The main problem with knife attack is that, often, the attacker will not draw the knife and show it around: if he does it’s like he might want to scare you, perhaps with the intent of robbin you. In many cases somebody might just draw the knife, while fighting, and simply stab you or cut you in the process: and in these cases people get injured or killed without having concious knowledge of that happening.

The main problem with knife attack is that, often, the attacker will not draw the knife and show it around: if he does it’s like he might want to scare you, perhaps with the intent of robbin you. In many cases somebody might just draw the knife, while fighting, and simply stab you or cut you in the process: and in these cases people get injured or killed without having concious knowledge of that happening.

Mike: I appreciate your Shihan’s non-romanticized approach to knife practice. I think that’s very important.

Rick: Thank you very much for bringing an aikido perspective! I am a big fan of aikido, but like you said, it’s important to differentiate the spiritual, training aspects from the hardline self defense. It’s neat to see connections between seemingly distant arts like aikido and krav maga.

John: Critical distance – great addition to the conversation. I’ve always thought of distancing and timing as greater than any particular technique, and that makes your viewpoint resonate for me.

Of course, we do have to consider the fact that we might not have the luxury of establishing critical distance in public venues out of spacial necessity or surprise. Bars, atms, or even pharmacies (which happened last week in my neighborhood!) can all lead to situations where distance is closed without your control. At those times, the skills shown above are very useful.

Thanks again to everyone for pondering and commenting on this topic. I’m in Colorado at the moment, but will be back later this week.