Dave McCall – Knives

Knife fighting is grappling. Grappling is about control of your opponents center of balance, and his ability to move in useful ways.

One thing which Dave didn’t mention -- probably due only to the very rapid tempo of his presentation -- is that the primary points of vulnerability for a person wearing body armor are their neck and groin. Slash either effectively, and the fight will end quickly. The points in the neck are well enough known -- the coratid artery is easy to locate and attack -- but the primary point of interest in the groin is the top of the inner thigh, where the femoral artery runs along the inside of the femur and into the hip. Open the femoral artery effectively with a deep, wide cut, and your opponent can loose half his body’s blood in as little as a minute. The more vigorously your opponent fights with such a wound, the faster he will exsanguinate and die. Period.

To make best use of the groin for such a defensive manuever, do not grapple his upper body. Go in low, grapple his hip (the belt is particularly useful here) or leg, and make your cut with all the power you can muster, using your entire upper body to move the knife through the stroke. Having done so, withdraw quickly, and let the wound do the work of disabling him. Do not stay engaged if you can withdraw, make him spend the last moments of his life pursuing you, not harming you…