How to disable

It has been really quiet in this NG. Now I would like to stimulate it with a question I have been wrestling with for a while.

Is there a way to disable an (knife-wielding) attacker without killing him.

With a knife, I mean.

Now let's not get into all this 'you have to train thirty years in several martial-art-styles before you are ready for this sacred moment'-stuff. And let's assume I have deployed in time. Just the (anatomical) nuts and bolts. Just curiousity.

Thanx,

You're in the right general area, just leave out the 'bolts' & go for the 'nuts' GUARANTEED to 'slow' the attacker & give you time to get away, AND with a nifty souvenir to hang from your rear view mirror! not to mention WAY cooler than a fuzzy dice. ya might even start a new trend disregard all of the above if the attacker is female!

You might check out our video; 'Heartless Monkey Knife', and Paladin's vid; 'Secrets of Silat' for a range of approaches and techniques (www.kuntaosilat.com). Our central idea is to 'attack the guns'; that is to say that you attack the knife itself, the hand that wields it, the arm that carries the hand and so on until you prevail. It sounds simple, but one of the things to train for is attacking the thumb of the weapons hand. It's a fairly common technique amongst swordsmen and stickfighters and translates nicely to knifework. Mostly we don't put a high priority on his survival, so your question is just a little limited for silat players.

Cut anything that comes near you. Stab when it is time, twist, shove then, Take your first possible exit! Let him die by himself if he wants. Then consider training to loose the idea of being a nice guy. Especially against a bad guy with a deadly weapon who apparently does not share your morals.

With your left hand, flash your knife in a wide important-looking arc with the intent of looking impressive. Make him fear the knife. Draw the knife up for an overhead slash down his face.

Then knock him sensless with your good hand.

Yes, flamebait. But look, a knife is a deadly weapon. A -scalpel- is a deadly weapon. If you're looking to disable, a knife may not be your most appropriate choice of weapon. There's lots of ways to do it, but there isn't much way to garauntee that your assailant won't bleed out, or die of other complications.

That said, in the position you describe, I might make slashing attacks at his knife hand. But the knife is probably more valuable, if you're not up to killing, as a distraction from a less lethal assault.

It seems to me that a good chop with a large blade (or a slice with a really sharp folder) across the back of the hand holding the knife would tend to make the attacker no longer able to hold it very well with that hand. There's all those tendons controlling the fingers there, plus a few large veins. I think they'd either drop the knife or just freak out from all their own blood. This assumes you have a chance to do that. Am I right or wrong? This is a guess based mainly on looking at my hand and imagining what it would be like. Doesn't seem very pleasant. I won't be offended if you tell me I'm way off base here

Someone made the point that if you *don't* want to kill, a knife is maybe the wrong self-defense tool for you. Good point. Epee is all very well and good, but if you screw up *you* won't necessarily be the (only) one to fall.

When you live in my country, Dutch Law being as it is you worry if the bad guy lives through the attack, believe me.

Somebody pulls a knife on you, you will have to have yourself cut badly, then run away, then have like ten witnesses who deliver non-conflicting stories in your favor,

and when, eventually you may have hurt your opponent somewhere down the line......

You're in trouble

You had a knife, remember? :o(

I had a knife pulled on me once before.

I immediately pulled my knife out and he made the first move. I moved to the side and slashed his arm, kicked him in the ribs, and ran off.

I say that like it wasn't an adrenaline rush, but it obviously was. Not fun, but I didn't kill the guy and got away. I sort of feel bad that we're not allowed to kill people like that in a way. Not that I want to kill someone, but I would hate to think he murdered someone else down the line because he often has more rights than the people he attacks.

God bless the democrats

Matt Bronsil Web Design

I would concur with the tactic of slashing at the knife bearing limb while keeping your body back and as out of the way as possible; a la John Styers' WWII book Cold Steel (on Paladin Press). I also like the stuff Bram Frank does on Escrima-based biomechanical cutting - mainly using gross motor skills to target tendons and muscle groups. Literal disablement there... There are quite a few videos of his stuff, including some on Paladin.