The BEST martial arts for KNIFE FIGHTING?

Not that many martial arts actually spend much time on knife combat, whether against knives or with knives. So which martial arts, or combination of martial arts, would be best to explore the world of knife combat?

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[saidtoshimaru]

In Argentina and Uruguay, people used to fight with a long kinfe (facón) in one hand and the poncho rolled out in the other.

[Rupertblade]

I'm an old Italian hiker and hunter and while I appreciated the video about knife fighting I want to share my personal experience about the subject. In Europe and particularly in Italy in practice the only opportunity to use a knife for self defence in the real life is in the woods against stray dogs bocome feral and shepherd dogs out of control. The reader living in USA must take into account that most of European woods, UK excluded, are similar to the American Appalacci mountain secluded woods with long trekking in a densely wooded environment with packs of dogs, sometimes crossed with wolf who don't fear men. As I personally experienced they attack in a wedge formation with the alfa dog as the point. That means that in most cases at the beginning of the attack a person is attacked by oly one feral dog. If and when the person is overwhelmed and possibly wounded on the ground the rest of the pack will attack. The technique of defence I learnt as a boy scout is first of all to have a bowie knife of about ten inches, eleven is better. You'll never see an Italian boy scout without such a knife in the woods! Second you must stay calm and put your back against a big rock or tree in order to have the pack, generally not more the four o five dogs, in front of you. Third don't shout or scream but be relaxed and take your backpack out of your shoulder and keep it on front of you like a shield. Forth put your bowie at the side of the backpack with the edge of the blade upwards like the old Romans did with their gladium at the side of their shield. When the alfa dog cames against you generally snarling don't shout or scream to prevent him from attackimg but on the contrary be silent to encourage him to attack. He'll have to rise up on the hind legs to attack you, because of the backpack, expousing his belly. You must begin to trust the point of bowie agaist the dog shielded by the backpack with the aim of piercing his belly and disembowel him upwards till reaching his heart. But every blow against him will do. Stay calm protect yoursel until the dog dies or retire. If the alfa dog dies and the pack is hungry it will satisfy with the carrion. If he seriuosly wounded retire and flies, that happened to me and in most of cases, the pack will follow. Wait some time before starting again the track to be sure that no other dog will attack you and to relax. This technique is simple sure and proved, by myself, efficient. It takes no strength only self control. But if you lack self control better you don't venture into secluded trekking in places like the Appalachi or similar woods in Europe.

[penhullwolf]

About 10 years ago when I studied Japanese martial arts we did a lot of Tantojitsu. Using wooden tanto with damp red chalk on the edge to show up cuts when sparring.
I quickly learned that no matter how skilled you are, if you get into a knife fight you will get cut.
Probably badly.
Possibly fatally.

[jonod]

Having worked doors in East-Germany, and old instructor's words that have stuck with me:
"The winner of a knife-fight wins the luxury of dying in a hospital bed"
Another good maxim is:
"If you think your knife-defense techniques are good, give a teenager a marker pen and tell them they get a fiver every time they draw on you"

[raazial]

Probably the best informational book I’ve read on the subject is: Contemporary Knife Targeting- modern science vs W.E. Fairbairn’s timetable of death.

It goes through with(graphic) crime scene photos and cases of knife injuries. Updated with information about blood loss and time table to things like shock and death.

It as well as other consistent things I’ve studied have shown that the idea of knife combat outside of killing is naive at best and childish at worst. Everything from the difference in mindset of taking human life and not wanting to kill vs each other. To other factors like a knife wound to the forehead may not be deadly but will bleed a lot which can obstruct the vision of an opponent, or yourself if it happens to you. To the best legal uses of knife in terms of defense are bisecting large muscle groups, the bicep for excample is a great place to cut if you can because while it’s not a fatal wound once a muscle is separated it ceases to function properly. This as the book states and so have others in the comments is more valuable because there were cases where people suffered multiple knife wounds to vital areas and were still able to persist until they expired.

In all, the more I’ve learned about lethal and non lethal techniques using a blade, the more the knife terrifies the shit out of me.

[robertillston]

Having practiced Kali before HEMA, I can definitively say that in most cases the only difference between many HEMA techniques and KALI techniques is only the vocabulary used and the presence, or lack there of, armor. This incudes things like messer, because the "typical" messer blade is relatively short, it corresponds with the "swords" or long blades used Filipinos.

[adwarfsittingonagiantsshoulder]

In the "Swiss Open of Free Fight" there is one of the competition that is all about knifes (it is in fact a marker pen), this competition is one round knife vs knife, 2nd round knife vs unarmed, and 3rd round the knife is given to the other competitor. What one can conclude is that :
-it is extremely difficult to defend onself against a knife without wistanding at least a few cuts.
-people who did well in the few competitions that I watched where from Hema, Yoseikan-budo, and Pilipino martial arts (some guy did a modern philipino derivative that specialises in knife fighting); those comming from MMA and Sambo who did really well in other competitions, did poorly with knifes depite beeing good all around fighters.

[HariOmRadhaKrishna]

I have about 25 years of training in Eskrima-Kali-Arnis. We start Beginner students with knife defense & knife fighting basics at green belt, after about 3-6 months of single stick training.

[JingShenKuoshu]

Wow, you are a relief. I live in the world of Navy Seals, Marines and Delta. I believe the knife to be the true equaliser to all. Understanding that there are blunt force, bladed, flexible, projectile and explosive and combination weaponry. The blade is the the truth of history. I have so many critics that downplay the knife but so few who will challenge even the shock blade. I would love to make a connection with you and maybe have you join me here in San Diego to speak. Respectfully, Grand Master Greg Fraser (Just another ranking in the changing world) Help me explain that sport fighting is play fighting and a knife is more real than a gun. Knife principles are the game changers against age, strength, aggression, and pride. Please, lets chat.

[SuddenRushman]

I grew up with a knife art from Indonesia, called Pinjak Silat. My instructor was employed to teach US special forces knife techniques, so at least the pentagon thought his art was useful.

[Ken]

A fun but unrelated fact, karate had no high kicks until they borrowed them from savate.

[TheFlyguywill]

I knew a guy in college who was a bouncer at a night club and he got slashed in the face by a guy with a broken beer bottle. A knife fighting defense would be extremely useful for people in many situations, so I think it’s foolish to argue otherwise.

[SamuraiAkechi]

I'd say that spanish knife fighting (the art described in Manual del Baratero) is underappreciated and should be tried more.

[joshuawalker]

I'd say is between esgrima criolla (gaucho facon fighting style) and traditional Filipino knife fighting. Because they both fought a lot with knives for a good chunk of time and had a lot of time to develop it, and they use those almost exclusively.

[christopherseivard]

Fascinating. I believe all caveats are points are covered. Half-way through, I had to hobble down hall, just to acquire my AG Russell .’sting”. Despite a stroke, and paralyzed left hand, I am now able to hold it in my hand. Thanks. Good motivation!

[dougsinthailand]

It’s interesting that martial artists often regard knife fighting as almost taboo and often spout such things as “oh you’re going to get cut no matter what you do”, but then seem to regard sword fighting as a lark, although that’s much more dangerous.

[mariosebastiani]

I practiced long time in Aikido, we often used a wooden tanto in "full contact" attacks. I've learned a valuable lesson: if confronted with a knife, the best martial art to survive is running.

[watcher]

This is one of the reasons I'm so fascinated by Fiore. Even if 90% of what most people train is swordsmanship, it covers a lot more and the fundamentals are in grappling and dagger. And while the modern context is quite different, the sheer breadth of techniques and contexts covered in the material seems to make it relatively adaptable to modern situations (though there remain some stumbling blocks like Fiore generally assuming daggers with longer blades than are really seen today).

I'd probably choose something else if I really wanted to focus purely on modern self defence, but given that I also really like swords and other weapons... it makes Fiore an efficient choice for me. Or it would if I weren't in the boonies and had the resources to train.

[AJJ]

I love the pure passion of Matt would love to see a Bowie knife fighting video.

[JoelyOlyOle]

Great content brother! Love the shirt!