MARTIAL BL ADE CONCEPTS

There’s no doubt about it — a knife can be a deadly weapon. However, when it comes to modern self-defense, there’s a lot more to selecting a weapon than just lethality.

In today’s world, a truly viable personal-defense tool must enable you to stop a deadly threat quickly and decisively. Ideally, it also must be legal and practical to carry. To satisfy those goals, the tool must be powered by a logical system of tactics that are grounded in the realities of medical science.

Unfortunately, when it comes to knife-based self-defense, there are more myths and misconceptions than there are sound systems of tactics. Some instructors tout combat-proven methods that worked well on the battlefield — with large battle-worthy blades — as the best foundation for self-defense that realistically will make use of a small folding knife. Others model the tactics that are used in prisons to attack rival inmates with improvised “shanks.” Still others teach traditional techniques like disarming an attacker before delivering a series of cuts and thrusts with absolutely no thought of the potential legal ramifications of such actions.

After more than 20 years of searching in vain for a knife