The SMS principle. Defending against knife attacks.

01/26/2022By Redaktion

Fighting Fit Krav Maga Messer Nahkampf

Sensivity, Mindset, Skills – SMS. This is the basis for defending against knife attacks (assuming you can't successfully run away or avoid the confrontation altogether). Stephan Geillinger explains to SPARTANAT readers how to do it.

Sensivity

Looking closely, being attacked with a knife is one of the worst things that can happen to someone. A knife is relatively small and light, so it can be concealed and used quickly. The many reports of knife attacks that have been read in recent years, countless knife attacks that have not made it into the news, should make it clear to everyone that any man or woman can end up in such a situation: self-inflicted or completely innocent.

The response from the legislative branch is knife-free zones and stricter gun laws. Now, by lex, it is illegal to injure or kill another person with a knife. Those who are willing to do so will certainly not be hindered by gun laws and restricted areas (irony intended).

What remains is to sensitize oneself and develop a corresponding mindset, sensitizing oneself to recognize situations of danger and avoid them, even in the speed of a cheetah if necessary. The safest defense against a knife attacker for myself is to create such a distance from him that even if he throws the knife at me afterwards, it can no longer hit me. So, I'm talking about 30-40 meters. Therefore, flight would always be ideal. In occupational safety, this would be called "separation of the hazard source and the person."

Anyone who has been involved in nonverbal conflicts knows, however, that running away is not always possible. The attack can come unexpectedly without warning, I have a small child with me, the escape route is blocked, or I have a duty of care in my profession (e.g. police officer, bodyguard). These are all examples of why fleeing is not an option.

Mindset

This brings us to the mindset. I must be clear to myself that I may have to inflict serious injuries on the attacker himself in order to survive his attack. I must be prepared to face the danger, quite literally. Many people tend to look away, hoping that this form of submission would help and spare them. Far from it, I must see what the attacker is doing, and I must anchor that in my mindset, to look at him. If I have objects within my reach or even tools with me that can be successfully used to defend against the attack and there is still time to make them ready for use, then I use them without hesitation.

However, you must have conditioned your mindset to actually use these tools, otherwise only one thing will happen: the attacker will then have one more weapon.

Skills

Tools: I advise against the use of pepper spray to defend against a knife attacker, at least if I am alone facing him. It is too easy to get some of it on yourself too quickly, and fighting back becomes more difficult: both continuing the fight and fleeing. Apart from that, there are individuals who hardly react to the active ingredient. The attacker may be under the influence of drugs or simply eat very spicy food frequently, conditioning himself against the active substance. I have experienced this myself.

And even if the active ingredient works on the person hit, the desired effect will not occur immediately. With this scenario, the attacker has 30 to 60 seconds to carry out his plan. Therefore, if a knife is involved and I am alone, the use of pepper spray is likely a Plan B, if not even C or D. The A solution in terms of tools would of course be a firearm. However, the A solution can fail for the following reasons. Who typically carries a firearm in Germany? Apart from law enforcement, hardly anyone, maybe even "alarm guns" provided you have a small weapons permit. These are forbidden for the "ordinary" security guards due to the risk of confusion (a criminal sees such an alarm gun and therefore resorts to using his "sharp" weapon out of fear for his own skin). With a drawn weapon, one can potentially keep the attacker at a distance, subdue him, or even act on him in an emergency.

Always? No, not always. Tests have shown that even if the defender notices what is happening and the attacker is closer than 7m, the defender has no chance to get this tool ready for use. Another major disadvantage of a firearm is the entire environment. Jeff Cooper says in his 4th safety rule: "know your target and what's in front of and behind it," not to forget. And next to it, a shot can easily go off, knowledgeable fans of the cult film "Pulp Fiction" know what is meant. The prosecutor will hardly blame you for taking out a knife attacker with a firearm, but for every other injured person, possibly completely innocent, you will receive a bill from him.

Then remains the baton as B, or maybe as a solution A. Similar to the firearm, it takes time to make it ready for use. With the baton, one can only hold the attacker to a limited extent and only at a relatively short distance, based on experience. But with the (really) appropriate practice and the necessary mindset, one can counter the attack accordingly without putting the surroundings at risk. The flashlight, ideally with a fast-acting strobe function, is well suited to disorient the attacker. This is only sustainable if you flee from the temporarily disoriented attacker, or if you use their temporary state to overpower them. Regardless of which option is chosen, both actions must occur in split seconds after triggering the flashlight. If the last option, overpowering, is chosen, the following applies, which must also be applied by anyone who does not have access to the tools or cannot use them for whatever reason.

The acting Lord Mayor of Cologne, Mrs. Reker, once said that double arm's length is safe. By now, she surely will not repeat this statement, as she herself was a victim of a knife attacker. Anyone who feels safe from an attacker armed with a knife at double arm's length is either inexperienced or reckless. "Everyone runs out, one runs in" (unknown firefighter). This is exactly how it is in a current knife attack on me, assuming the right mindset. I confront the danger if I cannot successfully flee from it. The grip of the knife reveals a lot about the angle of attack, which allows me to prepare accordingly. Zero distance to the attacker is the safest distance I can establish: I block the stabs and prevent the attacker from making further moves to stab or cut due to the close distance. At the same time, I engage the attacker with everything I have, knee strikes, headbutts, biting, punches, and only stop when the attack is over: either by the attacker fleeing or becoming incapacitated.

When the knife falls to the ground during the fight, I step on it if possible to prevent it from being used again, either by the attacker themselves or by an uninvolved third party. At this point, I would like to end the practical explanation, online courses on knife defense circulating on the internet are not reliable, and I am reluctant to share our skills with the depths of the internet, where these elements also lurk, which we want to protect ourselves from.

In conclusion, I come to the summary of what is necessary to survive a knife attack relatively unscathed: Sensitivity (awareness of danger), Mindset (pushing beyond limits), Skills (Training, Training, Training). These 3 components are taught by every (good) martial arts school/institution for self-defense. If it is not taught there in a similar way to what is described here, you are at the wrong place and would be wise to look for another institution. You can, if necessary, continue to do nothing, rely more on luck, or rely on the state's monopoly on violence. And those who exercise the state's monopoly on violence are much more likely to face people armed with knives.

Is your official training level up to date with the current situation? If you continue to rely solely on luck, I wish you the best of luck. If you are interested in getting to know our methods better, you will have the opportunity in the future to attend one of our courses.