Location: Lowell MA, Private facility, 6pm – 9:45pm
Class size: 5 (3 males & 2 females)
This was a class I normally would not have signed up for, however when it was posted my daughter (14 years old) was very interested in taking it…. so I was game. She has always had a thing for pocket knives and is not legally able to carry a gun so I am happy to take her and attend the class. We both had attended Ben’s shooting classes so I knew it would be fun and with his background in martial arts and fighting it would be informative and we will be taught by someone who knows his shit inside and out!
We arrived a little early, Ben asked me to take off my gun, my knife, remove everything from my pockets including my wedding ring for safety. My daughter Kate took off her rings, her edc stabby knife and her TQ from her pockets. We shot the shit catching up with each other until the remainder of the students arrived. It was good to see Ben as it had been four months since he had been back to Massachusetts.
Ben introduced himself, his background and outlined the class. We went around the room telling our name, our age, prior training experience and what we wanted to get out of the class. For me it was everything, I had never had any instruction on using a knife in a defensive or offensive way and never had hand to hand instruction other than a little boxing as a teenager. I have always carried a knife my whole life and really had no idea how to use it effectively except on opening and breaking down boxes. After taking Dr. William Aprills “Unthinkable” a year ago I had been carrying a clinch pick and figured it was time to get some training.
We had a discussion about mindset and the possibilities of options if we were involved in an attack. Ben stressed getting the heck of the area if possible. He said, if we could not run away from the potential oncoming attack we needed to be all in and win the fight. As with all things in life situational awareness is key. Make sure you see the bad guy before he gets too close, a lifesaving skill. Keep your head out of your phone when you are in transitional spaces!
Ben brought us over to a table where he had a spread of different types of knives and pens laid out. He went through each type, the pro, the cons and how law enforcement & the courts will judge each type. There were large and small folders, fixed blades, Karamits, Clinch picks, neck knives, and punching knives. Ben demo’d each type of knife, how it should be used, and how knife placement on your body should be given some extended thought. We moved on to the section of the table where pens were laid out, both tactical looking pens, semi tactical looking pens and regular 59 cent plastic pens. We discussed the usage of these pens and where they could be taken into to. Some of the pens were average enough that Ben was able to get through TSA and onto planes, while others definitely looked like weapons. The standout demonstration with the pens was with a standard plastic Papermate pen and a cardboard target simulating the face of an attacker. I was amazed by what damage was done when holding the pen in such a way and scraping the face. WOW! I did not see that coming! Really Good Stuff!
Ben showed us different ways to hold the knife, a number of types of cuts and where on the body we should be starting the blade and where the blade should be ending up on their bodies. For instance, an X cut should start from the attacker's neck up by their ear and cut diagonally all the way down past their chest on both sides making an X on their body. We were shown horizontal slices and the location on the body and face we should be concentrating on. Some of the more memorable options that we were taught were the thrust “stab”.... where we would thrust the knife into the belt buckle region and using our body weight to basically split the attacker into two pieces from the groin down ... and the “buzz saw”. The buzz saw technique was where you took your knife and made a circular “buzz saw” motion over and over again into the attacker's face directing the blade right between their eyes and cutting down their chin. WOW!
We paired off into twos and were given rubber knives to practice these cuts. Ben would come around and coach us individually and make polite corrections that were needed with our technique. You really got a sense of how devastating these cuts will be as the rubber blade lightly scrapes your body, neck, and face. WOW, I hope I never get into a knife attack!
Ben showed us how to block a knife attack with arm blocks, how to dodge a blade, and basically how not to get cut from an oncoming attack if we were unable to unass the area. During one point in the class, one of the students seemed a little skeptical that a small girl (my 14 yr old daughter) would be able to access her knife from concealment and getting cuts into a larger stronger attacker that was hands on her. Ben gave Kate (my daughter) a small wooden knife about the size of her edc stabby knife had her put where she normally carries it and he went hands on her throat. With the techniques, she was just shown and practiced she was able to access her wooden knife and make a few very brutal X cuts into Ben's stomach and arms. NICE WORK KATE! I was a proud Daddy!
We spent some time talking about exactly where on the body you would want to cut someone to make them stop doing evil shit to you. We practiced raking the forearm and bicep, slicing arteries, creating distance and getting the f*** out of the danger area.
As this was my first experience with this type of class, information coming out in a firehouse speed and I am sure I missed more than half of the concepts. I look forward to taking the class again where I can absorb more and to prefect my techniques.
I have said “…Ben DeWalt, OnSight Firearms Training is the BEST KEPT SECRET within the firearms training community...”
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AAR: OnSight Firearms Training Defensive Knife Skills.
*Written by a 14 yr old girl*
NOTE FROM HER DAD: THIS IS RAW AND UNEDITED BY AN ADULT. THIS IS HOW SHE WROTE HER AAR WITHOUT SEEING MINE.
Self-Defense Knife Training
October 17, 2019
In Lowell MA, my father and I were the first ones to show up to class, Ben DeWalt and Larry the owner of the building was there as well. After about twenty minutes of talking with Ben and Larry about all sorts of fun things the other two students arrived. A woman named Nicole there who was a statistician for a college and her husband Robert. We said hello and chatted with them for a few minutes while they got ready.
Ben started the class, we all took turns describing themselves, our names, our age, our occupation, other training we had taken and why we're are taking this class. I said since I am not able to carry a firearm that I wanted to know how to use a knife to defend myself if needed.
After the brief introduction, Ben showed us and described the pros and cons of different kinds of knives such as the clinch pick, neck knives, hunting knives, and other types. He went over what can happen to you if you carry certain knives, how they look to the police or in court, as some knives have the appearance of indenting to kill. Ben also showed us how we can use other tools as knives like regular ballpoint pens and screwdrivers as weapons.
Before learning different ways to use a knife he showed us how to hold a knife correctly. We were all given a fake training knife with a medium-sized blade. Ben taught us when to use our knife and when to fight or take flight and get out of the danger area.
Different ways to hold a knife:
Regular grip (with the knife pointing up or down)
Regular grip with the thumb on the top of the handle (with the knife pointing up or down)
Using the regular grip with the index finger on the side, with no thumb on the top handle (with the knife being held at an angle parallel).
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Next Ben described how to use the knife. Each type was shown with a real knife on a cardboard target and then Ben did a demonstration with the plastic training knife. We paired off and practiced what Ben had just shown us with a partner. One of us would grab or try to choke the other and the other person “the victim” would grab their training knife (usually from the appendix region) and we used the tactic we just were shown to defend ourselves.
We learned the following:
An “X” cut (a cutting motion for the neck to the pelvis region in one singular motion)
A horizontal cut (slice the eyes, the neck, and pelvis region)
A stab inside the collar bone
A slice across the neck through a smooth step
A stab through the pelvic region, turn, and a slice through it after putting all weight in the knife
Leg cuts-the different places to cut on the legs. Concentrating on the arteries.
Flicking method (using the tip of the knife to make holes in people).
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After we learned the different cutting tactics we were taught to defend ourselves with a knife coming at us. As a class, we learned how to block the hand with the knife, and then stab the perpetrator in the armpit or drag the knife across their arm tearing their skin off, Ben called this raking. We learned how to bring the perpetrator to the ground. (I think I hurt my dad a little too much on this one, by blocking his arm and pushing on his elbow in a way it should not go…)
At the end of the class, we then took turns chasing our partner with the training knives we used the tactics we just learned to fight back/run away. My dad was always too slow-I killed him a lot. Poor Dad!
CLASS EXPECTATIONS:
Basic learning of how to use a knife properly when in distress
CLASS MAIN POINTS:
Learning different types of knives
How to determine when to take out your knife
When to fight or flight
How to hold the knives
Different ways to use knives in self-defense
How to block people with knives coming at you
Overall this was a fantastic class, as Ben DeWalt is a fantastic instructor, and I feel as if everyone should be trained in knife self-defense.
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