Combat/Defensive Knife Technique

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alabaster

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I'm curious if anyone knows of any strong sources for defensive or combat knife techniques. I know some folks say "Rule #1 of a knife fight is: Have a gun!" But I still understand the reality of needing knives in certain situations, not the least of which is weapon retention... I'm interested in any good logical sources that are available.

I am particularly curious about a technique I saw on a video by Doug Marcaida(I will try to find the link). It is called the "Flail", in which someone uses their finger in the ring of a karambit, allowing their grip to loosen enough for the karambit to "Swing" forward, locking their thumb against the handle. It allows for a 4-5in advantage in reach, but it looks "Iffy" to me due to the lack of grip over the knife's handle, and the possibility of a broken finger if the flail were deflected.

Check out around 4:48 on this video and he'll cover the basics of it.


Roninsensei, I am gathering from your posts that you have more knowledge about knives than the average joe and that it differs from the "Knives are only tools" thought that many have about edged "Weapons".
 
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In my experience karambit fighting is strictly a weapon for surprise and not a knife on knife weapon. Doug will make it look good because he's talented, however even he knows that in a knife on knife fight the karambit is not his go to... In a real knife fight distance is king. The further from your opponents knife you are the better. The knife will be held forward and not reversed and it will be in front of you. People that hold the knife in reverse haven't ever experienced knife on knife combat.
 
I'm curious if anyone knows of any strong sources for defensive or combat knife techniques. I know some folks say "Rule #1 of a knife fight is: Have a gun!" But I still understand the reality of needing knives in certain situations, not the least of which is weapon retention... I'm interested in any good logical sources that are available.

I am particularly curious about a technique I saw on a video by Doug Marcaida(I will try to find the link). It is called the "Flail", in which someone uses their finger in the ring of a karambit, allowing their grip to loosen enough for the karambit to "Swing" forward, locking their thumb against the handle. It allows for a 4-5in advantage in reach, but it looks "Iffy" to me due to the lack of grip over the knife's handle, and the possibility of a broken finger if the flail were deflected.

Roninsensei, I am gathering from your posts that you have more knowledge about knives than the average joe and that it differs from the "Knives are only tools" thought that many have about edged weapons.

I am the tactical knife fighting instructor for my security firm. I have been doing martial arts for 36 years and been in enough blade to blade moments to make my hair go white early....lol PM me with any and all questions regarding knife play, if your too embarrassed to post them but, to me the only stupid question is the one never asked...

Also Alabaster yes, this technique is risky if it were grabbed or deflected then yes, you could get a finger broken. When fighting some one with out a knife the karambit is a damn good equalizer, but in my experienced expert opinion not a knife vs knife weapon.



Here are two military trained fighters one starts knife forward the other back. Half way through the match you see the guy with the reverse grip change because he's losing to the reach. This is a good example of real knife on knife fighting.
 
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educateing,that was nothing like the movies...checked a local store here what they keep,do you have a max thickness of the blade you don't go over??
 
Really the rule is, what ever your comfortable carrying and using. I'm just picky about make and there's only a couple of companies that I'd trust my life to. Cold steel, Tops, Kabar, Camillus, Spyderco and probably Condor. Also some of these company's make knifes I still wouldn't use... Find what works for you but, make sure you've got a good couple of inches on your opponent. ;)
 
Thanks Roninsensei,
just had to ask 'cause some of the blades I watched had a blade width of 6mm and it felt kinda thick
 
Some of the Kabar BK line is a quarter inch thick. That's a touch bigger than 6mm. Tacop87 has fallen in love with the BK line. To each his own. I personally don't like em that thick but, it makes one heck of a log splitter..
 
definately will..
ok,another question, what about those serrated edges??
 
Serrated edges are great for damage but are nearly impossible to sharpen with out special tools. I recommend against them on a general purpose knife but on a fighter knife? It's up to the user.
The pattern is very important. The serrations need to be tight and small like a sharks tooth to be truly effective like the pattern cold steel uses...
ColdSteelSerrations.jpg


These are a pain to sharpen but the damage is great. The chance of bleeding out is much greater. The cut isn't as clean as an non-serrated blade and tends to stay open. The resulting wound can be life threatening. Cold steel sells a dog bone sharpener that fit this pattern exactly but its still a pain to sharpen.
LSLTRCS.jpg


See the tooth pattern is meant for the Cold steel serrated knife. With this you can keep the knife pretty sharp for a while but not forever. Eventually I had to send mine back to the company to resharpen...
 
Some of the Kabar BK line is a quarter inch thick. That's a touch bigger than 6mm. Tacop87 has fallen in love with the BK line. To each his own. I personally don't like em that thick but, it makes one heck of a log splitter..
I've only fallen in love with the BK2 I'm not too fond of the other bks purely for aesthetic reasons. Lol but yes I am very happy with the bk2. Cold steel will always be number 1 in my heart!!!
 
ok, another question; in use are there any significant differences between a tanto-blade and lets say bowie-blade??
daggers are propably a different ballgame...
 
Tanto's are a fighting blade and do greater damage because of the secondary point on the blade, Bowie's are a general purpose blade and aren't that effective with snap or whip cutting. A bowie is a good survival knife and works well as a fighter. A tanto is a fighter's knife and barely works as a survival blade. Daggers are stabbing mostly knifes, And are banned in most states.
 
thank you again :)
this helps a lot,though I'm propably going to have 2 knifes..one tanto- one bowie-blade, can't hurt having more than one ;)
 
thank you again :)
this helps a lot,though I'm propably going to have 2 knifes..one tanto- one bowie-blade, can't hurt having more than one ;)
Ronin teaches us exactly that. Usually 1 knife specifically for fighting (never gets used and always razor sharp) and 1 knife for utility work/survival I always keep 3 because in over redundant. I keep one specifically to abuse on things I don't want to use a good knife on and to throw just in case.
 

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