by Damian Ross
Founder, The Self Defense Company
Today I’m going to show you how to really develop your knife skills and it’s not going to cost you a penny. In fact it’s even totally green since you’re going to be using your recycling!
I will note that using MEAT or a SLAB OF RIBS for this is fine but it’s impractical for frequent training. It gets messy and expensive quickly. Your best bet for a similar effect is using cardboard. This will allow you to practice for a lot less money and more often.
Below is a video from “The Barn” where I take you through building your training tool using cardboard and cut tape along with some simple drills from SDTS Module 9.
When you do this you’re going to notice a few things immediately.
First, you’re going to want to use a knife with a good grip, a hilt a “T” handle or a finger hole. When I first started training like this I had a sweet Bud Nealy knife that I would carry with my all of the time. It was expensive, sharp and had a great conceal carry system, but the grip was for crap and the first time I stabbed something my hand slid down the blade and I cut my index finger open. That sucked and I don’t recommend it.
Second, you’re NOT going to want to get fancy and pass the blade by your own arm or any other part of your body for that matter like this guy below…
This is NOT GOOD. He passes the knife under his arm and almost stabs himself with the weapon…repeatedly. This looks cool, but it will NOT WORK and you will stab yourself.
In a fight there’s contact. Simply bumping into your target will cause your arm to go off course. Just like you should never point a gun at yourself..NEVER POINT A KNIFE AT YOURSELF.
On top of that, you won’t be able to execute these movements under fight or flight stress. Combine this with your natural compulsion to move forward and take ground (which is correct) and you will not have the space to pass the weapon next to your body.
In the video these two people are standing toe to toe. All of the techniques seem to work because the target is standing still. Targets never stand still so you must take this into account when you’re training.
Finally you can stab someone and it will have NO IMMEDIATE EFFECT. These slashing movements are primarily superficial wounds at best and might not even cut the flesh of a bare arm let alone an arm that is covered in a jacket or a sleeve.
You need to practice stabbing maneuvers that penetrate. This will get the blood flowing and the clock ticking.
Until Next Time…
Train Honestly,
Instructor Ross
