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[Hock]

Taken from my blog this first time for the many people who read this and do not read the blog...

True Military Knife Fights!

Prioritizing Kicking...
This is the beginning of my reprinting of true military knife fights in the blog, that I had researched for an old military knife book I wrote. The book sold its run of 10,000 copies. It is out of print now and only a few have read the stories. I have added commentary and observations to the story. Keep on eye on this blog for these frequent tales...

"When he holds the knife before you, kick it out of his hand with a big, round crescent kick," so says many the martial artist.  Kicking and knife fighting is often a misunderstood relationship. Kick/punch systems that encourage their students to kick knives out of enemy hands as a primary strategy, and offer little-to-no other options, are making a serious mistake. A simple movement of his knife hand, or a missed kick and that incoming leg is cut.

But, I have learned not to completely count kicking out as a secondary or tertiary strategy versus a knife. As a judge of several knife vs. knife fighting "Killshot" tournaments, more than once I have been surprised to see a knife kicked clean out of the opponent's hand during the most fierce, serious battles. But, your attention please on this! These successful kicks are usually low front snap kicks, and they often accidentally catch the enemy's weapon bearing limb.

Kicking the body is another vital mission in a knife fight. Kicking the groin, knees and ankles of the attacker is a fine strategy. Maybe as high as the stomach! Read this true Marine combat story from WW II South Pacific theatre:

" ... hunkered down in a foxhole ... Huestis was suddenly set upon by a Japanese soldier holding a bayonet. The Japanese bayoneted Huestis in the right shoulder, right arm and neck. As his assailant drew back for another thrust, Huestis kicked him in the stomach, then leaped on him, grabbed the knife arm and clamped on the Japanese's neck in the crook of his arm and squeezed until the man finally died."
                                                         James Hallas, The Battle for Sugar Loaf, Preager


Key survival points in this case study:
1) Never give up
2) Grab the weapon bearing limb
3) Stomach kick
4) Choke to stangulation death


Kicked him in the stomach in the middle of real hard-core, knife combat?! Actually there are quite a few accounts of people kicking knife attackers, but the target of these kick have usually been to the body, not the blade or blade-hand. Don't discount kicking!

A panther or a tiger is not a creature who hunts and fights with a single claw. His sheer magnificence, his overall strength, speed, weight and teeth make him a mighty killer. When you stand before an opponent in a knife fight, whether you hold a knife or not, you do not have just one claw with which to fight. Your entire body is a weapon on the edge of a ravaging explosion. You must train to hand strike, elbow, knee, bite and kick the enemy when safe from his blade. Survive. Win. Like the panther, you bring more to the fight than a single claw.

Quick synopsis of our SFC Kicking Progression:
All done standing, sitting, kneeling and on the ground when physically possible. All kicks are practiced empty handed AND while holding a knife, a stick and a gun.
 
- Level 1 The Frontal Snap Kick Module
- Level 2 The Stomp Kick Module
- Level 3 The Knee Strike/Kick Module
- Level 4 The Rear Leg Round Kick Module
- Level 5 The Front Leg Hook Kick Module
- Level 6 The Mule Kick/Back Kick Module
- Level 7 The Side Kick Module
- Level 8 The Thrust Kick Module
- Level 9 The Counters to Kicks Module
- Level 10 The Combat Scenarios Modules involving kicks


Hock

[Hock]

I have run acress MANY citizen and military knife fights where the parties have seen each other armed, and then just bcak off rather than a knife duel. The DOJ reproted some 60% to 65% of all criminals, once presented with a gun or a knife in the hand of their intended victim, run off. Here is another section from my old, military knife book...

"Some spend a disproportionate amount of time training in a range least likely to happen. Longer sword fencing techniques don't always relate to the shorter blade of a knife, and "reality" knife fighting also involves close-quarter grappling and ground combat situations. Military and criminal history shows us that the most common knife attacks are powerful lunges, slashes and stabs, usually accompanied by angry and desperate mad rushes. The dueling part can be over in a second with such a rushing charge and a tangle of hands, a fall, etc. Grappling!
 
Many knife fights start and finish in the grappling range, the weap­ons pulled in close-quarters and wrestled into action. Many start and end on the ground. Sometimes the knives are drawn during a ground fight. Sometimes knives are drawn in a close-quarter clinch or clutch, and the participants man­age to push each other off, finding themselves in the "dueling" situation, so these showdowns can certainly happen. Sometimes, I wish that duelers could practice with small electric cattle prods. (now more possible!) Only then would they begin to respect the practice knives they are sparring with.
A knife fighter should study in all ranges of combat. Novices are often very frustrated to discover that blade-training goes well beyond stabbing, slashing and performing boxing ring footwork. They need to also practice what might be more commonly referred to as Jujitsu with a knife on an obstacle course....in the rain and snow

And to sum up the unusual factors surrounding "face-off' knife fights, consider this WW II confrontation after a WW II South Pacific battle and explosion:

"I floundered to the surface, the shock of the water cleared my head of some of the smoke and concussion ... sputtering water, I bellied onto the wooden spar on the beach. A bedraggled figure clinging to the other end of the spar cried out in alarm and threat. I reached cautiously for my sheath knife as the Japanese sailor and I eyed each other through the haze of night and battle. I figured he'd come for me. He must have thought I'd go for him. We remained frozen with indecision for a long moment. Then, I eased off the spar on my end. He eased off his end and swam away. Both of us had had all the fight we wanted."

Roy Boehm, Time Magazine, March 1999

There they were, belly-deep in waves, standing on wet mud and shifting sand. Fact is that real world, knife fighting, or any fighting for that matter always involves terrain and conditions. People who teach and depend solely on boxer's footwork to keep their distance, have never been in combat inside a living room or kitchen of a residence, a parking lot, or a small tunnel in Vietnam or Korea, or any rugged terrain on any real-world site. Many knife courses ignorantly teach knife fighting only in the range were a knife fight would be least likely to occur or remain! Boxing ring or fencing footwork alone doesn't prepare you for the geography of combat.

For more on the legendary Roy Boehm, see: http://www.firstseal.com/

Hock

[410indashade]

Amen Hoch! Amen

[bbwolf]

Amen Hoch! Amen

+1
Well said Hoch, people often forget that ,even with a weapon, they have a whole bunch of other tools they can use.  that is something that my knife/stick combatives instructor drilled into me and I thank him for that. Also, that account posted says worlds about mindset. This man, though he had multiple injuries, and was facing a better-armed opponent had that mind set that, "as long as I breathe, I will fight you with everything I have until you are defeated. I will walk away from this and you will not".  Many, seeing that the opponent was better armed, and after being injured, might have given up, thinking there was no way they could defeat the better armed opponent. The "I will prevail at all costs" mindset is unfortunantly taught at too few places that claim to teach people to defend themselves.