Knife Fighting

Knife Fighting Link:

Kim du Toit suggests this as a preemptive defense, should you shoot someone who comes at you with a knife. The original post is here. The pictures are graphic.

I'd like those of you who are interested in the subject of knife fighting to take a look at those pictures. This is what a good knife can do when used improperly.

Photo 1 shows three slash wounds across the back, two across the spine. The knife was used right-to-left on the top, left-to-right on the second wound, and top-to-bottom on the vertical wound. In each case, the knife was used to slash instead of stab, and it was held with the blade leading -- whereas it should have been held with the backstrap leading.

The wounds did serious damage to the muscle, but were not in any way life-threatening (save for the possibility of blood loss). The two vertical wounds could have been stabs directed at the spine, in almost any situation in which it was possible to deliver those two blows. The vertical wound should have been a stab driven into the lung.

If the knife had been held correctly (the opposite way from how it was held), and the knife's wielder had known where to stop slashing and drive it home, the victim here would be dead.

Photo 2 is the same, but a single wound. A stab delivered there would have penetrated the liver and/or lower lung, depending on the angle.

Photo 3? Again, the same. I wonder if these wounds were all delivered by the same person. The incompetence is noteworthy. The fighter had four separate opportunities to kill his opponent, but delivered blows that were only ugly, not incapacitating.

Absolutely any of those wounds could have been fatal, and would surely have been incapacitating, if the wielder had known how to fight. If you are interested in the ancient arts of fencing and bladework as a form of self-defense, learn from the example. Hold the blade upwards toward your thumb, not downwards toward your little finger. Slash until you are over something vital, then drive home with the weight of your body behind the attack.

This is the way to use a blade. A gun automates this process, and is therefore easier for some, either physically or mentally. If you choose a blade, though, this is how it is done.