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I had a friend and page follower share his knife fight story. He was assaulted by a pair of brothers in a parking lot. The knife attacker was 13 years old, and the older brother was throwing landscaping rocks at his head. I'll relay it in his words and then give some personal takeaways that I think are worth mentioning.
Background: Chris is a security guard at a tech company, and was off duty at a sandwich shop on his way to visit his girlfriend. His gun and OC spray were left in the car. He only had his CRKT Hissatsu folder.
His relevant knife training was US Army combatives and Shivworks and Shivworks Alumni ECQC.
Chris: "
Got knifed in a parking lot by a 13 year old. His brother cracked me in the head 7 or 8 times with large landscaping rocks. (this was) 2 weeks ago. Was going in to a supermarket to get food for work and visit the girlfriend that works there.
Kid got mad that I got in his way parking my truck. Took cops 3 hours to show to the scene. I was already in the trauma unit by then.
Knife boy was bleeding out on the sidewalk. A car pulled up and they put him in it. Gun and OC spray were in a backpack in the truck. I do unarmed security at **** and can't carry anything in uniform, except a knife. Used a CRKT Hissatsu folder to defend myself.
Nicked an artery too. Rescue was getting lunch in the supermarket. Told them, "Wish you could of waited a little. Wanted to bust out my CAT TQ and med gear. Test my training and finally get to use the shit." Lol
Definitely going to go back to having a small nine in a cargo pocket holster after this. Working at **** has got me complacent and soft, compared to the security work I did before.
The fight started less than 5 feet in front of me with knife out on the side of his leg.
I pulled mine, but didn't deploy it. Showed it to him and said, "Kid, I got one too. You sure you want to do this?"
He came in slashing...
His brother was nearby. He would hit me in the face with large landscaping rocks, while his brother tried to stab me.
Think the hand got cut blocking his knife. Didn't know I was cut till the fight was over.
I stayed out of his range and went for chest and face when I had openings. Too short to hit him in the stomach. Hissatsu was awesome for stabs. Little effort and went in to the target areas easily.
Rock kid...I left alone. Focused on the knife. I grabbed the rock thrower by the neck and pushed him away once. In hindsight, I should of used the knife on him too. I was going to bury it in him, but it flashed in my mind that it wouldn't be justified.
He quit after I stabbed him in the chest. After the stab he screamed to his brother, "I'm bleeding out. Hit that motherfucker with rocks."
Can you believe an American 13 year old would say some shit like that?
I can't believe I got hurt like that from a kid. Been doing armed security for 15 years. Worst injury I've ever gotten was a bloody nose.
Main thing people need to know is knife fights suck. They look ugly, most of the training out there for them is bullshit and all parties involved are going to end up cut.
This is my 5th fight that involved a knife. Most of the other ones were work related. Armor and cut gloves made those easier.
My girlfriend said I had a look of disbelief that a kid would fight me.
When we fought, everything slowed down for me. I was pretty calm and was looking for openings. I didn't even feel the rocks.
I did get target fixated and wasn't paying attention to his knife hand. Luckily, I did a good job staying out of his range. I didn't slash much. Just stab, retreat, stab, retreat.
Because it was a knife, it didn't make the news and was a low priority for the police.
Might of been a good thing I wasn't strapped. It would of made national news and I'm sure I would of been portrayed negatively for their anti 2A agenda."
My takeaways:
-When it's least expected, you're elected.
-Preemptive knife access saves precious time in fight.
-Sometimes showing your tools and willingness to fight will dissuade an attack. Sometimes not.
-Point driven knife work is superior to slashing knife work
-If you carry a knife, know how to access it and have target zones on your adversary.
-The old adage of 'in a knife fight, everyone gets cut' seems to have held true.
-His comment on national media optics may very well be true. We need to really think about what tools we are using, even if they are all lethal options.
-Prior exposure to relevant and adequately stressful training stimuli make it easier to keep your composure in the moment.
-Have you thought about having to defend yourself against a young teenager? You better think about it.
-A gun in your car won't save you in the parking lot.
-Have some basic trauma gear in your vehicle and know how to use it.
-The police won't magically materialize to solve your problem for you.
-No one is coming. It's up to you.