First Fight Day Bookclub

Last nights training session included a few rounds of knife fighting with chalk knives, however instead of chalking them we used stage blood for added realism. First two fights, one on one, yielded what would have amounted to four fatalities in all likelihood. Witness my shirt above, looks like a punctured lung and a few stabs to the chest plate. Everyone else who participated would be in similar or worse shape. Bear in mind that you can't see the numerous defensive wounds to the arms in the picture either.

Now some people may say "well you didn't do very well, my master has shown me a technique for disarming a knife that works all the time". My answer to this is simple - your master is either a fool or full of sh*t, unless he/ she is bringing a gun to the knife fight!

Now you may think I'm being harsh, but harsh is giving students false hope in a technique that gets them killed. But hey you may disagree, and that's fine. But don't take my word for it, test the technique. Have a friend with a chalk knife attack you with multiple stabs and slashes, at real fight pace. Then try your technique. How did it go?

This brings me onto the topic of the post, the First Fight Day Book Club. My book of the week is a golden oldie from 1988. Written by Don Pentecost and published by Paladin Press, "Put 'em down, Take 'em out! Knife fighting Techniques from Folsom Prison" is a look at the tactics and techniques used by maximum security prisoners to kill each other. Wait a sec, why the hell am I reviewing a book on how to murder people? Simple, because this book represents the REALITY of Knife Attacks! This is the stuff you may face on the street. Let me make one thing perfectly clear - I am not advocating the use of any material contained in this book. If you go out and use this material to kill people, well I hope you enjoy your time on death row. I am suggesting that you use this book for research purposes to learn how to defend against knife attacks.

This book is short (54 little pages), to the point and contains only one exercise at the end. In short it is everything that most martial arts books are not. And that is what makes it so useful. Reading this book and practicing the exercise contained in the last chapter opened my eyes. I have never looked at knife defense the same way since.

Here's some choice quotes from Put 'em down, Take 'em out!

"Contrary to the teachings of "noted" knife fighting experts, certain accepted techniques are ridiculous and will get you killed in a real-life situation. Unarmed joint-lock takedowns against an armed opponent and kicking a knife out of an attacker's hand are just two of the more common examples. Such "sanitary" approaches make knife fighting acceptable to the general public - they do not burst the viewer's television fantasy bubble.
The traditional martial arts are, in fact, busy perpetuating the most useless shit imaginable! These "noted experts" are writers, not fighters! The battles they engage in take place on paper...Use of these techniques would result in death of the technique user!"

"Martial arts publications are fond of showing how the attacker makes a thrust and then leaves the knife hand extended and stationary, letting the defender immediately gain control. The attacker then watches in an apparent trance while the defender applies technique after technique on him. Does this sound even remotely possible the you?"

Here's some video inspiration for you - here, here and here. As always these videos contain disturbing material.

Good luck with your knife defense and keep on training.