ELB wrote:mamabearCali wrote:Well I guess a knife will do. But I would rather a gun...takes much less skill to wield. ....
Oh, I would not agree with that at all. Wielding a knife is pretty natural, actually, takes much less training than a gun. Of course there are things that you can learn that make you even more effective with a knife, but it is a pretty instinctive tool right off the bat. At mugging/punching distances, I am more afraid of a knife than a pistol. Doesn't mean a pistol is trivial, but a knife is really wicked in close combat.
Now,
defending against a knife...that takes some learnin' and trainin'. And it's always hard, even then.
I'm definitely no expert with a knife, I can tell you that much. Our instructor (waaaaay back in college Tae Kwon Do / Streetfighting Club) gave us a few pointers (no pun) on how to properly deploy / use a good knife and they have stuck (no pun, again) with me to this day. A few years later I was showing / discussing the techniques I learned to a black-belt buddy (I forget the discipline he was in)...his comment was this: our instructor gave us this advice, if you see an attacker holding the knife like this (with blade pointed down along the wielders forearm) it probably means they know what they are doing with a knife...at the very least you will get sliced...it's better not to engage if at all possible....
Wise words, in my opinion. You may not kill an unarmed attacker when you have a knife, but you will, at the very least, introduce them to the blade and a loss of blood.