To Any And All Would-Be Knife Fighters

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To Any And All Would-Be Knife Fighters
By Marc 'The animal' Macyoung


Here's a message to anyone who thinks that by pulling a weapon in a fight will guarantee he will never lose...

Learn to take your beating like a man.

If you step into the arena of violence it doesn't matter what you call it. Violence is what it is. A fight doesn't change because you call it 'self-defense.' Violence happens for a lot of reasons and an overwhelming majority of violence is NOT a matter of life or death. And that especially applies to fighting.
If you choose to 'fight,' accept the fact that you can -- and WILL -- lose. Sooner or later, the odds are going to catch up and you aren't going to be the one who comes out ahead. If you can't accept that reality, then you have no business stepping into the arena.


By panicking and pulling a knife to avoid taking an oft times non-lethal pounding, you've just escalated it into serious shit. That action has taken it OUT of social violence and made it a deadly force encounter. Your worst fears have been realized because YOU MADE IT HAPPEN.
That dude is now legally justified to pull a gun out and blow your brains into a fine pink mist. If you use you super ninja silat commando knife training on the dude, then YOU are legally the aggressor ... no matter who started it. YOU have crossed the line into excessive force AND instigated the use of lethal force. And lethal force is only justified if you are in IMMEDIATE danger of death or grievous bodily injury. Losing a fight does NOT qualify. No matter how scared you are of losing.

When it comes to using a knife on another human being let me state right now:
I don't give a fuck what you think "self-defense" with a knife is.

Nor do I give a rat's ass about what your instructor says is
justified use of force (as he teaching you all these killer kung fu
commando deadly knife moves).

I also don't give a tinker's damn about all the macho huffing and
puffing about "If I ever had to use this I'd..." BS that so many
wanna-be 'knife fighters' repeat endlessly on the internet (or the
ignorant chanting of "I'd rather be judged by twelve than carried by
six" mantra)

I say this because about 99% of what is out there about 'knife fighting' will either get you killed or put you into the prison showers.

Your problem is this: if you use a knife according to a lot of the training that is out there, you're going to be in trouble. No matter what your guru/pak/datu or some knife fighting ninja on a forum told you (or you've convinced yourself):
1) A knife is a lethal force item
2) As such its legal/moral/ethical application is narrowly allowed
3) 'self-defense' is a legally defined term.

And it is up to you to meet that standard. That standard is NOT going to change because you felt you were 'defending yourself.' It's very easy to allow your emotions to carry you away, pull and use a knife when it is not justified -- either legally or in actuality. Knives are like power tools, mistakes happen a whole lot faster.

Now you may think I don't know what I'm talking about ... except for the fact that my bank account is a whole lot bigger because attorneys call me when they have a case where knives were used. This should interest wanna-be knife fighters for three reasons:
1) I have personally survived several knife incidents and I've seen a lot
more first-hand, so I know how knives are commonly used.
2) I know the dangerous and illegal fantasies that are commonly taught
in the 'knife fighting' business -- and most of it is NOT self-defense.
3) I prefer to work with the prosecutors.

So basically you have a choice, you can listen to me now, or you can listen to me in court.

And if you listen now, hopefully you'll stay out of court. If you end up there, you'd really rather have me on your side explaining why you didn't do what you are being charged with. Add to this that if (despite this warning) you choose to listen some so-called knife fighting expert who promise that you'll-be-a-weedwhacker -of- death-after-you-study-his-deadly- system, don't be surprised to see me testifying against you for what you did to somebody.

A Reality Break
The reason I'm so harsh about what is being taught as knife combat is NOT to get you to come and study my "ultimate knife fighting system." I'm trying to save lives ... either yours or someone else's. This ain't no game and it ain't no fantasy, so let's get some perspective on the subject of so-called "knife fighting."

Now I know this might seem like a bunch of mixed messages, but it's not.

The point is, if you are going to carry a weapon LEARN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN!
Learn the laws, learn what you can and can not do, learn what are leagal weapons to carry, get permits if needed, try to follow the rules. Weapons and violence are a reality, learn to deal with them as a adult and life will be happier.
(I mean...I still carry a blade, but it's a normal looking legal pocket knife, not my 13inch dagger like I used to carry.)
As we expand on this new area we'll get into different forms and techniques, but I'm trying to teach the mindset first. It's a horrible horrible thing that you should hope never happens, but just in case we will try to be informed. But on this forum we'll look at it from a mature serious viewpoint, no flashy bullshit to get you killed, just the facts on how to stay alive.

Just don't go looking for it, you'll make it happen.

Long live Exotic Automatic! Long live SINZA!

Absolutely true!

Couldn't agree more......

Very true. There was a ad-campaign recently in my country which was called "Do not become the victim of your own self-defence." It shows a couple of adds of a guy just getting nudged on a couple of times, to which he pulls out a knife. Then all the other guys turn serious, and he ends up getting stabbed with his own knife.
It's quite shocking, but I think it's good, because it was quite a trend, it was cool to carry a knife around, and everyone had one. It was pretty scary.