“There is not Silat without a Knife.”
– Old Silat Saying
- This means you should train with a Knife.
- It means when you’re empty handed you should train as if you had a Knife.
- It means just because you don’t see a Knife doesn’t mean your attackers aren’t armed.
Basically Self Defense training means training with and against weapons.
Below are some important tips and strategies to get you started.
…Of course there’s a lot more on the DVD.
The primary method taught in the DVD is simple (so you can learn it quickly and actually be able to use it,) powerful and effective.
Once you’ve mastered the basic method, the next step is to take the principles and strategies you learned and apply them to your empty hand training.
…by working empty handed against a knife AND by putting a blade in your hand and turning all your empty handed work into blade work. (To do this last part you’ll need to train an art that is designed to be the same empty-handed and with a blade. Like Clear’s Silat ;))
How to fight armed attackers.
1 Move.
Learn to get out of the way. Trying to block a machete, baseball bat or even a small knife is not a very good option.
2 Don’t give gifts.
Many Martial Artists like to hold their hands up in front of them like they see boxers and MMA fighters doing on TV.
This is a great way to get your hands and arms broken, sliced or removed.
3. Know your distance. (and control it)
You need to be either extremely close, so they don’t have space to use their knife, or far enough away they can’t reach you.
This will change though.
Just out of kicking distance puts you out of reach of a pocket knife.
…but you’ll need another full step away to get out of range of their machete.
If they have a handgun then around 9-10 feet becomes the worst place to be. It’s close enough they won’t miss much but far enough away you’ll have trouble closing the distance in time.
4. Train with Knives.
We have to assume we’ll be empty handed when we are attacked.
..but, very quickly, we will be forced to interact with the attackers weapon in some way or another.
If you are not used to handling knives there will be a certain amount of tension / apprehension / discomfort that will make you more vulnerable.
Training with weapons will give a familiarity and understand of these tools that greatly increases your ability to survive when they are used against you.
Never Bring a Gun to a Knife Fight
If you talk about training with knives you will hear this at some point.
“Never bring knife to a gunfight.”
It’s technically correct.
…but everyone I’ve ever heard say that is making the assumption that they will have the luxury of controlling the situation.
They assume that they get to choose whether they’re in a gunfight, fist fight or a knife fight.
The reality is that the attacker gets to make that choice.
So, “Never Bring a Gun to a Knife Fight” is equally as important.