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Igot a brief, uneasy pause from my editor when I mentioned that the
topic of the very first issue of my column is knife fighting. I
understand his concern; the Wednesday publication is dedicated to
health and wellness. But this is about public safety.
Now that throngs of people will flock to
self-defense classes this summer, many of them teaching defense
against knife attacks, it is best to present to the public the
grizzly reality of knife fighting.
A knife or any edged weapon in the hand of an
aggressor is a deadly threat. A ubiquitous implement, the knife is
the most common weapon used in the commission of various crimes. On
a global perspective, investigators of the 9/11 tragedy believe that
the hijackers of the planes used in the attacks employed box cutters
and plastic knives to accomplish their goals.
Edged weapons can inflict lethal injuries. Guy
N. Rutty, in his book Essential of Autopsy Practice says, “Stab
wounds are generally more dangerous than cuts because they are more
likely to penetrate body cavities, injuring internal organs and
associated blood vessels.” I grew up near a butchers’ bunker and
I witnessed early in life the bloody havoc that ensued from alcohol
fueled knife fights.
In the United States, law enforcement officers
are justified to shoot a suspect armed with a knife if the offender
refuses to surrender his weapon and breach the distance of 21 feet.
In the self-defense training exercise known as Tueller Drill, it was
repeatedly proven that an individual with a knife can bridge the
21-foot gap and manage to stab an officer before he could deploy his
handgun. The Tueller Drill was invented by American police officer
Sgt. Dennis Tueller and the result of the tests he conducted was
published in SWAT Magazine in 1983.
Forget all the flash and bravado of Hollywood;
it is impossible to disarm a trained knife fighter bare-handedly.
Though there are “empty hand against knife drills” in most
styles of Filipino martial arts (FMA), their main aim is to develop
combat attributes like reflex and sensitivity.
In the FMA, the best way to face an armed
opponent is to pick up a weapon yourself. There is a combat
principle unique to the FMA called “defanging the snake,” which
simply means hitting the hand holding the weapon. The premise of
this technique is if you defang a snake, it will become harmless, if
you destroy your enemy’s capability to hold a weapon, then he is
no longer a threat. This principle should be a main staple in any
impact or bladed weapon training.
If you’re attending self-defense clinics this
summer that teach knife defense, evaluate the course material
thoroughly for practicality. Functional knife fighting is simple and
no-nonsense. Shun any instructors who promise a foolproof formula in
dealing with the threat of edged weapons. As the Tueller Drill has
proven, even a holstered handgun is no guarantee.
I got a common response from a number of
real-life fighters whom I have asked regarding the best response to
a knife attack; “Run without shame,” they say.
A recent study conducted by the Los Angeles
Police Department have shown that officers in barefoot pursuit are
likely to lose a suspect who can run non-stop for 400 meters. With
that said, work on your sprinting ability. Running is a good
self-defense option indeed.
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