Slice and Dice

Two out of the last three times I went to class were knife defense oriented.  Very fun!  The instructor went over how to block two live side cross body slash with the slash pattern essentially making an "X",  and another live side low slash.  I'm still somewhat proficient from my time in the Corps with knife fighting, although I will not claim to be an expert nor would I willingly engage in a knife fight if I can get away.  At the end our training partner had his choice of the three slashes to use and it was my job to evade or block.  Something I've experienced, and my partner did it tonight, is that guys get too caught up in blocking every single move.  It does not have to go down that way.  Be patient, evade the attacker's strikes/slashes until the attacker throws something you can easily block, parry, or grab. 

Death by Sharpie

Today at Krav class we did knife fighting/sparring using sharpie markers and expendable tshirts.  Having some experience in this I did pretty well, I thought.  I faced the other two students a few times and an instructor once.  We went over general tactics, offensive specific and defensive specific strategies as well as how to avoid appearing as an aggressor and ending up in jail with charges if you didn't start with a knife but ended up with it.  During the sparring I got punched in the left side of my face twice, which was an eye opener since it has been a while since I got punched.  Not an eye opener as in "Oh crap that hurts really bad!" but more of an eye opener like "That did not hurt bad at all, I can take more than I thought I could."  I'm a little sore on the upper part of my jaw, but I'll survive.  I have what amounts to rug rash marks all over me from the continuous sparring, about 30 min worth.  There is some kind of sparring or aggressive technique practice at every class, which is refreshing because you get immediate feedback on whether or not it works correctly.  Additionally, it places an immense stressor to learn the move right.  We used this as a training technique when I was a Section Leader:  teaching the difference between cover and concealment is one thing.  Going to the paintball range to do force on force and test it is a whole different ball game.  You can also see it in how people act when opfor is using blanks; if they're using sim rounds the planning considerations and situational tactics become much more important to people.  In the end, pain retains.