Joe, you have more than politely stated your opinion; and you are certainly entitled to it. What’s with the: ‘Corto’, ‘medio’, y ‘largo’ terminology? Do I detect something of Filipino technique? You’re right, too. I DO have experience, ‘dueling’ with knives. I can look at the scars on my forearms or side anytime that I feel like being reminded of, ‘the good old days’.
Nowadays, though, I read a lot about knifefighting or, more in line with your viewpoint, ‘knife attacks’ on various internet websites. I take it all with, ‘a grain of salt’; I honestly don’t think there are too many, ‘survivors’ around to comment on this sort of martial behavior. It’s been many years, now, since anybody’s come at me with a knife; but, I’ll stand by my original statement; ‘The FIRST THING you should attempt to do in any hand-to-hand knifefight is to AVOID THE BLADE. The SECOND THING you should do is attempt to DAMAGE YOUR OPPONENT’S WEAPON HAND.’
Look, I’m not addressing these remarks to assassination. If you catch it from a guy who’s just asked you for, ‘the time’, well, that’s your fault because he never should have been allowed to get THAT close in the first place! This being said: Whether it’s a sneak attack or a, ‘duel’ doesn’t really matter. In the brief moment you’re going to have between the instant you see, either, rapid arm motion or steel - and the guy is on you - my advice would be to SEEK TO AVOID THE BLADE!
To an experienced man with a short blade, most aggressive reactions you will attempt – other than avoidance - are going to be little more than opportunities for him to cut you; and, it needs to be recognized that a, ‘good knifer’ is going to be coming on hard and fast! He’ll slash to clear YOUR hands and follow by thrusting to cripple you. The current, ‘target du jour’ is the neck; but that wouldn’t be my first choice. Me? I’d hit low and, then, move up. If I ever had, ‘a style’ (And I’d like to think that I did not.) I used to prefer to whack a hand or elbow before it was almost at maximum extension. If I couldn’t get to the arms, then, I’d go for either side of whatever leading knee. The only time I’d stand on an opponent’s vertical body centerline (a la Steven Segal) was when I wanted to bring him forward to have at me. Then I’d fight exactly the same way as: Echanis, Styers, and Biddle recommended. I know that, ‘the wheel’ keeps getting reinvented; but, quite frankly, I haven’t witnessed any knifefighting style that works better than what I’ve briefly outlined here.
If you have only a second or two to react: My suggestion would be to get off the other guy’s vertical body centerline – ideally by moving away from the blade toward the side of your opponent’s body that forces him to reach across himself in order to get at you. Then, encourage him to reach and seek to damage his weapon hand. A smart fighter is going to rush you. It’s up to you to be able to, ‘pass him by on one of HIS corners’. The only thing I’ll add is, sometimes, a low kick will work – especially to the side of the knee - but I, personally, wouldn’t try any form of high attack short of, maybe, pushing a shoulder.
Other than this you are more than welcome to practice and prepare yourself for CQB in any way that you see fit. I really do appreciate your courtesy; so many times this sort of discussion will turn into a, ‘pissing contest’. You have graciously decided not to do that; and I respect you for it. May I suggest that - against the day when you may suddenly have to face a short blade - you tuck my, ‘strange advice’ away, somewhere, in the back of your mind.
In the broad perspective from which you approach, ‘knifed combat’ I’d have to agree that stopping the attack IS the primary consideration; and, if you’re carrying a gun, I’d certainly recommend using it. To my mind: Avoidance of the blade is (and will remain) the primary directive in any knifefight: corto, medio, o largo, spontaneous, or dueling. I don’t care if you run away, kick a chair into the middle of the fray, or start moving toward the opposite side of your opponent’s body away from his knife. The key word remains, ‘AVOID’.
After avoidance comes the reply. Do whatever you can to clear yourself of the blade and encourage your opponent to reach for you. If you’re familiar with Aikido-style joint locks – fine. Use barehanded techniques, again a la Steven Segal, to clear yourself of the weapon; but, whatever you do, quickly damaging the other guy’s weapon hand is going to be paramount to your survival.
One of my favorite people to practice knifefighting with was a Tai Chi Chuan instructor who was crossed trained in Okinawan Gung Fu. He was excellent at inside, ‘push hands’ techniques aimed primarily at: wrists, forearms, and elbows. He was originally trained by an old Hawaiian named (Professor) Henry Lee. My instructor’s name was Alex; and he used to be able to stand on my vertical body centerline; and, with his powerful short arms and hardened hands, he could consistently push any attack I made away from his body; and, then hit me hard - often from the inside! Fortunately for guys like you and me there aren’t too many Alex Kupai’s in this world. Alex always said that I had a lot to learn about Tai Chi; but, not too much more to know about knifefighting. (He wasn’t too shabby with a blade, himself; and, I believe he meant the compliment, too.)
What the hey, this sort of response has helped to bring me to the age of 62; and, in my time, I’ve been complimented by, both, Ed Parker and Gil Hibben. They always seemed to think that I knew what I was doing with a knife in my hands. However, I do have to admit that was yesterday; and this is today. I don’t, ‘knifefight’ anymore - not in or outside of a dojo. (Can’t, my legs were permanently damaged in an accident back in 1990.) I just like to talk about it, now; and, try as I might, I’m still drawn to these sometimes silly and too often inane threads. Maybe I should, ‘cut it out’.
Best of luck to you!