Thoughts on Edged Weapon Defense

I read through a lot of literature and what Internet “experts” have to say about edged weapons training. A lot of people say that there is no way to defend yourself from such an attack. The conventional wisdom is that no matter what you try, the “knife fighter” is going to prevail. I recently read a post that stated that “No matter what you do, it is hopeless to defend yourself empty handed.”

I do not believe that is a true statement. It is my personal opinion that type of mental programming creates failure. If you do not believe that you can survive and prevail, you won’t. It is pretty plain and simple. You will only be able to do what your programming allows you to do and to a low level of performance at that.

I teach edged weapons defense to a large number of people on a pretty consistent basis. I have been a Police Officer and Police trainer for a good part of my life and have always tried to train people to survive an edged weapons attack through the use of physical and mental tools. If you do not give people the tools and tactics to survive all forms of attack, you are cheating them. You are neither an ethical, nor complete trainer. You are depriving your students of a chance to survive and move forward through a horrific attack.

In almost every case that I have ever come across as an student and trainer, the attack has never been from 21 feet away .Edged weapons attacks are not like the High Noon Shootout. The edged weapons attack comes from the push, shove, clinch or even grappling on the ground. The attacker is in close and doing the damage now and it needs to stop now.
You have to have the ability to stop or at least slow down the attack to be able to go to your guns, knives or other weapon system that you are trained to use. What choice do you have? The attack is happening; you are being cut and possibly going to die if you fail to respond to the attack. This is where I differ from the experts out there. You have to have some idea how to defend yourself from the edged weapons attack. You are there and have to get out of that situation with the least amount of damage done to you.

Can you survive an edged weapon attack? Yes, without a doubt. Is everyone you face on the street a trained “knife fighter?” The majority of edged weapons attacks are from angry, out of control people. They are in an intense rage, on drugs or mentally unstable. The last person that I had to deal with that was actually carrying a knife had slashed his own throat and was on drugs and mentally unstable. He was not a trained knife fighter, but he was still dangerous. Was he going to attack me like Remy Presas or like a crazed maniac? The attacks differ. The trained fighter comes at you like an action movie star, super small movements with the intent to kill or disable you quickly. The maniac will usually attack with the overhead ice pick, stab to the belly or a wild back and forth slash. The maniac is out of control and might not have a plan other than hacking you up.

They each have different mindsets and different aims, but if you are not trained to at least attempt to defend yourself, the results are the same. If you are not trained to deal with an edged weapons attack, you have no chance to survive. You are missing a tool from your massive tool box of self defense construction equipment. If your instructor tells you that there is no way that you can defend against an edged weapons attack, find a new one.

Parkour

Parkour or freerunning is really neat. Parkour practitioners have great functional, fluid strength. It is dangerous and sometimes illegal, but exciting to watch. The abilities of Parkour athletes are incredible. They are in incredible shape and have great flexibility and are able to explode and take a lot of abuse. They are pretty fluid and graceful, even when they eat the big one. I don't practice this by any means, but I still find it fun to watch.

The Need for Combative System Intergration

I am still really involved in Police Training and I get to see a lot of interesting results in the officer's skills. I often see that depending on what they think the problem is, they will put on a hat that fits only that situation. This becomes confusing to all involved and can cause someone to be injured or killed. I feel that all training should be integrated so that people do not have to operate under a different system for each problem that they face. Whether it is a firearms, edged weapon, hand to hand or other question. You do not want your officers having to change systems under combat stress. It can cause them to hesitate or react inappropriately. The can be burdened with the fear of making the wrong move or decision.

It is often extremely hard to get all of the Instructors in a Department on the same page. In my last job, there was concern that you were encroaching on someone's feudal territory if you even suggested that everything be brought under one umbrella. The only people that could discuss firearms, where the firearms instructors, the only people to be allowed to discuss any other weapon systems were those Instructors. This type of feudal land protection does nothing but hurt the line officer.

The line officer needs to have skills and plans that fit together like Legos. Each specific part needs to be a seamless continuation of the other parts of the equation. It makes no sense to have Empty Hand Control Tactics be separated from Firearms or any other Combative Skill. By keeping each skill as a separate part of the equation the Officer has to decide what system to use at each change of resistance or attack. What combative mode are they in? Are they in their firearms stance, hand to hand combat position or in their ground fighting position? The position they need to be in is a total combatives one. Every skill, tool and tactic they use should fit under one combative system.

I personally think that everyone should be trained to fight like they walk. What I mean is that everyone needs to be trained to function as they normally would. They do not need to have to move from a convoluted physical platform that each skill set might demand. they need to be able to move naturally and freely. If you watch a lot of Police Involved Shooting clips, the Weaver stance is not very prevalent. Base everything off the way the body moves and you free up the Officer to respond correctly and more quickly. Everyone can walk and the body works well in normal positions.

The training needs to be based on a reality based system that allows the Officer to be able to flow from one skill set to the next within the context of a real incident. The firearms stance, hand to hand stance and every other "system" they are trained in needs to be the same. Tony Blauer opened my eyes to this with his SPEAR System. Every stance you are in, every position you find yourself in, is a fighting position. Every tool works from the same platform, whether it is firearms, edged weapons defense or straight hand to hand combat.

Your training must include situations that force you to use each of your tools or skills in ways that are not usually covered in training environments. Most people do not train to use their firearms in the middle of a hand to hand fight where the bad guy produces a weapon. Very few trainers will run drills where in the same scenario, the firearm fails and they have to go to edged weapons or other tools. Why not? Is it protecting feudal lands? Do not cheat yourself or those that you are responsible for teaching. Open your eyes to doing the best possible training for your people and integrate everything under one umbrella. Your troops will be safer and make better decisions, which is the reason for training to start with.

Fear

I think that Cable News Channels are not the best thing out there for entertainment. My wife will certainly disagree as it is her relaxation vice. But is it really relaxing? Does Cable News do anything positive for society?

I really feel that the News does nothing but really spread despair and discontent throughout the world. The old cliche, "If it bleeds, it leads, " is so much more obvious in today's world. The News channels are having to fill the airwaves 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. there is so much competition that they have to outdo each other with the goriest thing they can find. they all try to upstage the others with their breaking news alerts and get the information out there. From what I have seen lately, they just get on and say, "Nothing new to report, OJ is still in jail. Britney is still crazy and now buying pregnancy tests."

The other issue that I see with headline news is their constant reports on missing people. Unfortunately people have gone missing since the beginning of time. I hate that people are killed and never located. Cable News would have you believe that every woman in America is one step out of her house from disappearing. Cable News causes people to live in fear. They are worried about kidnapping, murder and general crimes against them.

The world is not as bad as the News People make it out to be. I think that the constant beating that Cable News shows inflict on us, make the world seam like a scary place. It does not have to be. Be aware of your surroundings and take responsibility for your safety, and the chances that you are assaulted drop. You can also take a break from the news and see how much better you feel.

Just a rant from someone that does not think that we need to live in fear.

Modern Warrior

In today's "tactical" world, this image has become all to common. The current trend is to pretty much buy everything that you can and put it your tactical vest in an effort to be at the "top" of your game. The problem is that to many people have trained in "Tactical Consumer" classes versus tactical skills classes. "If I have the newest shiniest toys I will win whatever I face." I see that a lot in schools that I have attended as well as those I have taught at. Everyone wants the toy with the highest CDI factor (Chicks Dig It) and they think that it is the magic solution. "If I just have the XYZ transmogrifier, I will prevail in every confrontation."

The problem with this line of thought is that people forget the fundamentals of what ever they are striving to achieve. They forget that the real answer to most problems is hard work. It is the time in the Dojo, on the range, even the time in class to learn the reasons why we do what we do. People forget that they are the Weapon and everything that we carry into combat is a tool for the weapon system to use.

The Modern Warrior needs to step back a little and evaluate their needs and goals in regards to their tactical equipment. Is the answer buying more stuff or is it training to use what you already have in your arsenal.

We need to be the "Naked Warrior'" to borrow a great term and idea from Tony Blauer. The basic premise is that you can defend yourself without all of the tools and gear if you need to. It is a very powerful premise in that it reshapes the way you live and train. You than start to rebuild your system from the ground up in such a way that they all mesh.

I like to teach all of my students that everything we do is based on the same platform, whether it is hand, stick, knife or firearm that they are deploying. It makes since once you realize that there is no reason to separate your skills into different branches or actions. One seamlessly flows into the next, because in Combat you can be at any level of force at any time. The real confrontation is not a case of meeting at High Noon for the shootout. It is the push, punch, weapon drawn from a hiding place and used against you. If you are not the weapon system, how do you defend yourself and prevail?

Kettlebell Juggling

I like to play with kettlebell juggling, but this is a whole new level. Ian has some great explosive power. Something else to work at, along with everything else I am trying to do.

Paul

Sandbag training

I have added a lot of different tools to my workouts and those that I teach others. North Point Training has a lot of good clips and ideas from which to take good stuff. They are squared away and I really like what they do. This a a clip of Rick Mayo doing a variety of sandbag drills. Like everything else I am playing with, there is no end to the fun and pain that you can have. It is great that there are so many people that thinking outside the bench bench press. I hope to have clips like this up in the near future that are this good.

Paul

The Dark Knight

For those who know me pretty well, I have always been a geek in regards to Batman. I even have the Batman Converse shoes. It was my all time favorite program as a child. I read the comic books and have seen all the movies. I am looking forward to Summer when this comes out.

Everyone has to have their vice.

Sucker Punch

This was a funny clip. But it does have something to teach about Self Defense. The sucker punch is what usually wins the fight. It is from the criminal that comes up and blind sides you, because you are not paying attention. Tony Blauer has built a great program that helps handle the sucker punch. Look into his training material for simple effective tools and techniques.

By paying attention to your surroundings, you are able to negate the sucker punch. The other side to the coin is that this is not the Old west. You do not want to meet in the street at High Noon for a fight. If you are threatened, your life or limb is in danger from an unlawful attack, use this same tool against the bad guy. If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.

Choices

This is a nice video on personal accountability and choices that are made.

Happy New Year!!!

It is the New Year and time to make new resolutions and changes in our lives. the problem is that we all make grand plans and then fail to follow through and the year is the same as the one before. I am as guilty of it as everyone else. Sometimes I cheat and make a resolution such as cutting down on smoking, which is easy as I have never smoked before.

It seems that the best way to go out and make changes, to keep resolutions made, is to start small and move forward. I think that people often vow to make grand, sweeping changes to their thoughts and actions. Unfortunately it does not become a reality as it is such an overpowering, all encompassing goal, that it overwhelms the person making the statement. It is to much to bite off and chew, as the saying goes in Texas.

The first step is to make sure that your changes and desires, mesh with your goals and mission in life. There will be no follow through if they do not mesh. Everyone needs to have a Mission Statement. This gives them a framework from which to proceed through life. How can you make changes if you have no mission from which to base them on? You really cannot go forward successfully without a mission in life. Take some time and figure out what your mission is, it makes a difference in your life.

The next step to making changes in your life is to start with the end result and break the trip there into smaller bites. You do not drive Coast to Coast without your end result being a series of smaller trips. Let's say your goal is to earn a college degree but, you work 40+ hours a day, have 3 kids and a lot of other pressing matters in your life that make it hard. Is it possible? Yes, take one class a semester until it is completed. What is the hurry as long as you are on your path? It has taken this long to get back to that path and it might be a slow journey, but you are making it.

In this New Year, set your Big Goals, but also plan out the small trips that will get you there. The End Goal might seem to large and to hard to ever reach. It is not if you start the journey with way points to head towards.

Paul

Look for some changes in the next year with our training programs. We will be hosting more seminars in Kettlebells and Combatives across the country. I hope to have two training manuals out for KB's and Combatives. We have a KB seminar on January 19th. I will be posting my own video clips on this site soon.