a bit of protection against a knife (maybe), or maybe long pants like jeans, which could also help.

Better than waving your hands around trying to catch the person's wrist and getting sliced off fingers and cut up arms. Legs are abit more durable than hands and arms!

Think about it, knife vs shoes, knife wins. Knife vs long pants, knife wins. The attacker will slice up your legs and when you start limping because your CUT, he/she will come and KILL you so just do one thing if you have room or space, run away. No one's going to make fun of you because you avoided a life or death situation.

[Coldindian]

TS, look into Ninjutsu, it is very helpful and effective for knife defense. It's not fancy but it gets right to the point. Look it up.

[Yanoush]

Seems to me if you get in close with knifer, the most important thing is wrist control. I would think that if possible, getting a kimura lock on his arm would work well. From there, sink your teeth into his neck and rip his jugular out, knee him in the nuts until he dies.

The key to training this is getting and maintaining that wrist control. Have someone with a fake knife draw and try to stab you, keep practicing on grabbing that wrist as strongly and accurately as you can.

If the guy is outside your reach and coming at you with a knife, use the teep kick to the balls to stun him or even knock him down