How is your edged weapon training coming along?

Author:  Odhinn Kohout

My Instructors and I train weekly. We make videos of our training and take lots of pictures to see how we are progressing and to think outside the box. We have come up with a great deal of material simply by training on a regular basis. How else are you going to know if what you are learning from whomever or whatever school will work unless you constantly test it out. We also train with aluminum blades to ensure a sense of realism instead of rubber or plastic training blades.  How your mind imprints information is crucial to your retention and it MUST be as close…to the real thing as possible. When your training partner pulls a metal blade on you SEE the flash of metal as the knife comes in on you which should cause a “trained” response.Knife defense is not progressing within the law enforcement community. It is either skimmed over or not addressed at all in favor of litigation based issues rather than those concerning crucial Officer safety. Training needs to start with the Instructors and NOT the students. I know many Instructors who are very passionate about what they do and seek out advanced training on their own as it is not provided within their Agency. There are also Instructors who are resistant to change and are very content teaching the same old program for 20 years because “change” means that they will forced out of their comfort zone.

 

   

Don’t settle for sub-par defensive tactics whether you are in the Military or Police fields. Ask a lot of questions in class as it will reveal a great deal about who is teaching you and their character. I ask my students to bombard me with any questions they have on every course we teach as a company. If you are telling them to place their feet a certain way and you are called on it…then you had better have a firm grasp of balance and principles of triangulation or you may find yourself embarrassed by an experienced student.

Knife defense is one of the most difficult subjects that there is because it deals with lethal force issues, reactionary gap principles, elevated heart rate and it’s effect on motor-function, fear, your partners safety, weapon transitioning, empty hands tactics, securing a weapon hand, hostage scenarios etc. and etc…

     

MAKE some time with your students on your next class and listen to their fears and concerns about learning some knife defense. We owe it as Instructors to our front-line Officers.

Be safe Guys!