Knife fight
Encyclopedia
A knife fight is a violent physical confrontation between two or more combatants in which one or more participants is armed with a knife
. A knife fight is defined by the presence of a knife as a weapon and the violent intent of the combatants to kill or incapacitate each other; the participants may be completely untrained, self-taught, or trained in one or more formal or informal systems of knife fighting. Knife fights may involve the use of any type of knife, though certain knives, termed fighting knives
, are purposely designed for such confrontations - the dagger
being just one example.
, originally a purely offensive weapon used to kill an unsuspecting or wounded adversary, was later embraced throughout Italy as a fighting knife for close combat
confrontations. The popularity of the stiletto in the Kingdom of Sicily
resulted in the development of the La scherma di stiletto siciliano (Sicilian school of stiletto fighting). The stiletto was purely a thrusting or stabbing weapon, and the scherma di stiletto Siciliano accordingly taught fighting movements designed to avoid the tip of the opponent's blade (scanso). Techniques characteristic of the scherma di stiletto Siciliano include sbasso (bending to ground), in quarto tagliata (tacking to left or right), and the balzo (leap to evade the enemy’s blade). A person skilled in the use of a stiletto would thrust the knife deep into the victim, then twist the blade sharply in various directions before retracting it, causing the sharp point to inflict severe internal damage not readily apparent when examining the entrance wound.
, the use of the large navaja
(folding knife) as a fighting knife has been prevalent among the peoples of that region since the 17th century. In that part of Spain, sword and knife fighting techniques (espada y daga) were regularly taught to young men as a necessary skill, often passed down from father to son as a rite of passage to adulthood (and in some cases, to daughters as well). In 18th and 19th century Spain esgrimas de navaja (fencing, or knife-fighting schools) could be found in the major cities and throughout Andalucía, particularly in Córdoba
, Malaga, and Seville. As time went on, these schools began to depart from teaching traditional sword-fighting and fencing techniques in favor of simplified attacks and defenses based largely on the concept of deception, distraction, and counterstrike. Among navaja aficionados, the gamblers or barateros of Malaga
and Seville
were cited as the most skilled practitioners of fighting with the navaja. The firmly-established knife fighting tradition with the navaja in Andalusian Spain would later spread to other Spanish-speaking countries, and was known as el legado Andalúz, or "the Andalusian legacy".
and his large-bladed facón
. Deprived of their ability to wear a sword by various edicts, Spanish gentlemen in South America adopted the facón, together with fighting techniques developed directly from el legado Andalúz, including the use of an item of clothing such as a poncho or cloak
to protect the weaponless arm. The facón was later universally adopted by the gaucho and by men of the rural working class in Argentina as well as Brazil and Uruguay.
, sometimes referred to as Kali
, is an indigenous Philippine martial art involving the use of sticks, knives and other bladed weapons. Like most other knife fighting traditions, Eskrima is learned by constant practice, using sparring encounters between two or more opponents in order to hone a practitioner's physical skills and mental concentration. This martial art flourished for hundreds of years as part of a society with a blade culture, and the system's already impressive indigenous techniques were later directly influenced by Spanish and Andalusian fencing and knife fighting systems with the introduction of the angles of attack and the use of espada y daga (the word eskrima is a Filipinization of the Spanish word esgrima, meaning a fighting or fencing school.
and Sergeant Eric A. Sykes
, then members of the Shanghai Municipal Police
, began teaching knife fighting skills and defenses to both police recruits and members of the British Army, Royal Marines and U.S. Marine units then stationed in Shanghai
during the interwar years. Fairbairn reportedly engaged in hundreds of street fights in his twenty-year career in Shanghai, where he organized and headed a special anti-riot squad. Much of his body - arms, legs, torso, and even the palms of his hands was covered with scars from knife wounds from those fights. During World War II, Fairbairn and Sykes continued to refine their knife fighting techniques for military and paramilitary forces, teaching British Commandos
, Special Operations Executive
(SOE) personnel, selected American and foreign soldiers and covert espionage personnel, including members of the American Office of Strategic Services
(OSS) and US/UK combined Operation Jedburgh
teams. Their experience in training both soldiers and civilians in quick-kill knife fighting techniques eventually led to the development of a specialized fighting dagger suited for both covert elimination of enemy sentinels and close-combat knife fighting, the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife
.
In 2009 Dog Brothers MA of Hermosa beach California began the use of "electric-knives" or "Shock-knives" for their full contact knife vs knife fights and knife vs stick fights at the annual "gathering" and tournaments as well as military training seminars. the gathering combats are not scored, but resolved by consent of combatants.
The following are variations of the forward grip:
The following are variations of the reverse grip:
Each grip has advantages and disadvantages. Holding the knife in one of the forward grips allows for more finesse and a longer reach, while a reverse grip allows for more power. The reverse grip is regarded as more difficult to master in knife-on-knife combat, as it may require additional skills in footwork and rapid defensive body movements to offset the increased danger of moving closer to one's opponent and the reach of his/her blade.
Knife
A knife is a cutting tool with an exposed cutting edge or blade, hand-held or otherwise, with or without a handle. Knives were used at least two-and-a-half million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools...
. A knife fight is defined by the presence of a knife as a weapon and the violent intent of the combatants to kill or incapacitate each other; the participants may be completely untrained, self-taught, or trained in one or more formal or informal systems of knife fighting. Knife fights may involve the use of any type of knife, though certain knives, termed fighting knives
Fighting knife
A fighting knife is a knife with a blade designed to inflict a lethal injury in a physical confrontation between two or more individuals at very short range...
, are purposely designed for such confrontations - the dagger
Dagger
A dagger is a fighting knife with a sharp point designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon. The design dates to human prehistory, and daggers have been used throughout human experience to the modern day in close combat confrontations...
being just one example.
History and Development of Knife Fighting Techniques
During the long history of the knife as a weapon, many systems or schools of knife fighting have developed around the world. Each is usually distinguished by region and culture of their origin. In past centuries the repeated invasion and conquest of foreign territories by invading armies frequently resulted in the dissemination and adoption of knives and knife fighting techniques. These were in turn adapted and improved upon through long practice and drills, sometimes over hundreds of years.Scherma di Stiletto Siciliano
The Italian stilettoStiletto
A stiletto is a knife or dagger with a long slender blade and needle-like point, intended primarily as a stabbing weapon. The stiletto blade's narrow cross-section and acuminated tip reduces friction upon entry, allowing the blade to penetrate deeply...
, originally a purely offensive weapon used to kill an unsuspecting or wounded adversary, was later embraced throughout Italy as a fighting knife for close combat
Close combat
*Close combat is a generic term for both Close Quarters Battle and Hand to hand combat.*Mêlée generally refers to disorganized close combat.*CQB is an acronym for Close Quarters Battle, such as that which occurs in urban warfare....
confrontations. The popularity of the stiletto in the Kingdom of Sicily
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy...
resulted in the development of the La scherma di stiletto siciliano (Sicilian school of stiletto fighting). The stiletto was purely a thrusting or stabbing weapon, and the scherma di stiletto Siciliano accordingly taught fighting movements designed to avoid the tip of the opponent's blade (scanso). Techniques characteristic of the scherma di stiletto Siciliano include sbasso (bending to ground), in quarto tagliata (tacking to left or right), and the balzo (leap to evade the enemy’s blade). A person skilled in the use of a stiletto would thrust the knife deep into the victim, then twist the blade sharply in various directions before retracting it, causing the sharp point to inflict severe internal damage not readily apparent when examining the entrance wound.
The Andalusian Legacy
In Andalusian SpainSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, the use of the large navaja
Navaja
The navaja is a traditional Spanish folding-blade fighting and utility knife. One of the oldest folding knife patterns still in production, the first true navajas originated in the Andalusian region of southern Spain...
(folding knife) as a fighting knife has been prevalent among the peoples of that region since the 17th century. In that part of Spain, sword and knife fighting techniques (espada y daga) were regularly taught to young men as a necessary skill, often passed down from father to son as a rite of passage to adulthood (and in some cases, to daughters as well). In 18th and 19th century Spain esgrimas de navaja (fencing, or knife-fighting schools) could be found in the major cities and throughout Andalucía, particularly in Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
, Malaga, and Seville. As time went on, these schools began to depart from teaching traditional sword-fighting and fencing techniques in favor of simplified attacks and defenses based largely on the concept of deception, distraction, and counterstrike. Among navaja aficionados, the gamblers or barateros of Malaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
and Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
were cited as the most skilled practitioners of fighting with the navaja. The firmly-established knife fighting tradition with the navaja in Andalusian Spain would later spread to other Spanish-speaking countries, and was known as el legado Andalúz, or "the Andalusian legacy".
Esgrima Criolla
The Esgrima Criolla ("Creole fencing") method of knife fighting was popularized by the South American gauchoGaucho
Gaucho is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas, chacos, or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Chile, and Southern Brazil...
and his large-bladed facón
Facón
A facón is a fighting and utility knife widely used in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay as the principal tool and weapon of the gaucho of the South American pampas...
. Deprived of their ability to wear a sword by various edicts, Spanish gentlemen in South America adopted the facón, together with fighting techniques developed directly from el legado Andalúz, including the use of an item of clothing such as a poncho or cloak
Cloak
A cloak is a type of loose garment that is worn over indoor clothing and serves the same purpose as an overcoat; it protects the wearer from the cold, rain or wind for example, or it may form part of a fashionable outfit or uniform. Cloaks are as old as human history; there has nearly always been...
to protect the weaponless arm. The facón was later universally adopted by the gaucho and by men of the rural working class in Argentina as well as Brazil and Uruguay.
Eskrima
EskrimaEskrima
Eskrima is the umbrella term for the traditional martial arts of the Philippines, which emphasize weapon-based fighting with sticks, knives and other bladed weapons, and various improvised weapons...
, sometimes referred to as Kali
Kali
' , also known as ' , is the Hindu goddess associated with power, shakti. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Kali means "the black one". Since Shiva is called Kāla - the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" . Hence, Kāli is...
, is an indigenous Philippine martial art involving the use of sticks, knives and other bladed weapons. Like most other knife fighting traditions, Eskrima is learned by constant practice, using sparring encounters between two or more opponents in order to hone a practitioner's physical skills and mental concentration. This martial art flourished for hundreds of years as part of a society with a blade culture, and the system's already impressive indigenous techniques were later directly influenced by Spanish and Andalusian fencing and knife fighting systems with the introduction of the angles of attack and the use of espada y daga (the word eskrima is a Filipinization of the Spanish word esgrima, meaning a fighting or fencing school.
Military & Police Knife Fighting Techniques
The art of teaching knife fighting skills to mass military and police forces was significantly accelerated after World War I, when Captain William E. FairbairnWilliam E. Fairbairn
William Ewart Fairbairn was a British soldier, police officer and exponent of hand-to-hand combat method, the close combat, for the Shanghai Police between the world wars, and allied special forces in World War II. He developed his own fighting system known as Defendu, as well as other weapons...
and Sergeant Eric A. Sykes
Eric A. Sykes
Eric Anthony Sykes , born Eric Anthony Schwabe in Barton on Irwell, Manchester, England. He is most famous for his work with William E. Fairbairn in the development of the eponymous Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife and modern British Close Quarters Battle martial arts during World War II...
, then members of the Shanghai Municipal Police
Shanghai Municipal Police
The Shanghai Municipal Police was the police force of the Shanghai Municipal Council which governed the Shanghai International Settlement between 1854 and 1943, when the settlement was retroceded to Chinese control....
, began teaching knife fighting skills and defenses to both police recruits and members of the British Army, Royal Marines and U.S. Marine units then stationed in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
during the interwar years. Fairbairn reportedly engaged in hundreds of street fights in his twenty-year career in Shanghai, where he organized and headed a special anti-riot squad. Much of his body - arms, legs, torso, and even the palms of his hands was covered with scars from knife wounds from those fights. During World War II, Fairbairn and Sykes continued to refine their knife fighting techniques for military and paramilitary forces, teaching British Commandos
British Commandos
The British Commandos were formed during the Second World War in June 1940, following a request from the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, for a force that could carry out raids against German-occupied Europe...
, Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
(SOE) personnel, selected American and foreign soldiers and covert espionage personnel, including members of the American Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
(OSS) and US/UK combined Operation Jedburgh
Operation Jedburgh
Operation Jedburgh was a clandestine operation during World War II, in which personnel of the British Special Operations Executive, the U.S...
teams. Their experience in training both soldiers and civilians in quick-kill knife fighting techniques eventually led to the development of a specialized fighting dagger suited for both covert elimination of enemy sentinels and close-combat knife fighting, the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife
Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife
The Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife is a double-edged fighting knife resembling a dagger or poignard with a foil grip developed by William Ewart Fairbairn and Eric Anthony Sykes in Shanghai based on concepts which the two men initiated before World War II while serving on the Shanghai Municipal...
.
Contemporary Knife Fighting Developments
Knife fighting is also emerging and quickly growing as a sport known as knife fencing where simulated knives are used to strike scoring zones for points.In 2009 Dog Brothers MA of Hermosa beach California began the use of "electric-knives" or "Shock-knives" for their full contact knife vs knife fights and knife vs stick fights at the annual "gathering" and tournaments as well as military training seminars. the gathering combats are not scored, but resolved by consent of combatants.
Knife Grips
There are several ways a knife can be held for offensive or defensive use. The two most common are the forward and reverse grips.The following are variations of the forward grip:
- HammerHammerA hammer is a tool meant to deliver an impact to an object. The most common uses are for driving nails, fitting parts, forging metal and breaking up objects. Hammers are often designed for a specific purpose, and vary widely in their shape and structure. The usual features are a handle and a head,...
grip - the hand is wrapped around the knife handle, with the thumb on top of the fist, as if gripping a hammer - Saber grip - the hand is wrapped around the knife handle, while the thumb is placed on the top of either the handle or the spine of the blade
- Modified saber grip - as before, but with the thumb wedged against the flat dimension of the blade.
- Palm grip - the knife handle lies diagonally across the outstretched palm, while the thumb is pressed flat against either the forward end of the handle or (optionally) the blade's ricassoRicassoA ricasso is a part of sword and knife blades. It is the section just above the guard or handle. It is sometimes unsharpened and unbevelled.The first unsharpened ricassos were found on Middle Bronze Age swords...
. - Filipino grip - same as the hammer grip, except that the thumb is placed along the spine, either floating above or in contact with it. The grip is based on Filipino Martial ArtsFMAFMA may stand for:* Fabrica Militar de Aviones, Argentina's military aircraft factory* Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposed United States Constitutional amendment* Fellow of the Museums Association* Festival du Monde Arabe de Montréal...
concepts. - Forward grip edge up - similar to a saber grip, but with the knife handle rotated along the axis of the forearm, so the edge is facing upwards.
The following are variations of the reverse grip:
- Slash Attack - aka "reverse grip edge out" or RGEO, where the hand is wrapped around the handle with the blade end next to the little finger (opposite side of the hand from the thumb) with edge facing outward towards the opponent.
- Icepick gripIcepick GripThe icepick grip, otherwise known as the "reverse grip" or pakal in Filipino martial arts, is a technique used in close range knifefighting, in which the blade protrudes from the bottom of the hand, rather than the top of the closed fist, resembling the way one would normally use an icepick for...
- aka the pakal grip. The knife is held in a hammer grip but with blade reversed. This grip is usually used in concert with an overhand and downward thrusting or stabbing stroke. While the icepick grip is frequently employed by untrained knife users (esp. persons of lesser strength in an attempt to increase thrusting force), it may also be used by a skilled knife fighter as part of a sophisticated system that includes footwork and body movements including parrying and deception defenses.
Each grip has advantages and disadvantages. Holding the knife in one of the forward grips allows for more finesse and a longer reach, while a reverse grip allows for more power. The reverse grip is regarded as more difficult to master in knife-on-knife combat, as it may require additional skills in footwork and rapid defensive body movements to offset the increased danger of moving closer to one's opponent and the reach of his/her blade.