School safety, security, and violence prevention resource

There have been a spate of edged weapon attacks in the news in the past month or so.  Attacks against police, sure, but, worse, in my mind, are attacks against teachers, security, and other students.  Some of these attacks have been in a classroom, some in a lunchroom, one in a lavatory, and the other in the school yard.

Although it does matter who the attacker is, my focus here, is on how you might go about dealing with, and, more importantly surviving one of these assaults, if you are unlucky enough to be a target.

1. Get Yourself professional training.  There are some outstanding self-defense programs offering nationally certified training.  I happen to conduct a course called Spontaneous Knife Defense.  Check out the Internet.
2. Develop a 360-Degree State Of Awareness.  Being surprised by a skilled, or even unskilled, knife fighter is not an option.  In my SKD, I familiarize students with wat an attacker might look like, how he grips the knife, how he conceals it, and his first move or two.
3. Have Yourself a Survival Plan.  An edged weapon attack is a frightening thing.  Matter of fact, a clever attacker will do his best to paralyze you with fear.  He will bank on you freezing in terror, and, in order to assure that will happen, he will begin an attack with a simple Flick strike to your wrists and forearms, drawing blood.  What he expects is that you will react with shock when you see that blood.  When that happens – and you stand there gawking at your superficial wound(s), he will quickly step in and deliver a slash or two, which are diagonal cuts that are a prologue to the Thrust, which is the most lethal of all strikes.

SO WHAT DO I DO?

• Be aware that, in order to successfully attack, the bad guy need to Close Distance and Penetrate a Vital Organ.
  
• He will close distance by distracting you.  Maybe offering a hand shake.
• Rule Number One is Maintain a Reactionary Gap of 10-Feet, plus the length of the weapon.
• Which means, you must stay alert, and be aware of body language indicative of an attack (I will cover this in a future post, but some indicators include looking around for witnesses/a target stare/a sprinter’s stance/secreting one arm behind himself/adjusting his feet so that his strong foot is back).
• Use Barricades in the Environment to help you Maintain Distance.  Barricades could include waste cans, desks, mops, bats, attache cases, hat trees (yes, a large, strong wooden hat tree, which I once used to knock a knife out of a killer’s hand and then to drive into his chest and pin him to a door!)
• Important:  Be Psychologically Prepared To Be Cut, To Receive Some Sort of Knife Wound!  In this way, the attacker can wound you with a flick or even a slash and you may not go into a paralysis caused by panic.  I know officers who were cut and ignored to blood and stunned and disarmed the attacker in their next move.

VITAL TARGETS

Like I said, the bad guy knows he must close distance to damage you.  Knows he must penetrate vital targets to kill you.  These fatal targets include targets on the neck (Brachial  and the Carotid Arteries.  The Brachial, for instance, requires only a penetration of a 1/2 inch, which will result in unconsciousness in about 14-seconds and death in 90-seconds.  The Carotid, however, requires an 1 1/2 inch penetration,but death will occur in under 12-seconds.  The Heart is a vital target, but the bad guy must acquire almost 4″ of penetration, resulting, however in instantaneous unconciousness and death in about three seconds,  The Stomach requires almost 5 inches of pnetration, but,like the Heart, results in a quick death.  Another Target is the Sub-Clavian, which is a strike which penetrates below the clavicle (or the armpit).

My point is that an edged weapon attack, no matter the weapon, is a dangerous episode.  Get thyself to a certified self-defense program to be able to react effectively, but, failing that:

• Mentally prepare yourself.
• Stay aware of barricades in the environment.  In my 2nd book, I tell about how to throw a chair at an attacker to slow him down and to give you time to get to cover.
• Be aware of Improvised Weapons you can use to Counterattack.  These include shields like briefcases,weapons you can throw or strike him with, like brooms, mops, umbrellas, waste cans, books, backpacks, etc.
• Do not freeze!  Train yourself to do something!

Until Next Time, Stay Safe.

The Hammer

 

 

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