The Reality of Facing an Attacker with a Knife

Knife crime is a common occurrence in many cities of the world, and is something that few people have any defense for. Despite the fact that many martial arts have some kind of maneuver for disarming an armed attacker, these do not always work, and often aren't worth the risk of doing hem unless you are well trained and confident in combat situations.

Many times an attacker armed with a knife will be attempting a robbery rather than actually attacking you for the sake of doing you harm. In these cases there is usually some conversation between the attacker and the victim, which gives you a chance to better assess the situation. Usually whatever you might have on you at the time, money, jewelry etc isn't worth risking being stabbed over. After all most people these days don't tend to carry a lot of money around on them unless they have a specific reason.

The majority of knife attacks, although dangerous, aren't fatal, which is a usually due of the attacker not knowing where to stab someone to kill them. As well as most attackers generally being motivated by something other than wanting to kill someone. The vast majority of attackers of course aren't experienced in stabbing people, as of course they are usually caught before they can rack up any number of victims. In these cases if you are stabbed then it is usually only once, at which point the attacker will flee the scene.

Martial arts such as Krav Maga are designed largely for dealing with assailants that might be armed with some kind of weapon. As a result there are many different move sequences designed to defeat an armed attacker, often using their own weapon against them. Originally designed for use with the Israeli military to use against terrorists, Krav Maga is probably one of the better defenses against knife attacks.

Unless you are trained in some sort of martial art and are confident of your abilities, or you are sure that your attacker does want to kill and not rob you, attempting to disarm someone is not recommended. If someone wants your wallet, then giving it to them is a lot easier than getting stitched up in the hospital later and losing it anyway. Money and personal possessions can always be replaced, but your body can't, and many wounds inflicted with a knife can be debilitating and permanent.

In many movies and TV programs, people faced with an attacker armed with a knife usually disarms them with strikes of some kind. Often kicking the knife from their hand, or punching them unconscious before they can return a blow. However in reality these ideas aren't founded in truth, and wont work in real life. As well as which, if you try to attack an attacker, then they will be a lot more likely to attack you afterwards if you aren't successful.

When faced with a knife wielding attacker, the focus is obviously getting the knife away from them so that they are incapable of inflicting as much damage. To this end if they lunge or swipe at you and miss, then grabbing the wrist of the hand holding the knife is often the best approach. If you can then get into a position side on to them, and apply adequate pressure on the inside of their elbow joint with your other arm, then they can often be thrown over the hip. At this point you can either attempt to break the arm, or force the hand holding the knife against the ground, making them release their grip.

The number of attacks that are motivated with murder in mind, and that have a determined assailant willing to stab you multiple times is very small. Aside from personal vendettas and the likes of serial killers, most attacks aren't aimed at killing the victim. Unlike gun crimes which are more often aimed at being fatal and kill a much higher percentage of their victims. Also stabbing someone takes a lot more substance than being able to pull a trigger from a distance.