A Knife 'Fight'

(that never should have happened)

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163 responses to “A Knife ‘Fight’”

  1. That is a herendous video that shows the vulnerability of human life. Nothing beats practice squaring up to a guy with a knife is not going to end well. Always assume a knife has become my goto self defense strat.

    • Stick with modest heft and reach, useful vs knife. Adds distance that makes it much harder for knife to get quick strike

  2. Wow, dude didn’t even realize how badly he got stabbed.

    I’ve learned a bit of kali (the Philippino stuff) and the master spent a good half an hour during the first seminar making sure we understand how dangerous knives are (and weapons in general). He said two things that apply here a lot:

    1., a lot of the times people will draw a knife (or a gun) to get out of a bad situation not really with the intention to attack. If this is the case, you don’t want to corner them. And you may do so even inadvertently… The best way to stay alive is just to let them go. And this could very well apply to the case where you have to protect someone and this is definitely what seems to have happened here. The guy with the knife was trying to get away and the guy who got stabbed attacked him (as well as the other one before him). Stupid idea.

    2., If someone draws a knife on you, your aggression level will jump a lot higher than if it was just looking to be a fist fight. This is probably how our bodies handle the increased danger. And it’s great IF you absolutely have to fight, but the problem is that it may make you fight even if you don’t have to, it may make you pick a fight you normally wouldn’t. (I mean why on earth would want to fight someone who has a knife if that person is not attacking them or someone else who needs protection?) This is very likely what happened here.

    What a stupid way to die.

    • I have been cut once in a knife fight almost losing my thumb and stabbed in a stage fight accident just below the ribs near my kidney.

      I continued to fight both instances. When the knife sliced my thumb I was covered in blood before I knew I’d been hit. I even landed several punches with the cut hand.

      In the stage fight I felt topical pain similar to a punch with a cold feeling deeper in the wound (about 3/4 of an inch deep). There was a short delay and then I felt a wet spot on my shirt. I heard the audience gasp and murmur. When I came offstage, the stage manager told me I was bleeding.

      This guy’s reaction is exactly what I experienced to a lesser degree in those two situations.

    • Atleta, I concur. The guy with the knife was backing up but slashed when felt attacked. The guy that got slashed wasn’t the one being attacked, but still came charging and that was his demise.

  3. Hey Trav, I love your stuff since you started, following you on YouTube for years. I have taught self defense for 23 years and want to say a couple quick things regarding your video.
    I agree with your advice on covering, stance etc.
    But, one thing you said about using the lead leg to counter the guys shorter reach with the knife arm.
    Actually, in many cases, ( not all because there can be wide general variances in anatomy )…but in MANY cases, a person’s arm has more reach forward of their body than their leg. Part of this ( but not the only reason ) is because when you kick, you almost always lean back. And you reach far forward when punching long range or finger jabbing long range. The body leans closer forward to the opponent. That gives you much more reach where the leaning back when doing a kick reduces your legs reach. Further, the blade of the knife also slightly increases the opponents arm reach.
    Anyhow, the bottom line being, an arm will usually have more reach than a leg.

    Take care man.

    • Leaning back pulls your torso further away from the knife attack (in addition to increasing the range of your kick) so your reasoning doesn’t really make any sense.

    • If your punch is further than your kick re-train yourself, because you are shifting your shoulder and neck and face closer to the weapon.
      Also only a lucky kick will pop the knife up without telegraphing the distance you need to cover by hand, so you need to have some defense coming in with hand

  4. Daaaamn!

    Why would you ever charge at someone who has a knife? Looked like self defense, but terrible deal 🙏🏼

    • Definitely seems like self defense to me. Quite a few points why it’s self defense to me. This happened local to me so it’ll be interesting to see how it unfolds.

        • Brisbane Australia.
          In a popular night club district “ fortitude valley “ allegedly.
          We have a zero weapons policy. ( for average people, if you have buckets of cash that gets you almost everything )
          We are also only allowed self defence using reasonable force! Basically can’t hurt violent attackers even if they are armed or in company.
          So this case has it all going on.
          I’m very interested in this outcome.

  5. What is the greatest human weakness_ starts with an E and ends with an O….the unfortunate victim didn’t even have to run away, he just had to stop…. However, his tribal instinct and imagined reality to increase or even to just maintain his status within his gang, literally drove him forward into the knife.

    • I’d bet they were all to blame.
      I have no sympathy here for anyone.
      They just look like local trash, just happened to be on the other side of one another.
      World’s going down the toilet FAST.
      Correction, not world, just the U.S. it seems like.

    • Ya do stupid stuff, ya win stupid prizes…whether it’s south Chicago, Beirut, or boise Idaho, nothing good happens on streets after 10:00pm…

  6. Awesome as always! Thanks for reminding people why we fathers need to be training to protect our families.

  7. Excellent video! I didn’t realize how fast a knife could render you unconscious.
    I will definitely practice these moves, shoulder forward with chin down and glued into the shoulder. Hands up protect your face as much as you can. Front kick to keep him away… I like your advice.

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