don't trust the small
Location: Kali (filipino stick fighting) class
We had a fun little exersize a couple weeks ago. Normally the students pair up and do combination drills all night, with the occasional bout of free sparring with padded sticks. Recently, though, the instructor told us to line up against one wall and gave us all rubber knives.
The first 2 students would knife-fight while the others watched. 1 hit anywhere counted as a Win, with the loser going back into line and the winner staying in and fighting the next student.
I was third in line, so I fought the winner of the first 2. I got a cut on his arm For Teh Win. I beat the next 2 students, as well, and was feeling pretty good.
My fourth opponent was a girl who's about 5 feet tall. She weighs like 90 lbs. My arm is probably 6 inches longer than hers, so I wasn't too worried. We circle a little bit, hands moving, rubber knives flashing as only rubber can... and she cuts low and slashes my leg before my knife can dip low and intercept.
Damn those little ones, DAMN THEM! She's already a good foot shorter than I am, so if she crouches and cuts low, it's beyond the reach of my arm. My only option is to be ready to drop height, or footwork out of there.
Those little bastards are fast, too. They can get in and get out with deceptive speed! If we were sparring muay thai I wouldn't be too worried, but when you throw a knife into the mix it's an ENTIRELY different game. If somebody darts in and punches you in the back of the arm, it might hurt a little bit, but the impact will probably just move your hand more than it will hurt it. With a knife, that same hit will render that arm worthless. If they hit on the inside, you've suddenly got a "cry for help" suicide cut bleeding from your wrist in addition to an incapacitated hand.
A bit of advice to all you folks out there-
You know how in the movies, when 2 dudes have the knives out and they're gonna fight, they contantly move the knife back and forth?
That is TOTALLY what you need to do in a knife fight, no joke. You have to keep that hand moving, because an experienced fighter wont try to lunge and cut your body/head, they'll first try to slash your hand or arm. And NO, you wont see it coming and just move your hand out of the way, unless you've got mongoose DNA spliced into your own. By the time you've seen the knife coming, and your meatbrain has processed what it means and sent the commands to your arm muscles to get it moving, the blade will have hit your arm, severing muscles, tendons, and possibly nerves and veins.
So keep that knife moving.
We had a fun little exersize a couple weeks ago. Normally the students pair up and do combination drills all night, with the occasional bout of free sparring with padded sticks. Recently, though, the instructor told us to line up against one wall and gave us all rubber knives.
The first 2 students would knife-fight while the others watched. 1 hit anywhere counted as a Win, with the loser going back into line and the winner staying in and fighting the next student.
I was third in line, so I fought the winner of the first 2. I got a cut on his arm For Teh Win. I beat the next 2 students, as well, and was feeling pretty good.
My fourth opponent was a girl who's about 5 feet tall. She weighs like 90 lbs. My arm is probably 6 inches longer than hers, so I wasn't too worried. We circle a little bit, hands moving, rubber knives flashing as only rubber can... and she cuts low and slashes my leg before my knife can dip low and intercept.
Damn those little ones, DAMN THEM! She's already a good foot shorter than I am, so if she crouches and cuts low, it's beyond the reach of my arm. My only option is to be ready to drop height, or footwork out of there.
Those little bastards are fast, too. They can get in and get out with deceptive speed! If we were sparring muay thai I wouldn't be too worried, but when you throw a knife into the mix it's an ENTIRELY different game. If somebody darts in and punches you in the back of the arm, it might hurt a little bit, but the impact will probably just move your hand more than it will hurt it. With a knife, that same hit will render that arm worthless. If they hit on the inside, you've suddenly got a "cry for help" suicide cut bleeding from your wrist in addition to an incapacitated hand.
A bit of advice to all you folks out there-
You know how in the movies, when 2 dudes have the knives out and they're gonna fight, they contantly move the knife back and forth?
That is TOTALLY what you need to do in a knife fight, no joke. You have to keep that hand moving, because an experienced fighter wont try to lunge and cut your body/head, they'll first try to slash your hand or arm. And NO, you wont see it coming and just move your hand out of the way, unless you've got mongoose DNA spliced into your own. By the time you've seen the knife coming, and your meatbrain has processed what it means and sent the commands to your arm muscles to get it moving, the blade will have hit your arm, severing muscles, tendons, and possibly nerves and veins.
So keep that knife moving.