sorry... posted this elsewhere:
If a knife is involved it is obvious to say get out of there! but that is not always an option... (obviously if it is then go go go!)
My advice would be to have some realistic knife defence in your training - it is the most common weapon you will face, and not knowing how to deal with it could be fatal... with that in mind my pointers would be:
1) get hold of the knife bearing limb, and don't let go! - police reports indicate that of those people attacked with knives, the people that survived/had the least injury are those that managed to get hold of the weapon bearing limb and didn't let go
2)use a cover/guard that covers both high and low targets (like the 'dog catcher') - the juji uke techniques described above (with the boney part of the arm outwards) are very good at this, and they relate very easily and fluidly with traditional karate blocks (funny that). Just remember to be fluid and work the defence from all angles of attack - aiming in the end for a mushimi/kakie feel to your defences. The reason being that if you can maintain contact witrh that weapon bearing limb for as long as possible, not only do you instinctively know where the weapon is, but is easier to control and take hold.
3) expect to get cut - but try to limit where you will get cut. This relates to the cover I described above... it is much better to get cut on the outsde of the arms than anywhere else.
5)limit yourself to gross movements, ie - nothing fancy that requires too much dexterity. When the adrenaline is pumping and the fear kicks in, most just won't pull of anything fancy
6) whenever you feel confident in your ability to defend from a knife do a 'marker pen' drill - and it should bring you back to reality with a crash!
|