# What’s the best way to wield a knife in a fight? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 1, 2021, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455 "2021-07-01T19:54:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2021, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455/21 "2021-07-02T16:24:13Z")
from what I know of it, holding a knife so the blade is facing away from your thumb is a bad idea because then you have to do downward thrusts to stab and it makes it easier for someone to block or divert your forearm. Supposedly holding it so the blade and your thumb are on the same side so you can do quick jabs forward are harder to block. I read that in an article a long time ago, I’m not an expert. I’m sure SD is full of people highly trained in knife combat though so other people will have better answers. There is someone who is trained in knife fighting on this board, forget who though. Maybe shodan, I don’t recall. But I think s/he said that when doing training he gives one person a magic marker instead of a knife, then has another person try to defend themselves, then shows the person defending themselves how many black marks are covering their skin despite trying their best to disarm the attacker. basically nobody wins. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455/22 "2021-07-03T01:10:09Z")
> [@glee](#): > > In a similar way, I once asked a friend of mine (who had a black belt in karate) how she well she would do in an unarmed fight. > “I’d run away as fast as possible.” > > She had several reasons, but the main one was other attackers joining in. Whenever I converse with people who absolutely insist that Braziliian ju-jitsu (BJJ) is _the_ best martial art, I ask what they plan to do when they’ve got their attacker in a submission hold and then his three buddies decide to join in and start kicking you in the head. Knowing some groundfighting is good in case you ever end up on the pavement (and that is where most posturing fights go) but your best tool in a fight is your mobility, and your best maneuver is generally to escape if at all possible. Going to ground and wrapping yourself around one opponent gives up both of those. > [@Mangetout](#): > > This method works well even if you don’t actually have a knife: “…Special Forces Navy SEAL Ranger here…” It’s surprising how many of those you run into, especially in bars not frequented by military personnel. You’d think that someone who made it through SQT wouldn’t feel like they had to prove anything by going through Army Ranger School but some people really like collecting all those tabs and then bragging about it to everyone they meet. > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > There is someone who is trained in knife fighting on this board, forget who though. Maybe shodan, I don’t recall. But I think s/he said that when doing training he gives one person a magic marker instead of a knife, then has another person try to defend themselves, then shows the person defending themselves how many black marks are covering their skin despite trying their best to disarm the attacker. basically nobody wins. When I trained we used rubber knives with the the edge liberally coated in carpenter’s chalk. You might think you have a bad ass trap-and-lock technique in your head but the chalk doesn’t lie. It also is hell to wash out of a gi as it grinds its way in and becomes a greasy cake-like mess that won’t wash out and takes forever to dry. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455/23 "2021-07-03T04:35:07Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > This may have changed since the 1980’s but Ed Parker, founder of American Kenpo, favored the hilt in the hand with the blade downwards and hidden. Of course, Ed was big on close, multiple strikes. I know it was movie BS, but this was also Steven Seagal’s technique in at least one of his films (_Out for Justice_ for sure). ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455/24 "2021-07-03T06:47:27Z")
If you read anything by Borges, you get the impression that every single kid in Argentina grows up playing at/practicing knife fighting after school using a jacket wrapped around one arm and a charred stick to leave marks. Even the nerd in “El Sur” knows that > [@](#): > > Like all men he had once played with a dagger, but his idea of hand-to-hand combat didn’t go beyond the idea that thrusts should be made upward with the cutting edge held inward. [![](https://hemamisfits.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/gauchosvonale.jpg) ](https://hemamisfits.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/gauchosvonale.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2021, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455/25 "2021-07-04T15:25:33Z")
I forget where the quote comes from, but: “First rule of knife fighting - run like Hell”! Though I guess if you feel you HAVE to kill someone, you deserve whatever you get… ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2021, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455/26 "2021-07-04T17:48:36Z")
I’m in the “at the end of a very long stick” group. As they say in the SCA, “If you don’t like it, pike it!” ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455/28 "2021-07-06T03:06:24Z")
Or just don’t go to a fight. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455/29 "2021-07-06T03:17:55Z")
Not a knuckle or knife fighter but I recall once horsing around as a teenager with some friends (don’t worry, didn’t come close to being serious or dangerous). It occurred to me that if I turned the blade out toward the intended target, I could slash with a forward motion and stab going backwards, and I’ve seen this in movies. But…I ain’t a Navy Seal or a Marine, so I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455/30 "2021-07-08T03:15:51Z")
Best method is to slash the ropes on the suspension footbridge after you’ve run across. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455/31 "2021-07-08T03:32:14Z")
Make certain there are hungry crocodiles below. There is nothing worse than a henchman with a vengeance about how you threw him off a bridge, blah blah blah. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455/32 "2021-07-09T02:10:50Z")
How much truth is in this clip from the classic film _12 Angry Men_? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/U44_sEUJROI/maxresdefault.jpg "12 Angry Men (7/10) Movie CLIP - Down & In (1957) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U44_sEUJROI) ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455/33 "2021-07-09T02:29:09Z")
Rules? In a knife fight? No rules! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/w9KBOhPXhds/maxresdefault.jpg "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) - Knife Fight Scene (1/5) | Movieclips") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9KBOhPXhds) ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455/34 "2021-07-09T03:14:26Z")
![](https://c.tenor.com/L3l21bQO9gIAAAAC/fight-sword.gif "Fight Sword GIF - Fight Sword Battle - Discover & Share GIFs") ⚔ ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455/35 "2021-07-14T21:40:52Z")
IMHO that is correct. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455/36 "2021-07-15T16:30:38Z")
“Always run from a knife and rush a gun.” – Jimmy Hoffa. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455/37 "2021-07-15T16:47:23Z")
And look where it got him. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455/38 "2021-07-15T17:07:20Z")
Look where? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455/39 "2021-07-15T17:34:46Z")
Do it West Side Story style. Go into a crouch, flip the knife from one hand to the other and back. Circle your opponent before you attack, and throw in some fancy ballet kicks. You may die, but it’ll look cool. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CLnT8k4O84M/maxresdefault.jpg "West Side Story 1961 The Knife Fight Scene HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLnT8k4O84M) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-best-way-to-wield-a-knife-in-a-fight/945455.md?page=1)