Jim Wagner's Knife Defense

So I just got ahold of a copy of Jim Wagner's Knife Defense video. I'm into Krav Maga, I usually don't study a whole lot of other "styles" because I find Krav to work and honestly see a lot of flaws in everything else. But, I've recently been getting videos from other styles (lately a lot of Russian spec ops Systema instructionals) and decided to give Jim Wagner a try.

I learned something within the first 10 minutes, and it's something that showed me that there's nothing out there that doesn't have a flaw, and that includes Krav Maga. Jim says, even in training defending against a knife, don't freak out if you get hit. Reinforce to yourself that no matter what, you have to keep fighting back. If you give up even for half of a second, you're surely going to be killed. This brings me back to Krav sessions at my old school, training with the battery-operated Shock Knife and the fact that we would always start over if our opponent scored a cut.

This is a bad way to train. You need to keep fighting to reach your objective no matter how many times you get cut. Even in a fight, getting cut may not mean anything. It could just be a painful slice that didn't even cut into a muscle. Whether your aim is to take the knife, get it away from your attacker or even simply to run away, keep fighting. This is so important in the training phase because this is where you set your psychology. If we always train "uh oh, he got me, gotta start over" that's what will happen in a real life confrontation. Your subconscious will say "uh oh, he got me, better stop fighting," because that is what you've trained yourself to do.

The same principle can be applied to firearms training. This is where Krav got it right. If you're training to disarm a handgun, NEVER return it to your training partner. Always take the gun, then point it at your partner so they can disarm you. It may sound funny in the training studio, but there have been documented cases of someone disarming an assailant's gun only to give it right back. Don't let this happen to you, folks.

No one's perfect, and neither is any one self-defense style or martial art. Even though I thought Krav was the best thing out there (and still do, however), even Krav Maga has its flaws. The often-repeated self-defense cliche tells us that our minds are our greatest weapons. This is very true. Whenever you start to learn something, always think; "is this real? Am I doing this the best way I can be doing it? Might this be a bad idea?" Keep sharp, and don't turn your brain off.

Stay safe out there