Well, you're right in what the video is claiming to show (for the record, it's not entirely correct.... most knife assaults are ambushes, rather than rushes, but the frenetic energy and speed is accurate). The real point of the clip, though (according to the uploader) is that, unless you're training to handle that type of sudden, explosive attack, there's a very good chance that your knife defence is deeply, some might say fatally, flawed. And, honestly, from reading through your take on such things, I'd suggest that that might be the case here...
I train to handle any kind of attack - there are basically 3 - Frenzy (hardest to defend against), single attack (often precedes a frenzy) and the threatening point or wave.
I don't think you really get the effect that reaction timing has on things here.... are you familiar with the OODA loop? Oh, and no, by the way. Taking a step back, or even to the side, takes longer than a step forward. That's mainly due to the way we, as human beings, are designed. We're angled in one direction (forwards), and optimised for that direction when it comes to fast, explosive movement. Our hip flexors, our knees, our ankles, are all designed to support a sudden spring forward, not back, or sideways. So.... no. Wrong.
Had to google the OODA loop that's just part of the natural thinking process that is improved by training. By your reasoning side steps are completely useless which is simply not true.
Uh, actually, no. Wrapping the jacket around your forearm/wrist is a gross motor, single action, basically done by holding in one hand, and rapidly rotating your wrist/hand once.
Unless you do it wrong, like do it too far forward, cover just your hand or it slips from your grip before it wraps in which case you just wasted valuable time. It's a good tactic but it can also reduce the dexterity in that hand.
Throwing (to get the result you're after) requires holding in two hands, opening the jacket (to get the proper "spread"), bringing it back towards your body, extending both arms towards the attacker, releasing the jacket, and hoping that the simple wind resistance (heightened by the opening of the jacket) doesn't slow the throw down too much once the jacket is released, ending in a low-impact (ineffective impact) contact.
That would have to be just about the slowest way to throw a jacket and for crying out loud throwing the jacket is not for impact (I obviously don't expect it to knock him out or injure him).
And, let's not forget, once you've thrown the jacket, you've just thrown away the only real asset you had for protection... for very little return, if anything. Oh, and no, that's really not all the distraction you need, as, in the heat of a real assault, it's really not enough of a distraction to be truly effective. Sorry.
Using the jacket as a barrier to the knife didn't work to well for the defender in the video.
Here's the reality. We, as people, are hard-wired to move along what is referred to as the "Primal Line". That line is straight forward (to advance), and straight back (to retreat). A typical "fright" responce is to start to move back along this primal line.... which is exactly what is seen in the clip. It takes a hell of a lot of training to be able to move in any other direction as an initial action, as it is going directly against your hard-wired survival instincts, honed through thousands of generations. So while side-stepping is very useful, as an initial action, it's just not going to be there (in a real, sudden, violent, high-adrenaline assault). It would be a second, or third action, at best... which means you need to have survived long enough to be able to employ it in the first place. Oh, and I don't think you really get the reality of reactionary time, or human mechanics here, let alone the realities of such assaults.
Side stepping is quite a natural reaction for me I have avoided many impacts doing it. People are hard wired, yes, but they also have concious thought, reflexes, intelengence and skills that evolve with training that can override the hard wiring. A non-martial arts example - you see something falling you instinctivley try to catch it, unless it happens to be hot. A friend of mine was with me at TAFE and she droped a clay pot out of the tongs she was pulling it out of a furnace set at 600 degrees and went to catch it in her hand (hard wired response) I grabbed her arm and stopped her in time (concious thought) and reflexes).
Tell you what, let's ignore the lack of reality to this tactic, and look at the low possibility that you actually managed to "trip" the knifeman coming in towards you... what do you think their responce would be? I'll give you a clue... if someone's attacking with that amount of velocity (and aggression), they're not going to be stopped by being tripped... and they'll be fairly committed to injuring/killing you. That means you're dealing with someone acting with a survival mentality (unconsciously)... so an obstacle, causing them to start to fall, will have them immediately try to retain balance.... which will commonly be achieved by reaching out with the spare hand, and grabbing hold of something (in the situation you describe, most likely you) to steady themselves... which will have them quite simply falling, uncontrolled towards you with a knife. Bad, bad, bad plan.
I will try to put this in simple terms anyone can understand - It is completely impossible for someone to travel forward and trip and fall on someone standing next to him at 90 degrees from his direction of travel. When he falls the knife would be nowhere near me, especially considering I will be on the opposite side of his knife holding hand.
They will not fall on their own knife, they will not slash or stab themselves (more likely the knife hand will reach out [away from themselves] in an attempt to keep balance, for the record), so again, there is a large disconnect with reality in your plan.
Don't seem to remember ever mentioning him falling on his knife or slashing or stabbing himself. His knife hand can reach out all it wants, I will be on the other side, in any case the natural reaction of someone falling forward is to reach out in front or underneath them not to the side.
The deeply (fatally) flawed one you're suggesting? I'm thinking if you try it, there's not much hope for you (yeah, you specifically).
What ever you say.
In essence, our defence is very much what Mark describes. The first step is to both avoid the knife, and to put a barrier inbetween the knife and your body, whether a forearm, their arm, an improvised item, a car, whatever. So long as there is something between your body and the knife, you aren't being stabbed (to the body). Next is control, which needs to be very tight and secure (we train against the knifeman trying to regain control of it constantly), and then we get to the "finishing" actions, which might be a barrage of strikes, a take-down (using the momentum of the attacker trying to regain their knifearm), or a couple of other method we have, ending commonly with a disarm once the attack has been stopped (so it can't be resumed).
I also use those methods, if you are going to block the knifeman's arm make it hurt and make the following strike(s) hurt even more.
Right. Uh, no, really. Stopping the forward momentum isn't actually necessary... and grabbing the wrist with both arms is actually not getting a lot of control, as you're allowing free movement of the elbow and shoulder (no control). That can lead to the arm whipping around a fair bit, and you getting your arm cut up as the knife is retrieved pretty easily.
It does not matter so much if his elbow and shoulder can move, its my two arms versus his one so unless he has twice my strength or is hopped up on drugs or I am just trying to hold him there for more than 2 seconds that knife is not going anywhere near anything vital.
As far as your students pulling the knife onto themselves, well, "forgetting to move the knife to one side" isn't the issue (as, again, that's really not a hugely realistic ideal).
I am referring to beginners mainly doing the technique for the first time.
I think you have completely missed the point that Drasken was making... as well as showing (again) that you don't have much of a realistic idea of what knife defence is all about.
I may've mention the jacket in some of my posts, but I do know that earlier, I mentioned something that would be a bit more effective. If I had a choice between tossing a jacket or a heavier object, I'd of course pick the latter. As for the more realistic training, ie: no lie blade, marker, I agree...those are great training tools, and if one is serious about SD with a knife, then this is necessary.
