It’s Jimbo again with my buddy W. “Hock” Hochheim.

(Okay, he’s not sitting right next to me. That would be awkward since we’d have to be six feet apart and mumble through masks. But he did provide us some deep insights on the realities of knife combat over the phone and using the magic of the world-wide inter-web).

Last week we brought you Part One of Hock’s “Ten Deadly Sins Of Knife Fighting”.

This week is Part Two.

Alright… knife fighting is, of course, a serious activity that requires advice from someone who knows what the hell they’re talking about, (unlike that relationship advice I got from my 45-year-old neighbor Ralph who, as far as I can tell, has never actually spoken to a woman).

Which is why I brought in Hock. He understands knife fighting on a level most of us do not, (and yes, he’s also spoken to real live women).

In case you missed his amazing credentials from last week, Hock served as a police officer and U.S. Army detective for 26 years and then as a private investigator in Texas…

…responded to and investigated hundreds of knife-related murders, attempted murders, rapes, robberies, and assaults…

…run-down and disarmed dangerous thugs, and collected key evidence at autopsies, (without once passing out).

He’s also a martial artist, attaining black belts in Filipino Arnis, Kempo, and Aiki-Jitsu, and has served as a FightFast instructor for the last 20 years.

Last week we covered knife combat Sins 1 thru 5. This week, (if my math is correct), it’s Sins 6 thru 10.

1. Thumbs down to the thumbs-up.
2. Kicking is not your top concern.
3. People want to live, (and will fight for it).
4. Disarming is highly under-rated.
5. Jupitar-like gravity.

Sin #6:

Fighting ‘Thumbs Up’.

There are a few very talented Filipino martial artists who tour the country teaching and showing-off their graceful and fluid techniques. (Yep… very purdy stuff).

So it’s easy to understand why students want to emulate the athletic prowess of these masters, (and explains why neighbor Ralph waters his lawn wearing a Batman speedo… I think).

But it’s one thing to want to emulate your idols, another to mindlessly replicate mistakes.

One of these mistakes is the “Cancer Grip”.

Because frankly, this is a dangerous way of holding the knife, and it’s unlikely that the experts are even aware they’re doing it.

The Cancer Grip is when you hold a knife saber-style (blade forward) and significantly raise your thumb up off the back strap.

The thumb and the ball of thumb constitute a good 60 percent of a grip on the knife. Without that support, the most minor impact will dislodge the knife from your hand.

As Hock says:

“I have seen this exercised by masters and seen it thoughtlessly replicated coast-to-coast, even by some ex-Navy SEALS on knife training videos. They say they would never use it in ‘real-life combat’, but they train like this anyway. Sometimes they’ll even lift off the index finger (see photo) and leave the pointy finger sticking out”.

It comes down to the relationship between stress and muscle memory, (sounding a lot like an old college fling).

Because as the old police training adage goes: “Under stress, we resort back to our lowest level of repetition training, rarely to our level of expectation.”

So if you use the Cancer Grip when you train, you’ll probably use it under the duress of combat too, (and if I haven’t made it clear, that’s bad. Very bad).

Hock’s giving a major thumbs-down to the thumbs-up grip, (see how I did that? Thumbs up, thumbs down. Ahem… okay… let’s move on).

Sin #7:

Prioritizing Kicking.

One trick that many martial arts lean heavily upon is to kick the knife free from an opponent’s hand. Problem is, using this as your primary strategy is kinda like depending on my brother-in-law to pick you up from the airport.

It may work… but it’s more likely to leave you standing there with your luggage looking around like an idiot and finally just having to Uber yourself home.

On the other hand, it should not be ruled out completely, (the kick, not my brother-in-law). As Hock puts it:

“As a judge of several knife-fighting ‘Killshot’ tournaments, more than once I have been surprised to see knives kicked clean out of the opponent’s hands during the most fierce, hot, and serious battles between pairs of highly-talented practitioners”.

The idea is not to depend entirely on kicking alone, (aka “the one-trick pony”) but to also train strikes with the hand, elbow, knee — even biting the enemy when you’re safe from his blade.

Plan to bring more than just one weapon to the fight.

Sin #8:

Ignoring The Will To Live.

The next deadly sin is forgetting just how hard people will fight for their lives. Or, as Hock puts it: “Ignoring the tenacity of the human spirit”, (which sounds so much more eloquent).

Most knife training doesn’t take this tenacious “will to live” into account. As he says: “The training goes something like this: ‘You execute the stab, then push his body away. It’s over! No more knife fight!’ Well, don’t believe it”.

This “sudden-drop-dead” myth is just more Hollywood, (kinda like Mr. Spock’s Vulcan instant-knockout-nerve-pinch, which I once wanted so much to be real).

From his many years of experience, Hock knows that people don’t just lay down and die.

“People don’t actually die that quickly,” he said. “They may fight on long and hard for their lives, even beyond the end of their consciousness. As a Vietnam-era vet once told me, ‘Hock, I stabbed them six, seven, eight times, and most were fighting me! They were in effect, dead, but their bodies just didn’t know it yet.’ ”

How’s that for a dose of reality? Fighting dead guys who don’t know they’re dead yet. (Shiver).

And yet this “stab-and-push-away-because-he’s-dead” technique is being taught in most training facilities.

The lesson goes something like:

The trainer slashes at the trainee. The trainee grabs the trainer’s attacking limb then thrusts a mortal knife wound on the trainer… then taught to release his opponent’s arm (the one that happens to be holding a weapon) to shove him away. Then move on to the next threat because that one has been eliminated.

Wait a second… if that dude doesn’t instantly drop dead, (which he won’t) you just let go of a guy who’s still armed and able to carve you up like a Chuckie doll.

Point is: Be skeptical of any instructors teaching knife techniques that have your opponent suddenly dying or melting into a quivering heap of jelly after the first cut.

Never expect the opponent to drop like a sack of potatoes or instantly fall into shock when you cut him.

As experienced police officers and soldiers will confirm: Never release a weapon-bearing hand until you’re safe.

Your training should include follow-up moves that take into account an opponent’s almost super-human ability to continue fighting — even after a so-called fatal stab.

You can get that training from Hock himself below:

>> Hock’s Training
(With Free Tactical Folding Knife) <<

Sin #9:

Not Trying To Disarm.

There’s another nasty little myth out there that suggests, (or outright states), “blocking or trying to disarm a knife is suicide. It can’t be done.”

In the looong history of martial and military training, students were taught to block and disarm knives.

And Hock has worked many cases where totally untrained victims disarmed knives from attackers.

“Happens all the time”, Hock said chewing a toothpick while dry-shaving with a Bowie knife.

“Yes, most were cut when it was all over, but they were alive”.

But then a group of so-called experts rolled through the scene, whacked open a side of beef for shock value, and declared that any attempt to block or disarm the blade means you’ll end up like the dead meat on their hook.

Hock takes issue with these meat-whackers, (okay, that sounded more strange than intended).

He points out: “Countless citizens, soldiers, and cops have managed to save their own lives by fighting! What would these nay-sayers have you do? Give up and die?”

Point is don’t fall for the misinformation and convince yourself that fighting back against an opponent armed with an edged weapon is a hopeless endeavor.

Legions of survivors have proven that fighting back works — even unarmed against a blade.

Because there’s an element to a knife fight that Hock calls “The Diminished Fighter Theory”.

Basically it’s when the attacker begins to lose the ability to fight in degrees for a variety of reasons — exhaustion, injury, the cocaine wearing off, etc.

Quite suddenly the blocking and disarming techniques that wouldn’t work before against an adrenalized beast are successful because your opponent is a weakened and diminished person.

So, by all means, try to diminish your opponent. I’m not talking about a strongly-worded letter. No, grab a stick and hit him. Kick dirt in his face. Throw rocks. Hammer a chair over him, (works like crazy in WWF Wrestling), whatever you can do to hurt him, take him off his game, and wear him down.

You have a much better chance against a diminished fighter.

Or, as Hock says, (in a low Clint Eastwood rasp): “If you have to fight, then you must fight for your life. Go down gambling. You may never have to go! Or you might take the son-of-a-bitch with you!”

Sin #10:

Not Understanding Gravity.

Hollywood makes it all look like a great manly adventure, but knife fighting is an ugly business.

“When you fight with a knife, you are maiming and killing”, Hock said. “Killing! All events, all karma has orchestrated such a bizarre set of circumstances that you must stab and slash human skin, imploding and exploding the smelly, red, wet, internal organs of another person.

“If you train with a knife and you don’t truly grasp this vile and disgusting reality, you will forever be some immature pretender, playing ‘pass and tag’ with a rubber toy”.

(Geez, when you put it that way, stabbing someone doesn’t sound like so much fun after all).

Knife fighting is a very serious, ugly business. Not understanding the gravity of that is a mistake.

Yes, have a deep respect for the damage it can inflict. But with that understanding, act with courage and boldness if and when you are certain the lives of you or your loved ones are threatened.

Hope you enjoyed this amazing edition of Man-Skills. And a big thanks to Hock — the man himself — for helping out.

If you want more training from Hock, we have a rather intensive knife training DVD package that includes a quality tactical folding pocket knife for FREE.

>> Get This Training Package HERE! <<

More “Man-Skills” heading your way soon.

Stay Manly,

Jimbo, Editor
Man Skills

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