Knife Disarm Grappling

[@BurtonRichardson]

Thanks. We must ALWAYS expect the weapon and have it introduced regularly in our training.

[@browneye77]

Good stuff Sifu! I like how you address the fact that the blade was grabbed. We don't live in a perfect world and sometimes grabbing the blade is the best option.

[@BurtonRichardson]

I agree. If you are grappling in a street situation, especially if you have a good position, you must assume the attacker is going to pull an equalizer.

[@BurtonRichardson]

I have never said that anything is guaranteed. It is very, very difficult. But you assume that you can simply hit someone in the eye who is coming at you full force. I suggest that you actually do some sparring to discover how difficult hitting the eye really under pressure. I am sure that you will find that it is indeed far from simple. Since I put video of actual sparring, please record yourself doing the same intensity of sparring against a knife so we can see your solution.

[@BurtonRichardson]

Grabbing his arm with both hands is simple. Trying to thumb the eyes, which has no guarantee of working, especially against an attacker on drugs, is risky.

[@BurtonRichardson]

The point is that if you can't show it in hard sparring, how can you do it on the street? Please video tape your sparring so we can see the theory in action.

[@BurtonRichardson]

Thanks for the post. I often refer to Yuki Nakai. He also went on to defeat a much larger opponent in his next fight that night, and then was able to hang with Rickson Gracie in the finals the same night. He no longer has the use of his eye, but fought hours after being blinded.

[@ATACXGYM]

@BurtonRichardson The live sparring that you show with this tech makes your videos invaluable.I have live sparring but it's on my DVDs.I've long wanted to add live sparring clips to all my videos and I haven't been as successful as I'd like to be due to editing issues.Happily I have them all resolved now,so this should no longer be an issue.

[@EMR80]

This type of training needs to be implemented more I need to study Kali more when I get the chance to. Can't say enough about this clip Sifu Richardson.

[@BurtonRichardson]

@JdawgMMAblog That is Scott Ishihara, BJJ 1 stripe Purple Belt, Battlefield Kali instructor, and JKDU instructor.

[@BurtonRichardson]

We must train the situations we don't want to be in. Anything can happen in a real fight.

[@BurtonRichardson]

@WildBillJP As I said in the video, this is worst case scenario. We do not want to end up on the ground at all in a street fight. But this does happen, and it is so dangerous that we must train very diligently on the ground to be able to survive if you end up there in a real fight. If you watch the sparring portion, the "attacker" is trying to switch hands but I keep deflecting it. I urge you to watch the entire video with an open mind.

[@BurtonRichardson]

@RubberTanto Good question. Holding the arm very close to your hip minimizes the rotation, but he can still cut you. Just not very deep and not devastating. There is no perfect solution, except to not be in a knife situation in the first place. Try it out and you will see, after practicing for awhile, that you can control the knife arm quite well.

[@BurtonRichardson]

@PMATSRS Wow! Just goes to show you that real fights are extremely fluid and sometimes you need to trust your instincts! Great story, thanks for sharing.

[@BurtonRichardson]

@Ronnock Good question. We usually go for the 2 on 1, but if that is not available, you can work this disarm. We train to disarm without grabbing around the edge itself, but in the sparring I ended up grabbing the edge in order to pry the knife out of my opponent's hand. It wasn't coming out the other way. So, we train to disarm without grabbing the edge, but if that doesn't work, and the alternative is for him to free his hand and start stabbing, grabbing the blade is the answer.

[@jkdmantis]

Great stuff, Burton. Cheers! Patrick

[@BurtonRichardson]

@MrSelecta32 Thank you for your comment. Although in theory "the man holding the knife puts you at risk", the primary objective is to control the knife. By releasing it to thumb the eyes, you are leaving it free to do it's ugly work. Eye gouges are easily and naturally countered by blinking and turning away. If anything he will probably become even more aggressive. This particular disarm does take more skill, but if you are in that precise position, it works very well.

[@BurtonRichardson]

@WildBillJP If you actually watch the whole video you will find that all is explained therein. If you do end up on your back and are stabbed multiple times already, what are you going to do? Give up? You have to have strategy practiced against real resistance.

[@karlosovitch14]

Mainly directed at WildBillJP, Burton has obviously put a lot of time into making videos like this. I mean, I can see where you come from, you having seen knife fights, but what if you did get caught on the ground like this, completely unarmed & someone trying to stab you, would you be able to do anything other than this any safer? This is probably the closest to no harm way of disarming somebody asaulting you with a knife without risking getting your chest ripped open. I respect the fact that

[@lowlounger]

I'm with Burton on this one. Yuki Nakai lost his eye to Gerard Gordeau in mma during the 1990s and he still went on to foot lock him and win. Getting blinded may suck but it isn't enough to stop the fight and there is a good chance you will piss him off leading to getting punched more than you would otherwise. Also notable is that striking from the bottom of the guard is seriously under powered because you lose your hip movement. Your arms won't even reach his face if he postures up (he will)

[@musclepieformybaby]

i practice a wing chun system that has is knife defence from escrima.they told us never to grapple with a knife . But this technique looks creative and good.and i love mma so i found it very interestibf

[@PMATSRS]

Hey Guro, great vid as usual.. That would suck though.. LOL Quick story.. 1) I was raised by a Vietnam Navy Seal after my father passed. Anyway, this man owned barrooms in New Orleans where im from. He was cleaning up and closing one night, drunk, when a guy came in and try to hold him up with a Case pocket knife.. He told me that he was just to damn drunk to fight this man empty handed against a blade.. So, instinctively he slammed his hand down on this blade, ran his self though with it!

[@Ronnock]

@BurtonRichardson Oh ok, got it. Thank you for responding!

[@WildBillJP]

@BurtonRichardson Well I like to think the reason I question these sorts of techniques, even after 16 years of martial arts training, is BECAUSE I have an open mind, so I must respectfully disagree. I understand training off your back, but how do you even get to this position without being stabbed multiple times? I worked at a prison and witnessed 3 knife attacks there, and sorry to say, they looked nothing like this. Just ask Chai Eun Hillmann.... respectfully of course.

[@knifethrower72194]

Nice video and good advice. I have looked at few vids on getting out of this situation and this is a simple realistic one. If you are interested I do a lot of knife throwing I also did a video on using the sport of throwing knives as a mean of training (not fighting) for knife self-defense. Basically using throwing to allign the blade to make better cuts. Thanks for uploading

[@BurtonRichardson]

@musclepieformybaby We don't want to be on the ground against the knife, but if you end up there, we do have options. Good for you for keeping an open mind.

[@BurtonRichardson]

@bladeimm That is very difficult to do when sparring. I address it in the DVDs though, as there is a time when the opponent pulls away that you can guide the blade into him.

[@BurtonRichardson]

Please post a video your hard sparring against a fully resisting opponent.

[@JdawgMMAblog]

Nice vid master Richardson, just wondering who is the top guy with the mask on at UFS?

[@Ronnock]

I understand that you said "if you've gotta grab the blade, you've gotta grab the blade," however, would you want to "train" to grab the blade? I would think it would be instinctual to grab the blade, so, it would be unnecessary to train. I realize that grabbing the blade might become a necessity in that situation--as you stated--I just an inquiring as to why you "train" to grab the blade, instead of training "not" to grab it.

[@karlosovitch14]

i completely agree burton

[@BurtonRichardson]

@SSJCampbell11 And he could cut my leg. But that hold is sometimes the best option until you can get to a better position.

[@edwood777]

How about producing a blade of your own?

[@BurtonRichardson]

@WildBillJP If you have a better way, please post a video of you sparring against a live partner who is resisting 100% so we can see what you do at close quarters.

[@BurtonRichardson]

I am working on that. I'll keep you posted.

[@BurtonRichardson]

@browneye77 Thanks- The truth is the truth! Better a cut hand than a punctured heart. Enjoy your training!

[@BurtonRichardson]

@myownschadenfreude you are welcome. More on the way.

[@MrSelecta32]

Look at the position of your right hand at 0:53 & 1:26 are you telling me you cannot thrust your fingers into his eyes from that distance? If not then how is it you manage to get it around his head?think of how many times he could have done the same to you at 2:16. We pressure test things & not just against 1 man. that's how I realise the importance of inflicting as much damage to the opponent as possible and disengaging before considering the disarm. which is even more difficult under pressure

[@THEJKDMAN]

in krav magà i've learn a similar technique. rolling on the armed hand after the block on the shin and disarming in mount position. ... self defense is a lab...

[@BurtonRichardson]

Thank you.

[@WildBillJP]

I'm sorry but MMA has rules and is not practical in a real street fight, especially when the other person has a knife. Grabbing his knife arm with both hands means that you will have to close the distance, and essentially end up grappling a man with a knife! Btw, in the slight chance that you actually manage to grab his arm without getting stabbed, what is stopping him from simply switching hands?

[@scarred10]

@WildBillJP you will get cut,anyone with experience knows this,but grappling works aginst knives because you control the knife arm standing with 2 arms aginst 1,hes already said its worst case scenario.

[@BurtonRichardson]

@knifethrower72194 Thank you.

[@MrSelecta32]

No one is denying that point! and I will do so once it can be arranged. But do you think the diver who got attacked by a speeding shark with razor sharp teeth made a habit of sparring with sharks? He admitted he wasn't even combat trained. He Just did what his instincts prompted him to do under serious pressure.. more so than any knife attacker could give him. Eye gouging the shark made the difference for him to be able to live and tell us about it.

[@MrSelecta32]

I will need permission for that, I know students who are so accurate with finger jabs they no longer need goggles. But lets not get off topic here. People have survived shark attacks and crocodile attacks by eye gouging those animals. and that's whilst in those animals mouths. That is a fact that no amount of "sparring" footage can argue against.

[@MrSelecta32]

Keep it simple is what I'm saying. this is not a position anyone one would have a chance of surviving from. If you have a hand free to hold his head like you are at the beginning, then you have a hand free to squish egg yolks out of his eyes and cause him damage at least. just because you control the hand with the knife doesn't mean he has no other arms and legs free.

[@MrSelecta32]

To the same effect temporarily or permenantly blinding an opponent (which needs only one hand so its more simple and direct) no matter who he is, stops their ability to see and thus compromises their ability to fight even if its for a split second, giving you more time to do your control and disarm, which according to you is garaunteed to work. Yet clearly not so against someone who knows what to do with a knife let alone on drugs. What you are showing is far from simple.

[@MrSelecta32]

I think it would be much simpler to push you fingers through his eyes first. Too much fine motor skills here. If you are in that position it would make more sense to cause him damage than risk yourself a cut on the hand or even worse. The knife is not what puts your life at risk. the man holding it is ...

[@PMATSRS]

2) This guy was so freaked and shocked about this that this guy he just let go of the knife and stood there in shock and horror! LOL So, my step dad looked at him cursing him. He pulled the knife out of his hand and wrapped it in a bar towel and commenced to beating this poor bastards A@@! After the guy was out, he call the NOPD and said that he was stabbed and asked if they could come get this guy out of his bar! So, yeah, I guess thats why they call it the sacrifice hand.. LOL ~ Billy Brown