Comments on: Knife Defence

By: massimo

massimo — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 08:28:42 +0000

@Adam thanks for your very useful comment: I already saw the video you suggested and you are right it’s a very eye opener for the amount of damage that an apparently unoffensive object like a credit card or a pen can do.

By: Adam @ Low Tech Combat

Adam @ Low Tech Combat — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 03:19:36 +0000

I agree. Most knife defence instruction is complete crap. There is a very poor understanding of just how lethal a knife can be. To me, the most dangerous knife wielder is the 14yr old male. No understanding of the consequences, he looks at everyone else in a very disassociated manner which enables him to easily dehuminse his victim. And he attacks in a very sewing machine fashion. Very quick, in out in out over and over. Unpredictable.

May I direct you to a YouTube video which demonstrates what an edged weapon can do to flesh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9xJejkInvE

By: massimo

massimo — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 09:48:54 +0000

@Wez movies are mostly seen by people that neither are trained in martial arts or have experience of street fighting involving knives. I believe Seagal is good at Aikido but, because this art was nearly unknown when he started acting and Hollywood needs action movies, he added other martial arts techniques and an increasing number of gun fighting. Personally if I think about a typical Seagal’s knife fight like the one vs. Tommy Lee Jones in Under Siege, I just think how impossible for two guys to carry on fighting for minutes receiving just minor cuts while holding a sharp knife each… Knife fighting is about killing in a short time, less then 3 seconds, rather than carrying on for ages.

By: Wez

Wez — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 09:38:55 +0000

In (flippant) contrast, I never cease to be amazed by how crappy Steven Seagal’s knife-wielding looks in movies, and yet he’s supposed to Know Stuff.

Could it be that techniques which look good on film (to the untrained eye) are usually not the ones most effective in practice? :O

By: S.Smith

S.Smith — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:53:25 +0000

Yeah…I like his work. He has some nice, clean video shots and effective work.

And the problem of the ineffective attack is common throughout martial arts, not isolated here. It’s just hard to act like a real, nasty guy-with-a-knife, and it’s therefore hard to create realistic scenarios.

But, again…I like his stuff. He gets pretty real.