Well its a great post about knife fighting because its such a neglected field... handguns you can read dozens of books on them and still be an amateur compared to the people who really know what they’re talking about.
I’m a student of English Lit and Political Philosophy. I like to think i see contexts and sociological dynamics others don’t... as soon as you get into established competitive technical fields with real experts my value add collapses
There's good writing. There's great writing. Then there is amazing writing that includes a Corb Lund quotation. That was a great piece. I'll be thinking about it for years now I bet.
Best money I spend on substack. Please keep it coming.
"Likewise they know that they’re about to fight a knife attacker, they’re gassed up and hyped and eager… They’re not unaware, or drunk, or groggy or tired, or just confused and unable to put two and two together in the 2 seconds it takes to get stabbed 4 times."
In the beginning of the MMA video one of the guys was talking about how his knee was injured because some guy lowered himself from the ceiling onto his head, then a few seconds clip of that happening is showed. In other words, trained MMA attack killer gets caught unawares and doesn't fight back instinctively, just cowers and let's himself get hurt w/o retaliating.
This is something that has to be trained into most people. Long ago I worked as a bouncer for several years, and to this day it's a bad idea to push or grab me from behind.
"Of course this is far from comprehensive…" I found that quite humorous! I was going to comment that this is one of the most comprehensive article on knife fighting I've ever read, it's almost book length too. Well written and researched. You introduced many concepts I was unaware of, and presented an excellent article on Ulysses as well.
My spouse wanted to learn about how to use a knife in the event she was confronted and attacked by a larger male, and I introduced her to the concept of closing the distance to the combatant, knife hidden in her dominant hand, latch on to him and stab as fast and as forcefully as she could for as long as she could. Mannequin training proved it worked, directly in correlation to what you describe in your article. Devastating. Well written article, many thanks.
Excellent post! Yea them Rwandans know how to party. Some estimates almost a million people killed by farm equipment. Great movie about it called Hotel Rwanda if you haven’t seen it.
Fascinating, but the martial arts video is not entirely persuasive. MMA is still sport fighting, not real self-defense fighting. True self defense is about training reflexes to get in a *dirty* disabling shot before the knife fighter has a chance to stab: a kick below the six pack, a cupped hand to the ear, a knife hand or knuckle to the windpipe. All that armor, and the reflexes trained by sport fighting nullify true self defense moves.
What is dramatically demonstrated is the ineffectiveness of grappling vs. a knife -- at least if the knife fighter is also a martial artist, which appears to be the case in the videos. Jiu jitsu should allow one to readily disarm a hand holding a knife -- if you can grab it in time. The martial artists repeatedly failed -- despite the fact that such grabs are legit moves in UFC fighting.
Now it could be that self defense reflexes as I described above are useless against knives. I'm just saying that the video above does not demonstrate this.
Don’t underestimate the knife in a knife v gun situation. I had the good fortune to take the edged weapons class at Gunsite. The instructor would have been very much in agreement with this article. One of the things he talked about and demonstrated was that handguns have two flaws that are exploitable. First, they are very highly directional - a quick step/lean/duck and you can get inside the wielder’s decision cycle. Second, most people threatening you with a gun are using it to control you - if they meant to shoot you, they already would have, and changing mental gears from “control” to “kill” takes time that can be used to close with the gunfighter.
In short, within two or three long steps, in his opinion a sufficiently motivated and aggressive knife fighter has the advantage over a gun fighter.
Fantastic essay, thank you, much appreciated. I'm an knifemaker, and sure appreciated the images of the imprivsed knives.
One small point...smokeless powder doesn't "detonate" it "deflagrates" which is a technical term that means it burns very quickly. Generally, we just say it burns. It's related to subsonic vs supersonic speed of propagation.
If your smokeless powder charge detonates (ie explodes rather than burns quickly) then it will probably blow your gun to pieces in your hands.
I hope you don't mind me mentioning this...I'm a lifelong shooter and ammunition reloader.
Ah interesting. You're right. I knew blackpower deflagrated but didn't realize cordite and nitrocellulose derived smokeless powders still didn't just detonate.
In infantry school the drills would talk about the spirit of the bayonet. They’d ask “what makes the grass grow”. The reply was “BLOOD”. Check out the link for a pic.
I have recently been reading “The martial arts of Indonesia” by Donn F. Draeger, and the amazing whimsy that the Indonesians exhibit in their knive-designs makes the mall-ninja creations you can buy on eBay seem sensible.
" ...You can slash at their exposed veins, tendons, and nerve endings, whereas they struggle to cut through the protection."
In Filipino Martial Arts, they often refer to attacking the dominant hand that is holding a weapon as "defanging the snake." Excellent article. I witnessed a knife fight years ago between two Eastern Euros with filleting knives. Both survived but they cut each other to ribbons.
And they keep whinging and kvetching about that supposed monopoly of violence, this market is more accessible than most realize, thanks for showing just how much this is the case.(an aha moment for me as well)
Great article, but it seems like you greatly exaggerate the effectiveness of the knife because it appeals to you philosophically. You are very right to point out the *martial artists unable to disarm knife* video as well as identifying the idiotic MA vs Knife morality play trope, but there are also tons of videos of normal people managing managing to defeat bladed attacks by men with their bare hands, improvised weapons, in small groups etc. let alone women as you claim.
Also if I remember correctly there is another segment in the ultimate martial artist show (maybe a different season where two martial artists basically defeat 2 or more simulated knife attackers though they "succumb" to their wounds.
Also not to sound like an Aikido fag (never liked it never done it) but there is a pressure tested style of Aikido where the competition consists of one stabber (albeit with bad form required by rules but with lots of practice) and one grappler alternating, some of the counters are actually very well employed by amateurs who pressure test knife defense unlike 99% of real and fake martial artists
There is virtually no violent crime where I live and I carry a folding knife I can open one-handed with a pocketclip wherever I go just because it is a tool I use everyday. When I'm in the city, it's doubly risky, because firstly I might have to use it and secondly because it's illegal to carry and the chance of a routine police check is so much higher.
So the only place I realistically might have to use it in defense is the one I might get into trouble for carrying it. Sucks.
This was a great analysis of knife fighting.
I would love to hear one for handguns (since that is more applicable to the USA).
Well its a great post about knife fighting because its such a neglected field... handguns you can read dozens of books on them and still be an amateur compared to the people who really know what they’re talking about.
I’m a student of English Lit and Political Philosophy. I like to think i see contexts and sociological dynamics others don’t... as soon as you get into established competitive technical fields with real experts my value add collapses
There's good writing. There's great writing. Then there is amazing writing that includes a Corb Lund quotation. That was a great piece. I'll be thinking about it for years now I bet.
Best money I spend on substack. Please keep it coming.
Knives are also the weapon of choice for the discerning post-apocalyptic warrior.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpVfNGWK3ko
===
"Likewise they know that they’re about to fight a knife attacker, they’re gassed up and hyped and eager… They’re not unaware, or drunk, or groggy or tired, or just confused and unable to put two and two together in the 2 seconds it takes to get stabbed 4 times."
In the beginning of the MMA video one of the guys was talking about how his knee was injured because some guy lowered himself from the ceiling onto his head, then a few seconds clip of that happening is showed. In other words, trained MMA attack killer gets caught unawares and doesn't fight back instinctively, just cowers and let's himself get hurt w/o retaliating.
This is something that has to be trained into most people. Long ago I worked as a bouncer for several years, and to this day it's a bad idea to push or grab me from behind.
==
"Of course this is far from comprehensive…" I found that quite humorous! I was going to comment that this is one of the most comprehensive article on knife fighting I've ever read, it's almost book length too. Well written and researched. You introduced many concepts I was unaware of, and presented an excellent article on Ulysses as well.
My spouse wanted to learn about how to use a knife in the event she was confronted and attacked by a larger male, and I introduced her to the concept of closing the distance to the combatant, knife hidden in her dominant hand, latch on to him and stab as fast and as forcefully as she could for as long as she could. Mannequin training proved it worked, directly in correlation to what you describe in your article. Devastating. Well written article, many thanks.
Excellent post! Yea them Rwandans know how to party. Some estimates almost a million people killed by farm equipment. Great movie about it called Hotel Rwanda if you haven’t seen it.
Fascinating, but the martial arts video is not entirely persuasive. MMA is still sport fighting, not real self-defense fighting. True self defense is about training reflexes to get in a *dirty* disabling shot before the knife fighter has a chance to stab: a kick below the six pack, a cupped hand to the ear, a knife hand or knuckle to the windpipe. All that armor, and the reflexes trained by sport fighting nullify true self defense moves.
What is dramatically demonstrated is the ineffectiveness of grappling vs. a knife -- at least if the knife fighter is also a martial artist, which appears to be the case in the videos. Jiu jitsu should allow one to readily disarm a hand holding a knife -- if you can grab it in time. The martial artists repeatedly failed -- despite the fact that such grabs are legit moves in UFC fighting.
Now it could be that self defense reflexes as I described above are useless against knives. I'm just saying that the video above does not demonstrate this.
Don’t underestimate the knife in a knife v gun situation. I had the good fortune to take the edged weapons class at Gunsite. The instructor would have been very much in agreement with this article. One of the things he talked about and demonstrated was that handguns have two flaws that are exploitable. First, they are very highly directional - a quick step/lean/duck and you can get inside the wielder’s decision cycle. Second, most people threatening you with a gun are using it to control you - if they meant to shoot you, they already would have, and changing mental gears from “control” to “kill” takes time that can be used to close with the gunfighter.
In short, within two or three long steps, in his opinion a sufficiently motivated and aggressive knife fighter has the advantage over a gun fighter.
Fantastic essay, thank you, much appreciated. I'm an knifemaker, and sure appreciated the images of the imprivsed knives.
One small point...smokeless powder doesn't "detonate" it "deflagrates" which is a technical term that means it burns very quickly. Generally, we just say it burns. It's related to subsonic vs supersonic speed of propagation.
If your smokeless powder charge detonates (ie explodes rather than burns quickly) then it will probably blow your gun to pieces in your hands.
I hope you don't mind me mentioning this...I'm a lifelong shooter and ammunition reloader.
Ah interesting. You're right. I knew blackpower deflagrated but didn't realize cordite and nitrocellulose derived smokeless powders still didn't just detonate.
In infantry school the drills would talk about the spirit of the bayonet. They’d ask “what makes the grass grow”. The reply was “BLOOD”. Check out the link for a pic.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=time+to+make+the+grass+grow+meme&t=iphone&iar=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F736x%2F40%2Fef%2Fcf%2F40efcf2c2ada569b90d2a43e872406b8--us-military-the-grass.jpg
What a brilliant yet disturbing essay, Kulak!
I have recently been reading “The martial arts of Indonesia” by Donn F. Draeger, and the amazing whimsy that the Indonesians exhibit in their knive-designs makes the mall-ninja creations you can buy on eBay seem sensible.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Martial-Arts-Indonesia-Traditional-Weapons/dp/0804852774/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2N0RAXZ6W224K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.KZZxWs-ix7JV7ODG-dsxKPEpeSFQCI-p3W88IKdWlC9A9YwQgRBB6XvHn9N95fZzjCUJu7OSLowSZ2xSFaH7d1TBvZL09_TmSfrdrLhAhK0pZdwsUuE8p-tnYvE7hDHXWc02479W0hqFa70vlJDtP0mOe4uAtC6FtRWDDYThfYVjAJFpOG1jZ-OL0s8DjhV0z-Y0jwU1lDItCD_nUT09AJCsPEsV8GgOHhSj4L-0EXL0YlLy1aOFeE6o-E50WQD5EUQ2L73weAEfNN0__-B7lE1PM-RrSWHCSjHEfjMs0RM.bxOzrUSv6IaUZF34lJeOb6sMBxn-qggDi7ren44Q3MQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=Donn+draeger&qid=1745562354&sprefix=donn+draeger%2Caps%2C273&sr=8-4
Also, you may be interested in “The Sicilian blade” by Vito Quattrochi, which teaches the knife fighting technique of the Sicilian people.
https://archive.org/details/the-sicilian-blade-the-art-of-sicilian-stiletto-fighting-desert-publications/page/n25/mode/1up
" ...You can slash at their exposed veins, tendons, and nerve endings, whereas they struggle to cut through the protection."
In Filipino Martial Arts, they often refer to attacking the dominant hand that is holding a weapon as "defanging the snake." Excellent article. I witnessed a knife fight years ago between two Eastern Euros with filleting knives. Both survived but they cut each other to ribbons.
And they keep whinging and kvetching about that supposed monopoly of violence, this market is more accessible than most realize, thanks for showing just how much this is the case.(an aha moment for me as well)
“Hutu-Centrists” lol'ed too hard on this...
Great article, but it seems like you greatly exaggerate the effectiveness of the knife because it appeals to you philosophically. You are very right to point out the *martial artists unable to disarm knife* video as well as identifying the idiotic MA vs Knife morality play trope, but there are also tons of videos of normal people managing managing to defeat bladed attacks by men with their bare hands, improvised weapons, in small groups etc. let alone women as you claim.
Also if I remember correctly there is another segment in the ultimate martial artist show (maybe a different season where two martial artists basically defeat 2 or more simulated knife attackers though they "succumb" to their wounds.
Also not to sound like an Aikido fag (never liked it never done it) but there is a pressure tested style of Aikido where the competition consists of one stabber (albeit with bad form required by rules but with lots of practice) and one grappler alternating, some of the counters are actually very well employed by amateurs who pressure test knife defense unlike 99% of real and fake martial artists
There is virtually no violent crime where I live and I carry a folding knife I can open one-handed with a pocketclip wherever I go just because it is a tool I use everyday. When I'm in the city, it's doubly risky, because firstly I might have to use it and secondly because it's illegal to carry and the chance of a routine police check is so much higher.
So the only place I realistically might have to use it in defense is the one I might get into trouble for carrying it. Sucks.
Arguably the best essay on the knife in current existence. Well done.
Share it then! This has gone surprisingly less viral than I expected for a landmark essay
I posted it on a a forum and it was removed, the excuse given "copywrite material". I'll try again.