~If they haven't lived it, they have no business teaching you how to survive it. If they were a champion in a ring they have every right to teach athletes how to dominate the sporting ring but unless they've had to survive among or consistently engage brutal criminal predators (few have) then from where does their expertise derive?
~If they claim to be expert 'street fighters' or experts in using close quarter combat in the streets, but have not been a patrol cop or highway patrolman from a violent area, club security in a bad part of town, or a penitentiary convict than what business do they have teaching self-defense against edge weapons (as is epidemic among martial-arts/combative instructors)...And if they were actually experts in violent street combat, as many claim these days, they'd have earned themselves a criminal record (aside from patrol cops) being that street fighting, assault, aggravated assault, and attempted murder are crimes in every civil society.
~That is the crux of what I have to say about the epidemic of instructors/teachers selling powdered unicorn horn and fairy dust for 'self-defense/combatives' these days and presuming to teach others how to disarm a determined attacker with a knife. Or how to defend oneself in a so-called 'street-fight'.
~Truth be told, mature men don't engage in street-fights or bar brawls. And if a mature adult finds themselves in a violent situation in 'the street' then they are facing violent criminals whom seldom attack alone. Criminals most often attack as more than one, in groups, and quite often at least one of them will be armed with some sort of weapon.
~But many instructors are fond of either claiming there is no defense against multiple attackers (as the Gracie Brazilian Jiu-jutsu family publically claim) or they will train under completely unrealistic scenarios (themselves having never faced and fought off multiple, determined, criminal attackers).
~Having no understanding of how criminal predators think, operate, or function gives rise to all forms of fantasy games being peddled by clever confidence men with traditional Asian martial art backgrounds, MMA/sport based backgrounds, or combative backgrounds on how to disarm a knife swinging predator or face down thugs in the street (without a firearm and proper combat training).
~Basic self-defense against a school yard tussle or women's defense against a date rapist are one thing. But when any instructor is teaching students how to prevail against and/or disarm a criminal predator armed with a knife or how to face down bigger, stronger, experienced, violent thugs in a 'street fight' one should always insist upon pressure testing his or her (the instructor's) theories under hard contact scenarios which are as close to real-life as possible (assuming one has personal experience with criminal predators and their tactics, capabilities, methods, and the environment). And anyone training in bare feet, on even flooring, in a loose traditional uniform or MMA sports wear is not preparing for 'self-defense'.
~Keep it real and don't get hustled by some charismatic personality with an impressive background in sports based martial arts, urban combatives, or even military service...Pressure test everything under realistic scenarios against fully resisting, experienced, stronger, training partners (as much as possible without maiming or permanently injuring one another) to see if these 'theories' are applicable under extreme duress when all your fine motor muscle control has been incapacitated and tunnel vision is trying to set.
~And anyone who claims to teach knife 'disarms' against an active, stronger, knife attacking predator is a charlatan. We're not talking about taking down a drunk wielding a pocket knife or a geriatric person brandishing a kitchen knife. I am implying a stronger, active, criminal predator or thug with a knife. Every single knife disarm I've ever seen demonstrated in 'any' martial art is complete fantasy and a recipe for getting oneself maimed or murdered.
~Every single knife attack I've ever had the misfortune to personally witness in the prison system was carried out by either a surprise attack where the attacker used the free hand to punch like a boxer while the rear hand stabbed simultaneously or the free hand grabbed/pinned the victim while the rear hand rapidly delivered quick stabs from varying angles at a speed that made it impossible to see the knife until the attack ended. And then the next most common way I've witnessed knife attacks executed is for a team to engage and hold the victim while a separate knife wielding attacker frantically punctures the victim in the groin, torso, neck, eyes, and head.
~Let me add that many experienced or well tutored criminals will tie the knife to their rear hand, making disarming them with fancy martial arts techniques impossible. Defanging the snake techniques would be futile. This is the way that nearly every penitentiary killer will insure that his weapon is not disarmed and used against him during the frantic assault. A victim's desperate swinging limbs and the viscosity of blood make holding a knife or ice pick difficult, so violent assassins will tie the weapon onto the bare hand or a work-gloved hand.
~Before you invest a large amount of your hard earned money to train under some great-grand-master-guro in how to disarm knife attackers or to prevail, unarmed, against multiple street thugs (or former prison gangsters) it would behoove the reader to consider the things addressed in this short article.
~Know thy enemy and know thy area of operation, then prepare accordingly if one wishes to invest the time and finances in proper preparation for such things. Don't be a victim of charismatic hustlers preying upon your limited understanding and experience with life or death violence against stronger predators.
~I would like to make mention that even though they succeed in stabbing you it's still possible (I've witnessed it more than once) to counter-attack with superior, focused, aggression so as to neutralize them before they kill you. A great number of stab victims do live, albeit; maimed, crippled or disabled, so being stabbed doesn't guarantee death.
~Neutralizing a knifer isn't the same as disarming a knifer with empty hands. That's what I wish to clarify. Controlling the wrist before stripping the knife away or executing an outside wrist throw on an intent knifer is suicidal! Neutralizing the attacker, as opposed to disarming the knife, either before or after you've been stabbed is possible with training. An instructor and retired I.D.F. counter-terrorism officer, by the name of Itay Gil, is one of the only commercialized instructors I've witnessed whom teaches effective, efficient, methods for dealing with and neutralizing bladed attackers. He can be seen in a few videos on the web demonstrating viable methods under realistic attacks. He was also featured once on the History Channel's Human Weapon Episode which is titled Military Hand-to-Hand-Combat.
~But once again, he too teaches and speaks with the authority from years of personal experience with real-world edge weapon assaults from intent, murderous, attackers.
~That's the difference.
~Si vi pacem para bellum.
~AnDrew~
