Self Defense against a Knife

While there are various kinds of criminals that are out there, the ones that are hardened criminals and attack using various weapons are the most dangerous. The unusual part is that the criminals that are to be feared the most are those who carry knives. This is mainly because criminals who actually carry a loaded gun are few. Those who attack with their bare hands or snatch your belongings and make a dash for it can be managed more easily than those who have a knife or a similar weapon.

Self defense against the knife is extremely difficult since in most cases, the assailant may not actually intend to hurt you. Assessing the intentions of the criminal becomes even more significant while you are trying to defend yourself.

When faced with an attacker with a knife, there are certain things that you should ensure.

- Firstly don’t panic! It is important that you keep a cool head to be able to follow the other instructions and to ensure that what you do does not actually land you in a more difficult situation than what might have been otherwise.

- Take your call about whether you will make a run for it or whether you will confront the attackers. The decision should be taken based on the specific place where you are standing. Don’t make the mistake of starting to run and then getting yourself in a corner from where you cannot extricate yourself. If this happens, you would have already tired yourself to some extent before you start using other self defense tactics on the attacker. On the other hand, if you confront the situation and attempt to fight back and then decide that you want to run, you may have hurt yourself to some extent and running may not prove effective.

- Asses the attackers’ intentions. If the attack is being made primary to grab your purse, money, expensive accessories or a car, give in and get over with it. You should, however, make sure that you take a close look at the attacker so that you can try and identify him later in a police line up.

- Try and attract the attention of other people if there are others around. In the busy world that we live, people may not notice an attack that is made by sliding a pen knife in the waist slowly. Self defense products like personal alarms come extremely handy in such situations and can emit a loud and piercing sound that can attract anyone in the vicinity.

- If you have been wise to invest in some easy-to-use self defense products and have them handy, they are easy tools to use when you are in a situation where you definitely need to attack back for self defense. Pepper sprays and stun guns, tasers and throwing stars are some of the most popular products that are being bought for self defense purposes.

- In case you do not have self defense products or in case they are not handy, there are some other techniques that you can use against an attacker with a knife. First of all, do not try and punch your attacker. It is not likely to have a large impact on someone who is prepared to fight or get hurt. The key areas to attack someone with a knife in his hand are the forearm and the shoulder to start with. These should be done in the arm which holds the weapon so as to slow down the movement of the attack. If you feel that the attacker is a vicious one and shall hurt you irrespective of whether you given him what he wants materially, make sure that you prepare yourself to get hurt to some extent. A psychological acceptance of something like this ensures that you are able to ensure better self defense. Don’t stay too far from the attacker. If you are up close, your attacker is not likely to get a chance to go for a full-swing stab (something that can be fatal). You may get injuries from being close upfront but you will be able to save your life by staying up close. Make sure that you don’t focus on the knife but the attacker. Look into his eyes and you shall be able to assess his next move. The idea is basically to use some looping, parrying, deflecting or cutting technique (you can find more about these in self defense video’s) to get to the side or the rear of the attacker. Once there, you should target the neck or the head for a full force attack.

Be aware of the fact that such an attack can happen to any one of us. There are various self defense video’s that can help you in understanding how to use self defense techniques against various knife moves like downward stabs, downward slash, cross slash and the like.