Chris
09-15-2008, 03:13 PM
EDGED WEAPON TACTICS AND COUNTER TACTICS:
by Darren Laur
Edged weapons are amongst the most ancient of implements used by human adversaries engaged in interpersonal conflict. Their use tends to culminate in the premature extinction of one and sometimes both parties. Unfortunately the potential lethality of the blade is not always realized or taken into account when confronting a knife-wielding attacker. There is a commonly held view that a person armed with a knife is less dangerous than a person armed with a firearm. The truth is that within their practical ranges both weapons are capable of fatal life stopping wounds. Some interesting facts include:
U.K. studies:
Edged weapon assaults are the most commonly used weapon for killing people (7 in 20)
In half the incidents of muggings on men the offender is armed with a sharp instrument
North America:
One in three chance that if faced with a subject who had an edged weapon, you will be attacked and injured
Attacks with edged weapons usually occur when you least expect them
In Victoria BC Canada, our police department has found an increase of 35% in the number of calls that they deal with where an edged weapon was involved
In 1994, out of the 7 murders in Victoria, 6 were committed with knives
The majority of "street" type people carry some kind of edged weapon be it legal or illegal.
FBI Statistics:
Edged weapon attackers are responsible for 3% of all armed attacks of police
Firearm attacks account for 4%
Both of the above stats represent fatalities
Subject shot, 10% die from their wounds
Subjects stabbed, 30% die from their wounds
Calibre Press:
Since 1980 the number of people routinely carrying knives in North America has increased by 92%
I have personally gathered research form around the world on edged weapon assaults and the following facts emerged during my research:
The most popular assault technique utilized by the attacker was found to be the hammer strike — either straight down or diagonally
The victim tends to squat in an effort to take a path which offers perceived escape
Many people seldom saw the edged weapon that penetrated their body. They failed to recognize the danger cues due to faulty perception
Knife attacks were found to be exceptionally accurate, to penetrate deeper that some bullets, creating remarkable permanent cavities and rip through numerous organs in one stroke
In reality, within their respective ranges, knives are superior to firearms as far as lethality is concerned
Within its range, a Knife:
Never runs out of ammunition
Never jams
Never misfires
Rarely misses target
Cuts bone, tendon, muscles, arteries, veins with one thrust
Can bring about sudden shock, pain, and extended wound channels
It has better stopping capabilities
Is psychological defeating
Has superior concealment capabilities
It occupies a permanent wound channel until extracted, at which time, if the blade is withdrawn from a lung, consciousness is rapidly lost
I have also attended several autopsies involving edged weapon deaths and in speaking with Forensic Pathologists have found the following medical facts:
Typical death of a stab wound in homicide cases is 1 inch to 1.5 inches through the rib cage
In most edged weapon attacks the victim received multiple knife wounds. The usual cause of death are usually the last few wounds of the overall attack
Even short bladed knives can penetrate the abdomen by 8-10cm
3cm allows penetration of the ribs
4cm allows penetration of the heart
because of the small surface area of a knife, the amount of force per unit area is TONS per square inch
The above noted information shows the importance of training to deal with such encounters. A person’s ability to deal with such situations will be based on his/her TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE. Experience is something not easily acquired, proper training can save lives by preparing you both physically and psychologically. Remember that most edged weapon assaults take place unexpectedly and so quickly that it is not unusual for the defender not to have time to realize that an edged weapon is involved. The attacker who possess an edged weapon usually does not want to convey in any way that he has one, and will usually conceal it until such time as he can deploy it quickly against you. Although a reality, it is a rarity that the attacker will produce his weapon in full view prior to an assault.
As I continued to conduct me research into edged weapon assaults on both police officers and the general public I was also able to identify three common denominators that seem to be present in many edged weapon assaults:
In most edged weapon attacks, the defender is already involved in the physical encounter way before he or she even has time to realize that a knife is being used
Most defenders see a thrust or slice with a knife as just another punch or kick and not an edged weapon assault
It was difficult if not impossible for the defender to differentiate between an attack with an edged weapon or an attack using hands of feet. This was especially true when the defender was not aware from the start of the assault , that the attacker had a knife
I’m a big believer in, "don’t tell me, show me" so in early 1992 I conducted an empirical video research study. I had 85 police officers participate in a scenario based training session where unknown to them, they would be attacked with a knife. The attacker, who was dressed in a combatives suit, was told that during mid way of the contact, they were to pull a knife that they had been concealing, flash it directly at the officer saying "I’m going to kill you pig" and then engage the officer physically. The results were remarkable:
3/85 saw the knife prior to contact
10/85 realized that they were being stabbed repeatedly during the scenario
72/85 did not realize that they were being assaulted with a knife until the scenario was over, and the officers were advised to look at their uniforms to see the simulated thrusts and slices left behind by the chalked training knives
When I reviewed the hours of videotape of the above noted scenarios, I also made several other interesting observations in how the majority of officers reacted to the attacks:
most attempted to disengage from the attacker by backing away from the threat. This usually resulted in the attacker closing quite quickly with their victim
Those officers that did engage the threat immediately, proceeded to block the initial strike of the attacker and then immediately began to grapple with the attacker using elbows and knee strikes, but FAILED TO CONTROL THE DELIVERY SYSTEM REUSLTING IN A LARGE NUMBER OF LETHAL BLOWS WITH THE KNIFE.
Most of the scenarios ended up on the ground
After making these observations, I began to ask myself why I was seeing the above noted reactions. In my research I had the opportunity to read an article authored by Bruce Siddle and Dr. Hal Breedlove entitled " Survival Stress Reaction" . In this article Siddle and Breedlove sated:
" research by numerous studies provide two clear messages why people will place themselves in bad tactical situations. The common phenomena of backing away under survival stress results from the visual systems deterioration of the peripheral field to attain more information regarding threat stimulus. Since the brain is demanding more information to deal with the threat, he officer will invariably retreat from the threat to widen the peripheral field. Secondly, the brains normal ability to process (analyze and evaluate) a wide range of information quickly is focused to specific items. Therefore, additional cues, which would normally be processed, are lost. This explains why people can not remember seeing or identifying specific facts which were relatively close to the threat."
The above noted research by Siddle and Breedlove not only confirmed my findings but also answered why our officers were acting they were. It also explains why one officer, who had actually caught the attackers knife hand with both of his hands and was looking directly at the knife, stated "I didn’t see any knife" It was not until I showed the video that he believed there was a knife.
by Darren Laur
Edged weapons are amongst the most ancient of implements used by human adversaries engaged in interpersonal conflict. Their use tends to culminate in the premature extinction of one and sometimes both parties. Unfortunately the potential lethality of the blade is not always realized or taken into account when confronting a knife-wielding attacker. There is a commonly held view that a person armed with a knife is less dangerous than a person armed with a firearm. The truth is that within their practical ranges both weapons are capable of fatal life stopping wounds. Some interesting facts include:
U.K. studies:
Edged weapon assaults are the most commonly used weapon for killing people (7 in 20)
In half the incidents of muggings on men the offender is armed with a sharp instrument
North America:
One in three chance that if faced with a subject who had an edged weapon, you will be attacked and injured
Attacks with edged weapons usually occur when you least expect them
In Victoria BC Canada, our police department has found an increase of 35% in the number of calls that they deal with where an edged weapon was involved
In 1994, out of the 7 murders in Victoria, 6 were committed with knives
The majority of "street" type people carry some kind of edged weapon be it legal or illegal.
FBI Statistics:
Edged weapon attackers are responsible for 3% of all armed attacks of police
Firearm attacks account for 4%
Both of the above stats represent fatalities
Subject shot, 10% die from their wounds
Subjects stabbed, 30% die from their wounds
Calibre Press:
Since 1980 the number of people routinely carrying knives in North America has increased by 92%
I have personally gathered research form around the world on edged weapon assaults and the following facts emerged during my research:
The most popular assault technique utilized by the attacker was found to be the hammer strike — either straight down or diagonally
The victim tends to squat in an effort to take a path which offers perceived escape
Many people seldom saw the edged weapon that penetrated their body. They failed to recognize the danger cues due to faulty perception
Knife attacks were found to be exceptionally accurate, to penetrate deeper that some bullets, creating remarkable permanent cavities and rip through numerous organs in one stroke
In reality, within their respective ranges, knives are superior to firearms as far as lethality is concerned
Within its range, a Knife:
Never runs out of ammunition
Never jams
Never misfires
Rarely misses target
Cuts bone, tendon, muscles, arteries, veins with one thrust
Can bring about sudden shock, pain, and extended wound channels
It has better stopping capabilities
Is psychological defeating
Has superior concealment capabilities
It occupies a permanent wound channel until extracted, at which time, if the blade is withdrawn from a lung, consciousness is rapidly lost
I have also attended several autopsies involving edged weapon deaths and in speaking with Forensic Pathologists have found the following medical facts:
Typical death of a stab wound in homicide cases is 1 inch to 1.5 inches through the rib cage
In most edged weapon attacks the victim received multiple knife wounds. The usual cause of death are usually the last few wounds of the overall attack
Even short bladed knives can penetrate the abdomen by 8-10cm
3cm allows penetration of the ribs
4cm allows penetration of the heart
because of the small surface area of a knife, the amount of force per unit area is TONS per square inch
The above noted information shows the importance of training to deal with such encounters. A person’s ability to deal with such situations will be based on his/her TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE. Experience is something not easily acquired, proper training can save lives by preparing you both physically and psychologically. Remember that most edged weapon assaults take place unexpectedly and so quickly that it is not unusual for the defender not to have time to realize that an edged weapon is involved. The attacker who possess an edged weapon usually does not want to convey in any way that he has one, and will usually conceal it until such time as he can deploy it quickly against you. Although a reality, it is a rarity that the attacker will produce his weapon in full view prior to an assault.
As I continued to conduct me research into edged weapon assaults on both police officers and the general public I was also able to identify three common denominators that seem to be present in many edged weapon assaults:
In most edged weapon attacks, the defender is already involved in the physical encounter way before he or she even has time to realize that a knife is being used
Most defenders see a thrust or slice with a knife as just another punch or kick and not an edged weapon assault
It was difficult if not impossible for the defender to differentiate between an attack with an edged weapon or an attack using hands of feet. This was especially true when the defender was not aware from the start of the assault , that the attacker had a knife
I’m a big believer in, "don’t tell me, show me" so in early 1992 I conducted an empirical video research study. I had 85 police officers participate in a scenario based training session where unknown to them, they would be attacked with a knife. The attacker, who was dressed in a combatives suit, was told that during mid way of the contact, they were to pull a knife that they had been concealing, flash it directly at the officer saying "I’m going to kill you pig" and then engage the officer physically. The results were remarkable:
3/85 saw the knife prior to contact
10/85 realized that they were being stabbed repeatedly during the scenario
72/85 did not realize that they were being assaulted with a knife until the scenario was over, and the officers were advised to look at their uniforms to see the simulated thrusts and slices left behind by the chalked training knives
When I reviewed the hours of videotape of the above noted scenarios, I also made several other interesting observations in how the majority of officers reacted to the attacks:
most attempted to disengage from the attacker by backing away from the threat. This usually resulted in the attacker closing quite quickly with their victim
Those officers that did engage the threat immediately, proceeded to block the initial strike of the attacker and then immediately began to grapple with the attacker using elbows and knee strikes, but FAILED TO CONTROL THE DELIVERY SYSTEM REUSLTING IN A LARGE NUMBER OF LETHAL BLOWS WITH THE KNIFE.
Most of the scenarios ended up on the ground
After making these observations, I began to ask myself why I was seeing the above noted reactions. In my research I had the opportunity to read an article authored by Bruce Siddle and Dr. Hal Breedlove entitled " Survival Stress Reaction" . In this article Siddle and Breedlove sated:
" research by numerous studies provide two clear messages why people will place themselves in bad tactical situations. The common phenomena of backing away under survival stress results from the visual systems deterioration of the peripheral field to attain more information regarding threat stimulus. Since the brain is demanding more information to deal with the threat, he officer will invariably retreat from the threat to widen the peripheral field. Secondly, the brains normal ability to process (analyze and evaluate) a wide range of information quickly is focused to specific items. Therefore, additional cues, which would normally be processed, are lost. This explains why people can not remember seeing or identifying specific facts which were relatively close to the threat."
The above noted research by Siddle and Breedlove not only confirmed my findings but also answered why our officers were acting they were. It also explains why one officer, who had actually caught the attackers knife hand with both of his hands and was looking directly at the knife, stated "I didn’t see any knife" It was not until I showed the video that he believed there was a knife.