Everyone could use self-defense training. Why? Because you could be the victim of a violent crime, regardless of your age, sex, or size.
When considering self-defense, it is important to understand your limitations. It is equally important to be sure that you are able to identify your surroundings at all times to assist in any self-defense techniques that you may be forced to use. This is often referred to as self-awareness.
If you practice the art of carefully evaluating your surroundings, and know what you are physical capable of, you are sure to prevent a lot of dangerous situations that you may possibly experience. When alone, it is important to ensure that you display an air of confidence that others can see. If you are faced with a dangerous situation, it is important to ensure that you maintain this level of confidence.
9 Tips To Increase Your Awareness
Increasing personal safety always commences with awareness. Since an attack is more than likely unpredictable and you could be facing serious injuries for a wide-ranging variety of reasons I want to offer you basic awareness advice.
1 – Think before you speak. Most people get involved in physical trouble as a result of saying something rude, offensive, tactless, stupid or hurtful. Controlling what comes out of your mouth can keep you out of trouble.
2 – If a fight breaks out in a bar – leave immediately. Go before all the drunks and brawlers start swinging chairs, bottles, glasses and punches. A “free for all” usually starts with just two protagonists. Innocent bystanders often get hit. Those who leave all the fools to bash each other do not.
3 – Never attempt to mediate an argument between a man and a woman. Both will cease arguing or fighting with each other and turn on you – the common enemy. If you fear for the woman’s safety, call the police.
4 – Avoid people who are “off the planet”. Understand that many people these days have a cocktail of drugs and booze in their veins. It makes them argumentative and aggressive. Even a casual glance at them can set them off. Leave them with their own demons.
5 – Don’t make the fatal mistake of thinking that people fight “fair” anymore. Those days are over so you should expect multiple attackers, weapons, possibly both.
6 – Run if you can. The cemeteries are full of dead heroes. Don’t add to their number. There is no shame in avoiding a fight. In fact, running away is smart.
7 – Be aware of your surroundings. If you’re facing an attacker, look around you. Could someone come and help you? Is he alone or are others hiding and ready to help at all times?
8 – Recognize objects in every room of your home that could be used as makeshift weapons. Home invasion is a growing curse these days due to the unwillingness of our governments to protect their citizens.
9 – Negotiation is a far higher art form than physical confrontation. Do anything reasonable to avoid a fight. Nothing good ever comes out of conflict. Wars are living proof of that.
Knife Defense Basics
Real attacks, by people who know a knife’s properties and true potential, are a blur of short, stabs and cuts that are nearly impossible to stop. An attacker, with any idea of what he or she is doing, will crush you with a shower of cuts that will begin at the nearest body part and end in a vital target. Within a few seconds you may lose your fingers, have severed tendons of your arms, and be finished with a stab to your eye, or throat, or chest.
Although it sounds terrifying unfortunately that’s the truth, but there are ways to fight this scenario. How do you do it and what is the best way of thinking? First of all, my best advice would be to avoid knife fights. It doesn’t matter how good you are, if you’re bare handed and in street clothes, and the other guy has a combat knife, you’re at a serious disadvantage. If you can, run away. If you have to give up your wallet to run away, do it. Knife fighting is messy and bloody.
If you see you are about to be attacked, you need to act quickly and harshly. And you must always remember that if your enemy is eager to fight with you, he is sure in his superiority. If he is alone and is not too strong or tall, but still wants to fight, it means most likely that he is either armed or trained of some martial art.
The Unexpected Key To Staying Alive
The key here is not to avoid getting cut, but to make sure that when you get cut, it’s on a part of your body where it won’t permanently injure you. Try to block his wrist with yours, barring that, block his blade with your forearm. It’ll hurt, but you have to get through the pain to follow up with the punch.
Principles And Techniques Of Knife Defense
You’re going to get cut. Repeat after me: You’re going to get cut. Again, I say. You’re going to get cut. Be prepared for it, understand that it can happen and that it will hurt (when you’re getting cut) and hurt a lot less immediately after. The trick is to make sure that you do as much damage to your assailant as you can, while turning the least amount of damage to yourself.
The basic knife attack is a thrust or a slash delivered with the forward hand, sort of like a punch. The knife is used to add those critical four inches to your reach. Most people aren’t particularly trained at knife fighting, so they use a natural punching motion.
What to do: Interpose your hand, or better yet, the outside of your forearm on the line of attack. Just like you do an inside block or outside block on a punch, you do the same thing against a guy with a knife.
The next technique is to know the range. He’s going to attack on a line. There are a few steps that will get you out of an otherwise deadly situation.
What to do: You need to be aware of that line and be able to turn tangential to it. Shove his blade off the line while you move in the other direction and block before you counter punch. In Western fencing, this would be called a riposte, and it teaches you that the block automatically breaks the line of the attack and lets you counterattack immediately. Use the range either step in with the punch or step away. This is a great chance to do a joint lock, so, by all means, do it. 
Put your mind and body to the test, all in order to achieve two main objectives:
A) Disable your attacker
B) Run away
As long as you protect your body’s vital parts, everything else is up for grabs. And you should risk it all to win the fight. Punch for the groin, and go for the eyes. You aren’t fighting fair, you aren’t fighting for points, you’re fighting to survive.
To sum up all I’ve told you into one essential advice, be prepared for all scenarios, be confident in your own strength and above all, stay alive.
Did you ever have to deal with a knife attack? Share your story in the comments section below.
Many of your recommendations remind me of an incident which occurred about 45 years ago. A class had just graduated from the Amarillo, TX police academy. Many decided to travel to Juarez, Mexico and have a graduation blow out at a Juarez night spot. While there, they observed a Mexican male beating on a Mexican female and one of the newly minted officers intervened. The violence was broken up. However, the Mexican returned with a couple of friends and stabbed the officer to death. The Mexican Policia arrived and it turned out that the female was the man’s girlfriend. The Policia let the perpetrator go and advised the surviving officers to never intervene in such situations and that the stabber was justified since the “Americanos” had made him lose face.
INHIGH SCHOOL BACK IN THE 60’S WE HAD HISPANIC GANGS IN MY HIGH SCHOOL. I WAS IN THE BATHROOM ALONE AND 2 CHICANO’S CAME IN AND ONE GRABED ME AT THE URINAL BY THE HAIR/ (MY HAIR WAS BERY LONG). WELL THANK YOU CHUCK NORRIS! I SLAMED ONE GUY WHO GRABBED ME INTO THE FLUSH HANDEL AND HE WENT DOWN HARD I GOT CUT IN THE BACK BT HIS BUDDY AND HE TRIED TO PUCH SLICE ME. BOLCKED HIS PUNCH AND TOOK THE KNIFE FROM HIM AND SLICED HIS LEG AT THE ARTERIE THEN LEFT AND REPORTED IT TO THE PRINCIPAL AND THE COPS CAME WHAT A NIGHTMARE. I’M 63, PULL A KNIFE ON ME AND I’LL SHOOT YOU ON THE SPOT.
As a practicioner of the Art of KUTA I have a differant take on a knife attack. I agree with you that running is the best choice of all.
You should never go inside on a knife attack. Always move to the outside to protect your vital organs. My favorite for a knife attack is to throw about $5 in change directly into the attackers face as hard as you can. The attacker will not think to drop the knife as he goes to protect his face. Problem solved as he stabbs himself in the face. You can then run to a safe area.
You always need an equalizer. Chair, bar stool, rock, club, whiskey bottle, blender, whatever because your bare hands will not win against a knife unless you can hit him so hard that it takes him out.
If you are inside on a knife attack your only choice is door buster kicks to the bladder area. Your leg is longer than his arm. As long as it is the outside of your leg, it is hard and less likely to have a severe cut or stab. Two driving kicks to the bladder and two driving kicks to the head should take the attacker down. Finish with a stomp to the head or use the occasion to run to a safe area. This my advice to people.
Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight!!!
The point here is to survive, carry concealed. A small 9mm is very easily concealed and since your life is a stake you are justified in using lethal force.