Posts Tagged ‘brazilian jiu jitsu’
How-To Instantly Defeat a Knife Attack
By Jim Mahan, Killeen Texas’ Self Defense Expert
There is a lot of stuff out there, some good, and some bad. Don’t forget, you are betting your life on your choice… Here are three quick tips on how to instantly defeat the knife.
1. My best way to defeat a knife attack is of course, not be there in the first place.
Barring that, the next best thing is to be able to get as far away from the knife as possible without getting cut while doing it. Put as much distance as possible between you and your attacker’s weapon. Back up from your opponent and utilize any nearby objects to either arm yourself or block the path between you and your attacker.
If the attack is sudden and there is absolutely no way to put a barrier between the knife and our body then we must move away from the blade. The most effective movement to perform is called the “V-step”. Imagine that you are standing at the center point of a giant clock and the knife is in the 12 o’clock position. You should quickly move at an angle towards the 10 o’clock position while keeping your hands in front of you and with your palms towards your face. While moving, think small. Crouch your body and hollow your stomach away from the knife. This will move your body away from the cutting or stabbing line while protecting soft fleshy areas.
2. Grab the weapon hand – secure the blade!
Once you have gotten yourself angled away from the slash or stab, we need to keep our attacker from doing it again. The absolutely best way to secure the blade is to seize the attacker’s weapon hand in what is called a baseball bat style grip. You want to hold the arm or wrist with your palms facing each other, fists very close together and thumbs locked. Just imagine the arm is a baseball bat and you will have it. This grip makes it extremely hard for your attacker to shake off or dislodge your hands and keep trying to gut you. As well, these grips are very secure in that you can move around and fight for space in order to disarm the bad guy or find an escape.
3. Disarm and Escape…
Now that we have the weapon hand and are controlling the very thing intent on killing us, what do we do with it? The Filipino Combat Arts have a saying that is very apt, “Defang the snake”. We are going to do whatever it takes to smash the attacker’s hand on your knee and break it or damage it enough to make the blade fall away. We want to slam it into a wall, smash it repeatedly with one of our fists, whatever you can find or do to make that grip weak. Okay! Now the blade is on the ground; what next?
Our best bet is to follow another good rule of thumb. I call it, “Reducing the vision”. We want to head butt them in the nose, poke our fingers or other sharp object into the attacker’s eyes so that when we run, he or she cannot see to follow.
My last tip on making a good escape is to weaken or prevent our attacker from following us. This tip is called, “Reduce the mobility”. You want to kick the attacker’s leg, stomp their foot, kick a knee or push them into a wall so that they fall while we run away to a safe place.
4. Live, Survive, Thrive.
A knife fight or knife attack is one of the most challenging situations a person trained in self defense can encounter. Especially when we find ourselves unarmed against the blade. There are many, many techniques and procedures that are effective with a great deal of time and practice. You might not have that time. You can use these simple, direct and effective techniques to escape and live to see another day.
Self protection techniques are an investment into your family’s life. Spend the time and learn a few strategies and tactics that could prevent a horrible event.
About the Author:
Self Defense and Knife Fighting Expert, Jim Mahan has helped thousands of individuals just like you learn simple and effective ways to protect themselves. Jim spent 20 years in the US Army and three combat tours teaching US and Allied forces fighting skills used on current battlefields. For more unbeatable, sure-fire ways to defend yourself or your family, join the Self Defense program at Jim’s academy in Killeen, Texas. www.combativesgroup.com
Get More from Your Body
How you can improve your body’s performance in four steps.
It seems everybody who knows how to exercise has a tip or two on how to get your body to operate at its maximum potential. Which ones should you use? The ones that work for you. Believe it or not, most tried-and-true ways to get more from your body work. At least they work for a certain group of people.
Trying these different techniques will help you determine what it takes to help your body get to the next level of fitness and provide you with a better, stronger self.
Strengthen Your Core:
Just the name of your core should be enough to convince you of your need to keep it strong and healthy. When your core is weak, the rest of your body is at a distinct disadvantage. Add some muscle to your core with sit-ups, double crunches, crunches while resting on an exercise ball, and other core-strengthening and core-stabilizing exercises. The end result will be more than a good-looking set of abdominal muscles. It will be a set of good-looking abdominal muscles that supports you properly and efficiently in all endeavors you undertake – whether walking briskly through the airport with two carry-on bags tossed across your shoulder or going for a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling.
Get Vitamin D:
You’ve known for a long time that vitamin D is important for strong bones, and strong bones are important if you want your body to do its job as well as possible. Did you know that vitamin D is also important for another reason? Recent research shows that vitamin D may play a great role in whether an athlete is able to take his or her performance to the next level. Runners who underwent rigorous training reduced their sprint times by 7.4 percent with the aid of vitamin D, while their counterparts who did not receive vitamin D increased their times by a meager 1.7 percent. So if you want to get the most from your body, take a vitamin D supplement or get out in the sun.
Kick Back:
Taking some time off to relax seems counterproductive when you want your body to be stronger and more efficient. But if you don’t take time to relax and get proper amounts of sleep, your body won’t be there for you when you need it most. Instead, it will be ready for naptime. In addition to getting plenty of sleep, you should also relax your body during the day. By forcing yourself to let your limbs hang loose and your fingers drop carelessly, you stretch out your entire body and reduce your stress levels immediately. Take this time to breathe, and breathe deeply. Deep, focused breathing is a great way to reinvigorate your muscles with oxygen-rich blood, and it’s easy to do. So relax a little now and your body will be ready to help later.
Drink It Down:
Water is one of your body’s main building blocks, making up nearly three-fourths of your body mass. Are you getting enough of it? If not, you’re putting your body at a disadvantage that is difficult to overcome with energy bars and electrolyte-filled drinks. When in doubt, drink water. It will give your body what it needs to stay strong and healthy, keep you from growing weak and faint, and will help you feel fuller faster, all benefits that help your body operate at its peak all the time.
Slow It Down
There are countless ways to keep your body from reaching and operating at its potential all the time. What are a few of them? Let us count the ways…
One one-thousand…sugary sweets
Two one-thousand…focusing only on aerobic exercises
Three one-thousand…focusing only on strength exercises
Four one-thousand…a negative attitude
Five one-thousand…poor posture when standing and performing exercises
Exercising in the A.M.
How getting up early gives you the advantage.

When the sun begins peaking over the horizon, you shouldn’t be burying your head underneath a pillow, praying it will get dark and turn into night again. Instead, you should take advantage of the early hours to get in an hour of exercise. Why? Because the benefits far outweigh your desire to sleep in a bit.
Benefit #1: You’ll Lose Weight
Exercising during any time of the day is proven to help you obtain and maintain a healthy weight. However, recent research hints that exercising in the morning gives your weight-loss goal an extra push. How’s it do this? By improving your life a few ways all at once.
The first change is that working out during the first few hours of the day helps you sleep better, whereas working out in the evening can actually make it more difficult to sleep at night. Since healthy sleep habits assist your weight-loss goals, it only makes sense to want better sleep.
Working out in the morning also helps your metabolism to get high early on in the day and stay there throughout your day.
In addition, exercising early puts you in a healthy mindset from the moment you wake up, helping you make better decisions later in the day.
Benefit #2: You’ll Stick with It
Another reason morning workouts benefit you is the ease with which you can stick with them. Whereas it can be difficult to find time during your busy day to squeeze in exercise, making exercise the first thing you do during the day ensures you get in some calorie-burning time no matter what the rest of the day may bring.
Think you may not have the strength to stick with an early morning exercise regimen? Remember that in addition to sleeping better, early exercising gives you increased energy and gets the blood pumping throughout your body. This helps you fire on all cylinders, whether you have a big meeting coming up or have to pull a double shift at the warehouse.
Benefit #3: You’ll Get a Raise
As if an energy boost in the morning and increased metabolism weren’t reason enough for working out in the morning, this early-morning fix-all may be just what your career needs. If you’re skeptical, think about your attitude at work. Have you been down in the dumps? Too tired to go the extra mile?
Working out first thing in the morning may give you the boost you need to get past these issues. Once your boss recognizes your improved can-do attitude, your sudden willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty, and the infectious smile you carry everywhere you go, you may find yourself on the fast track to promotion. And to think-all of this just because you woke up a few minutes early for some running, weight lifting, bike riding, swimming, or calisthenics!
Creative Morning Routines
Getting your exercise every day is no easy task. Getting it in before the rest of your family is awake can be even more difficult-especially if you’ve not a morning person.
To make sure you get your fill of morning exercises, keep these tips in mind.
- Leave the car at home. Once you’ve eaten a healthy breakfast, hop on your bicycle or grab your running shoes and get to work the old-fashioned way by your own power. Just be sure to keep an extra change of clothes on hand so you don’t have to wear your sweaty outfit all day.
- Do something fun. Everyone has different interests. To make sure you get up every morning and get in some exercise, make your routine fun. Whether you prefer kayaking, bike riding, or push-ups, implement this into your early morning routine and you’ll have fun as you improve your health.
- Become specialized and start teaching. Wish there was a spinning class at 6 a.m. at your gym? Find some likeminded folks and work to become a teacher of the class. As a teacher, missing class isn’t possible, so you’ll be sure to get your routine in first thing in the morning, even when you’d rather stay in bed.
Sunday Focus Punch
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. – Winston Churchill











