Disarming is a last resort technique that is extremely difficult to do.
We can’t stress this enough: during a knife attack or any other attack, your life is more valuable than your personal belongings, so cooperate as much as possible.
If the situation has escalated or circumstances require it, and you have no choice but to try to subdue the assailant, here are a few ways to get him to let go.
Since there is not ONE technique for every situation, here are several methods to practice.
Table of Contents
The different way to disarm an attacker holding a knife
Before reviewing the main methods to disarm someone holding a knife using self defense techniques, we must recall the basics:
- We suppose that you have managed to grab the armed wing of the aggressor. The, his first reflex will be to try to get out of the way, so you will have to continuously push him backwards, while maintaining his armed wing as far away from you as possible, if possible by pressing it against his chest to restrict his movements. Then hit him up and down with several blows.
- If the situation gets out of hand, release the arm and do not remain in contact. Remember that holding an attacker’s armed wing is all the more difficult if you don’t secure it against a surface (the chest, for instance), as he will wrestle.
- If you managed to disarm the knife and it fell to the ground, do not allow the attacker to go for it, otherwise he may pick it up and come back at you even more determined and alert.
- During training sessions, we use a plastic knife. As it is not very rigid, it can affect your perception of the exercise (no stress, soft blade). Hence, don’t forget that visualization is essential…
Natural disarmament
This is merely the logical consequence of excessive pain experienced by the aggressor who will eventually be less focused and will naturally drop his weapon. If his arm is a little shaken, the disarming will automatically follow. Pain is a good ally in this kind of situation, especially in the case of a blow to the genitals which causes a very sharp pain.
The trap here is not to pay attention to the fact that you have disarmed the attacker, in the heat of the action, and lose sight of the knife that has fallen to the ground, and thus potentially push the attacker back towards the weapon.
Disarmament on the thigh
This is a common disarmament technique in self defense: thanks to a back and forth movement on the thigh (a blow on the front of the thigh, a blow on the back, and so on as many times as necessary, in a sharp gesture), the blade will go in one direction and will oppose an opposite resistance on the guard, which will force the aggressor to let go.
This disarmament not only uses the thigh as a hard surface against which to strike the blade to disarm, but it also cuts the thigh, which will inflict pain and hopefully incapacitate the attacker.
Disarmament by perforation (thigh)
As for the previous one, strike the thigh, no longer from front to back, but by ” puncturing” the thigh so as to force him to let go.
Disarmament on the genitals
This very explicit disarmament consists of striking the genitals with the armed wing.
Disarmament on the chest
Disarms require a bit of amplitude to manipulate the armed wing and bring it where you cant, notably against the thigh. If the attacker resists too much, it may be helpful to not insist and instead strike the knife against the chest on the side.
Disarmament against the throat
This is a military-style disarmament. Instead of disarming against the chest, and if the position of the arm allows it without too much resistance, you can also decide to disarm against the throat.
If the attacker has sufficient intelligence to drop the knife in time, he will only have a superficial cut if the blade is pressed against him. Job done. If not…
Disarmament against the face
Likewise, if the armed wing is relatively high, striking the armed hand against the face may be a good choice, especially near the very sensitive nasal bridge. Unlike a throat strike where the attacker may not be aware of the trajectory of the blade, a face strike is very explicit visually, which is why the attacker may drop the knife quickly before being slashed in the face.
