Common Principles Behind Defending Knife Threats and Bayonet Attacks


Technique Review 

Shalom everyone. Welcome to our week’s technique review. Albert and I, Albert is one of our global team members, we will demonstrate the principles behind the bayonet and knife threat, bayonet attacks, knife threats, impending threats.

Video transcript

Shalom everyone. Welcome to our week’s technique review. Albert and I, Albert is one of our global team members, we will demonstrate the principles behind the bayonet and knife threat, bayonet attacks, knife threats, impending threats.

Let’s start, and remember, Krav Maga came from the military. We are talking about bayonet attacks: attack with a weapon. Military, so they don’t have so many bayonets but still, a soldier in need may attack with the weapon. What to do in this kind of situation, in the civilian life it’s against a stick, sort of, attack. Pitchfork, this type of weapons.

If he attacks me, that’s the basic and what we are doing here, like in the defending the stab with the weapon, here I reach out as soon as possible while lifting the hand and sending it forward. Not only lifting the hand but lift and send forward. Forward diagonal towards the opponent.

My goal is to be able to defend the weapon relatively close to the opponents hands, but not too far away from the front. It can be done with the front lift or right hand. If I am standing, obviously, it’s clear which hand will defend. If I am in the passive stance, it’s symmetrical. Preference is usually to defend with the hand coming from the outside.

Move with the body. Defense, and as soon as possible, you grab the weapon then lean forward and kick so when you land you are already prepared for the kick. Meaning, the toes are outside. We do slowly one time, continuing with more attacks and then disarm the person.

That is the basic. Now, when we have the problem of a knife threat, what are we saying? If I’ll have the knife please. If we are talking about a knife threat, it can be with more or less control and different ranges and different angles. Our basic is something like, “Give me your money,” type.

One thing that is very, very important if he says, “GiveĀ  me the money,”… “Okay, here’s my money. Please, please, please, take the money,” this type of thing, although I didn’t have anything in my pocket now. If you have no other choice and you do need to fight it, you see, the problem, that is the basic idea.

Now, what do we do here? We are deflecting, like with the bayonet, the pinky is up. The thumb, the pinky is down, the thumb is up. We are sending the hand diagonally forward. Right or left, doesn’t matter but, of course, we prefer to come from the outside. Sending the hand towards him. Why? Because if I do towards the side, eventually I am coming close to myself and I can cut. It won’t be so efficient.

I do this action. I even disarmed Albert, maybe he didn’t eat so big breakfast today. Yes? And, immediately we kick. The kick should be kick to the groin with the ball of the foot. There’s an effect of a little bit of pushing too. From here, after the first kick, we can do other attacks as needed and then move away from danger zone.

By the way, we don’t know any situation that the knife stayed in the hand after attack number one. So, whether, the hand defense disarms or the first kick cause the person to lose the weapon. That is the idea. You see how similarities there are?

What happens in the history of Krav Maga, Imi was never asked what to do against the knife threat. Because Krav Maga is the problem solving system, there was no problem, there was no solution. Imi was never asked, but I was asked in a later stage, years after, and what I did was practically take in the bayonet principal.

Now, because there’s no movement, it’s static, I don’t need to move out of the line. I don’t really need it. I can do it in place. Because it is so efficient with the hand defense, and the attack and the range increases and almost always the knife drops. We don’t really need getting out of the line, getting out of the channel.

The basic, depending on the situation, depending on the angle, we can do different types of variations, with the same principle of a hand defense. But the defense a little bit at least and strong counter attack, then we can continue with the same thing. For example, different ranges, different angles.

Look what happens here. I see a problem. I can attack without hesitation. The first thing I did was, obviously, the hand defense. This chopping action. From the front we are doing with the palm. Thumb up, pinky down. From the side we usually go with the forearm and continue with a good side kick, whether towards the knee or towards the area of the floating rib.

This is the subject of the similarities. Remember, the source of the stab technique was the defense against the bayonet. Thank you for listen and watching. All the best. Albert, thanks.

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