Three Rules of Knife Defense

You are faced with someone attacking you with a knife. Here are the three rules of defending yourself.

1. Run.

A study showed that police officers were more likely to get hurt facing an assailant with a knife than with a gun. Why? Because you have to be a certain kind of crazy to threaten someone with a knife. A gun is very impersonal and disconnected; a finger pulls a trigger and then boom! Its a very disconnected process from action to result and as such a lot of people wield guns but don't necessarily mean to use them. But to hurt someone with a knife you've got to put your whole body into it, hand, arm, chest. You just don't accidentally stab someone to death. So when the police face someone with a gun, they might not mean to use it; but someone with a knife is more likely to be thinking "how can I cut you?".

2. If you can't run, get something between you and the knife.

A pillow, garbage can lid, umbrella, another knife. Anything to move your body out of harms way.

3. Expect to get cut.

What happens when you prick yourself? You yell "ow!" and pull your finger back to inspect the damage, maybe squeeze it. If someone slices you with a knife and you have the same reaction, you're going to be in trouble as they wade in for the second, third, and fourth blows. You have to override your instincts and expect that shock of the cut so you can still defend yourself from the next attack.