# Passing a knife between your hands during a knife fight, is that an actual technique? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 28, 2023, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936 "2023-01-28T08:18:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/41 "2023-01-29T20:05:34Z")
> [@Wolf333](#): > > Is it like this? I think I know that guy’s Real Identiy. He’s a 50 year old German soprano opera star, right? (don’t worry, I won’t tell.) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/42 "2023-01-29T20:38:24Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > In sports (especially combat spots like boxing and martial arts), this is called changing stance. I don’t see any reason it couldn’t apply during a knife fight. It is funny, because in striking, we endlessly worked out of either/no stance. You just use whatever is best WRT wherever the threat is coming from. And we worked double stick and knife and stick. But never once do I recall working knife in non dominant hand. As others have said and I was taught, a knife was only to be used if you intended to try to kill someone, and the action would not likely be fancy or protracted. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/43 "2023-01-30T03:26:45Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > You all have lived different lives than I have. I’ll admit that in that last knife fight (and I really hope that it’s my last knife fight and not just my most recent knife fight) the guy with the knife was actually trying to stab somebody else. So I picked up a chair and hit him over the head with it from behind. Harvey Logan said it best: _“Rules? In a knife fight? No rules!”_ ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/44 "2023-01-30T03:45:48Z")
They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. _That’s_ the Chicago way! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/45 "2023-01-30T18:33:03Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Carrying a pocketknife is a good idea, but only because it’s an excellent tool; I’d never use one as a weapon. I always carry a pocket knife. I use it to trim my nails, to open boxes, cut twine, cut fruit… My front teeth don’t meet, so i use it for some things other people use their teeth for. As mentioned above, i whittle and I’m very good with knives in general. If i get into a fight. Any kind of fight, it will stay firmly hidden in my pocket. ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/46 "2023-01-31T14:19:44Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Almost everything you see about blade combat in movies and t.v. for both short and long blades is completely wrong Except for the glorious “Surviving Edged Weapons.” (Ok ok it’s not a movie or TV show but it’s shot like one). [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/c4ZpyKSmgdE/maxresdefault.jpg "Surviving Edged Weapons") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4ZpyKSmgdE) RedLetterMedia’s review of it is great. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/p1sxc3V0lzQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Best of the Worst: Wheel of the Worst #16") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1sxc3V0lzQ) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2023, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/47 "2023-02-03T18:36:59Z")
It’s probably disadvantageous to wield a knife when wearing sunglasses after dark. _Listen to this:_ _Went out last Saturday night_ _Got myself in a knife fight_ _Everybody got cut includin’ me_ _'Cause not one of us cats could see!_ ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/48 "2023-02-04T01:51:26Z")
Of course, in the hands of a pro… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/JfS9y_v1F6c/maxresdefault.jpg "Psych | Shawn & Gus Assaulting Each Other Compilation Part 2") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfS9y_v1F6c) ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/49 "2023-02-04T23:44:58Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Carrying a pocketknife is a good idea, but only because it’s an excellent tool; I’d never use one as a weapon. I also routinely have a small pocket knife in my pocket, the only way I’d ever consider using it as a weapon would be to throw it, unopened, at someone’s face to distract them so I could start running away. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/50 "2023-02-05T03:19:46Z")
Switching hands is a very bad idea. I have a decent background in several martial arts disciplines and fancy kata and fussy techniques quickly fall apart in actual practice. The chance of fumbling the knife during the tossing while pumped with adrenaline, is high. Not only that, it provides your opponent with an opening to attack. I studied Hwa Rang Do for a while. They stressed knife techniques. They prohibited switching hands but we did have to practice reversing the grip with one hand. Striving for 1000 switches per day. We practiced and sparred with rubber knives edged with blue pool cue chalk. After an exchange, the blue marks on white gis gave you an idea how effective your skill was. You learned very quickly to employ trapping techniques if you wanted to stay “alive”. I was unfortunate enough to have been forced to employ that trapping technique in a road rage incident. I survived but am left with quite a nasty scar on my left rib cage. Absolutely the best thing to do in a knife fight is run. Worst thing, imho, is fancy hand-switching. ETA: FWIW, a friend of my father’s spent a couple of years in prison. He claimed switching hands was popular there while fighting. Have no idea if that’s true. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/51 "2023-02-06T23:04:38Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Switching hands is a very bad idea. I have a decent background in several martial arts disciplines and fancy kata and fussy techniques quickly fall apart in actual practice. I don’t have nearly as much experience as some, but my karate instructors explained that those fancy named maneuvers with 15 steps weren’t intended to ever be actually used in a fight; their purpose was just to give you practice in seeing what sorts of moves could follow from other moves. Combine a familiarity with all of those possible transitions, with your actual situation on the ground, and you’d (hopefully) pick something that worked given the situation you actually found yourself in (which of course would never be quite the situation you practiced for). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/52 "2023-02-06T23:39:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > … > Combine a familiarity with all of those possible transitions, with your actual situation on the ground, and you’d (hopefully) pick something that worked given the situation you actually found yourself in (which of course would never be quite the situation you practiced for). Said another way, no kata survives first contact with the enemy. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/53 "2023-02-06T23:41:41Z")
The kata as a whole won’t, but bits and pieces of it might. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/54 "2023-02-07T00:03:06Z")
Exactly. Practice may not make perfect, but it sure makes quick. And quick beats dead almost every time. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/55 "2023-02-07T00:10:42Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > My expertise is learned entirely from my cringey ninja phase in early high school but I think conventional advice is that slashing is better than stabbing, at least early in the fight. IMHO, slashing might lead to some nasty cuts, but as long as I keep them away from my eyes and neck, they won’t take me out of the fight, unlike a stab in the chest or gut. When all’s said and done, knives are not machetes or sabers - they’re stabbing weapons, not slashing weapons. Tackle the enemy, stab them repeatedly, and then go get some stiches. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/56 "2023-02-07T01:40:25Z")
[This knife fighting lady rates a bunch of movie knife fights.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxudL917gkA) Passing your knife between hands only really works if one of those hands is made of vibranium. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/57 "2023-02-28T02:28:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t have nearly as much experience as some, but my karate instructors explained that those fancy named maneuvers with 15 steps weren’t intended to ever be actually used in a fight; their purpose was just to give you practice in seeing what sorts of moves could follow from other moves. Combine a familiarity with all of those possible transitions, with your actual situation on the ground, and you’d (hopefully) pick something that worked given the situation you actually found yourself in (which of course would never be quite the situation you practiced for). Kata are used to teach balance, to build muscle memory for moving and responding in various ways, and to demonstrate/practice various techniques in context with others. Most kata have ‘bunkai’ associated with them. Bunkai means ‘disassembly’, and it means taking a Kata apart and examining the proper use of each technique. When we taught Kata, we always matched them woth a paired off practice of the bunkai associated with each move, so the students would understand why the moves are the way they are. This is my favorite Kata - Sepai… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/nKbPEsGhRck/maxresdefault.jpg "Seipai \_ Goju Ryu Karate - Tetsuya Furukawa") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKbPEsGhRck) And here is the bunkai for Sepai: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/BrBc1_vGZDM/maxresdefault.jpg "Seipai Bunkai for Goju Ryu - classic kihon bunkai") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrBc1_vGZDM) You can see that all the movements are practicing various actual fighting techniques. As for knives… I suggest never pulling a kmife on anyone, for any reason, unless it’s the only way to keep yourself from being killed. For one thing, once you pull a knife you have escalated to deadly force and the other person can legally kill you if you attack. For another, no one comes out of a knife fight without being badly cut, and knife fights can end with both participants bleeding out and dying. If you do use a knife, I would not go for center mass. Too much chance of getting the knife stuck in a coat or a rib, and once you strike you are really vulnerable. Knife wounds rarely kill or even immobilize someone quickly - they may not even know they’ve been stabbed and will fight like hell until the blood loss gets them. Instead, I would probably hold the knife in my fist and go for slashing attacks to the face or forehead, hoping to inflict pain and get blood in the eyes of the opponent. Then I’d run like hell. But I can’t imagine a situation where I would pull a knife.in the first place. That’s almost always a very bad idea. A much better self-defense weapon is a Kubotan. Nothng more than a little wooden rod attached to your keys, it’s really effective. For one thing, if you are walking to your car you’ll have it in your hand. Also, no one would recognize it as a weapon. You can hold it and swing the keys like a flail at an assailant’s face. If someone grabs you, striking them in thr back of the hand will inflict a lotmofmpain and probably cause them to let you go. Holding it in your fist woth the end sticking out, punching someone in hard points like the temple, cheek, hand, sternum, etc. can inflict a lot of pain but no real damage, allowing you to get away and not escalate to deadly force. Advanced users can use them for joint locks and other techniques. In a pinch, you can use a strong pen as a Kubotan. Imhave a ‘tactical pen’ I keep in the car for variius purposes, including use as a Kubotan. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/un0sirSAsk0/maxresdefault.jpg "Black Kubotan Keyring Review | All you need to know | Enso Martial Arts Shop") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un0sirSAsk0) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/58 "2023-02-28T02:53:46Z")
The second time he tossed that knife to the other hand he’s getting hit with something. Thrown if I have something in my hand, or my fist, foot, or shoulder if not. Real fighters don’t disadvantage themselves by making their weapons useless even for a brief time. Don’t discount nunchuks in the hands of an expert. You’ll know he’s an expert when he doesn’t do any of that shit-fu stuff with them, he’ll use them as a club or a mace and then use them like a nutcracker to do very painful things to you. Do not mess with an ROK soldier carrying nunchuks. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/59 "2023-02-28T08:11:17Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Do not mess with an ROK soldier carrying nunchuks. I mean, all things being equal I’d rather mess with a soldier carrying nunchuks than a soldier carrying a gun. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936/60 "2023-02-28T16:19:29Z")
Even better from 20 meters back using your own soldierly equipment. We carried modern automatic firearms for a reason, not for show. Nunchuks my ass. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-a-knife-between-your-hands-during-a-knife-fight-is-that-an-actual-technique/978936.md?page=4)