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.
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.
“…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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
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.
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.
