Many arts address this area, although some possibly more than others. I was reading an interesting thread elsewhere, and this subject came up, although the entire thread was not dedicated to this particular subject. There were a few people, mostly of the grappling crowd, that when asked what they do to defend against the above mentioned attack, they stated that they would run, seeing that there really is nothing more to do, and anyone thinking that they'd actually be able to successfully defend against a blade or more than one attacker, was living in fantasy land.
Now, IMHO, this seems like a cop out. Of course, getting away from that situation should be first and foremost on the list, but I like to look at the 'what if' part of training. What if it is impossible to run? What if you have your wife, girlfriend or kids with you? Can you be sure that they'll be able to keep up with your running or are you going to abandon them? What if the attackers catch up to you? These are valid questions, yet they seem dismissed by certain folks.
So here are a few questions to get this thread started. :ultracool
1) Do you feel that it is possible to defend yourself against an edged weapon?
2) Do you feel that it is possible to defend against more than one opponent?
3) Do you train for this? If so how?
Now, IMHO, I think that if someone feels that there is no defense, that they're limiting themselves from reality. Granted, some fights may be 1 on 1, but you really don't know. Its possible to get blindsided by a friend and there you have it...more than one person. I feel that limiting yourself to specifically dealing with just one opponent is limiting your potential of what you really may face. Personally, I'd rather train for a worst case scenario, and have something to fall back on, rather than just say run if confronted with anything outside of the box.
So, to answer my own questions:
1) Yes. The FMAs have given me a much wider assortment of things to choose from. Of course, there are also folks out there such as Karl Tanswell, who seem to have some interesting concepts on the blade,
here and
here. Are these things the end all be all of kinfe defense? No, but in the event you can't remove yourself from the situation, I'd rather fall back on these things.
2) Sure. Of course, like anything, it needs to be trained. Positioning is key IMO. Using someone as a shield temporarily can buy you some time.
3) Yes. Of course, you'll need to quality gear, some props and some imagination.
You can create a 1 on 1 mugging situation, a group attack...pretty much anything.
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