Hi Adam
Thanks for your post and apologies for the delay - was away in the Brecons all weekend.
I haven't trained BJJ, but it was probably the Gracies and the Machados who got me interested in the grappling arts in the first place.
I'm not actively seeking to train in BJJ at the moment, although will try to train with the likes of Rick Young whenever he's in town. And certainly, my own grappling art is not of a level where I feel there's no point in looking at BJJ or otehr ground fighting arts that I haven't really trained in. In fact, I don't think you can ever get to a level in one art where you can then dismiss other arts.
For me it's just a matter of time at the moment.
The Kali is something I've only really dabbled with, but love the fluidity of the art.
I'm currently training in JKD with Terry Barnett, which is really complimenting what I have already trained in.
Some of it is adding to what I already have, such as the Boxing, some of it is completely new to me, such as the stick and knife, etc.
I'm also working alot on fitness, I'm boxing, grappling and generally working out on pads and bags - in addition to teaching (obviously)
And yes, I have been attacked by people with blades.
I was attacked one night by a guy with a machette - I hadn't done much (if any) real edged weapons training up to this point, so my response probably wasn't anything like you'd see in a Kali or JKD or other weapons trainign class.
I turned and ran - with legs as fast as bees wings.
But in my humble opinion, if you are in a weapons class and the instructor tells you to use any response other than that of run away, when you are unarmed and faced with a guy wielding a machette - you need to find a new instructor!
I decided to stop suddenly in my tracks and plant a right hand on this guys jaw as he ran into me. I thought this would be a great idea and would allow me to catch the guy when he least expects it.
As he's running up the road the last thing he's expecting me to do is stop and turn and fight - so my plan was to turn and whack him - and with the combined force of my punch and him running on to it - the plan had all the makings of a knock out that would last for a week.
What actually happened was I was full of massive adrenalin, I stopped, I turned, I threw my punch and I missed :-)
He then took a swipe whith his machette which I cleverly blocked with my back, as I ducked to avoid it taking my head off.
The only thing that saved me from being cut into two AL's half the original size was the fact he had previously been whacking the nightclub door with his weapon and had knocked any kind of edge off it. He also struck me like he was hitting me with a bat rather than slicing it through me, and it was winter which mean't I was working the door with a couple of t-shirts, a sweat shirt and a think overcoat.
I then ran away again - faster than before :-)
There is more to this story that is not relevant here - but to answer your question.
I now train with the stick and knife - I am still very much a white belt and loving every minute.
Is it realistic? - probably not.
Is it valuable training? - definitely.
Personally, I don't think there are many attacks that are similar to the way most arts (not just Kali) teach the attacks.
The reason for that is that most attacks that end in a knife sticking out of someone happen before you've even seen the knife.
If they show it they most likely want to you see it and want to scare you with it.
From a self defence point of view - give them what they want!
It's not for me to tell you to attack them or try to disarm them.
If I cannot avoid it then I have 2 options.
Either I go all out to control the knife arm - regardless of whatelse they are doing.
If they are hitting me in the head with their other hand - that is still better than being stabbed in the head by the knife hand - so I would be aiming to crash in and control the knife
Or
I will continue with my own plan regardless of what weapon they have.
I would still keep my fence up, I would use my verbal skills to either explde the situation into an aggressive fence or distract them with a submissive style, then get my first shot in with a pre-emptive strike.
This is very generalised and there are a million - what if's which I cannot answer here - but that is my general approach
Firstly - don't be there
Secondly - if your awareness and avoidance has let you down - escape at every opportunitu
Thirdly - if all else fails either control the weapon hand or plough in with your own attacks regardless
Either way - expect to get cut
If you don't then you are very lucky and so go buy a lottery ticket immediately
It's more a matter of how badly you're going to be cut rather than whether or not you will be cut!
I've waffled - my apologies - but hope some of this makes sense
Cheers
AL
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