The following is from a Haganah Instructor in the UK:
 

In the course of promoting HaganaH in the UK, I’ve been drawn into several discussions with practitioners of other systems, who have questioned the effectiveness & validity of our knife defenses. In the spirit of our system, to remain proactive, I carried out some supplementary intelligence gathering based on actual data available on knife attacks from LEO, Medical and Coroners reports, I will come on to that in a moment.One of the most common criticisms leveled is that our straight stab defense is entirely reliant on an attacker making a single lunging /stabbing motion to the torso or abdomen, which it is alleged, is unrealistic in a real-life encounter.
 

This criticism seems to be based entirely on a belief being promoted in many systems that, in reality, a straight, forward stabbing attack will come as a series of fast repeated (& frenzied) thrusts with the intent of inflicting multiple wounds, rather than a single straight forward lunge.
 

On face value, this concept appears entirely feasible when demonstrated, particularly when both attacks are sold to the uninitiated with the choice, “Which do you think is more likely”.
 

However, a fundamental misunderstanding of the dynamics of this type of attack, together with an ignorance of what is proven to happen, appears to be sending many systems back to the old practice of teaching what they would “Like to think” would happen rather than what factual data proves. As a result, many systems have gone full circle in their hypothesis, back into the realms of fantasy. Whilst the prospect of a frenzied and repeated stabbing attack should not be entirely ruled out, it is generally a method far more common amongst prison inmates. Wound data collated from medical & coroners reports confirms this is not the most common type of knife attack which generally occurs in the street.
 

In a 2006 study conducted by the FBI entitled, “Edged weapons: traditional and emerging threats to law enforcement”. By L. Frank Thompson and Charlie Mesloh, Ph.D. the following conclusions were made.
 

1) The average number of wounds sustained in a knife attack is 1
 

2) In one study, 50% of all single wound assaults were fatal.
 

3) If you are male, you are almost twice as likely to sustain multiple stab wounds from a female attacker than a male attacker. (No jokes about ex-wives & them being in the back please gentlemen!)
 

4) In the vast majority of fatal stabbings, a single stab wound to the chest/torso area directly into the heart or heart/lungs was the cause of death.
 

In the first 5 months of 2009 there were almost 20 fatal stabbings in London. In virtually all of these cases, death was caused by a single stab wound to the torso/abdomen. On a personal note, just 3 weeks ago a good friend (& work colleague on my watch) whilst off duty, rendered first aid to a member of public fatally stabbed in the street. The individual subsequently died from…you’ve guessed it…a single stab wound to the chest.
 

The purpose of this post was to confirm to any doubters, that the knife defenses that Mike has incorporated into the HaganaH system are in complete accord with factual data regarding the most common types of attack & on a tactical level represent the best possible model for survivability.
 

For those interested in reading the full study it can be found here:
 

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Edged+weapons:+traditional+and+emerging+threats+to+law+enforcement-a0144096212
 

Train Smart, Train HaganaH!
 

Regards
 

Darren Le Fevre
Head Instructor
HaganaH UK
ATC UK – 0109