My wife and I took a trip to Sri Lanka for a few weeks at the beginning of this year. Other than the delicious food and some nice natural scenery, the trip was unfortunately a real disappointment. People attempted to scam us several times a day, there were incredible numbers of stray dogs on the verge of death at every turn (hairless, missing legs, crushed paws, open sores, etc…very depressing), and overall there just wasn’t much to see. We travel a lot, and this was the first trip I remember where we were ready to get back home well before it was over.
Train Ride
We traveled from Colombo to Galle on the same train line that was made famous by the terrible tsunami in 2004, and did see some pretty beaches:
Sri Lankan Beach
But most of Sri Lanka looked more like this:
Sri Lankan Road
Anyway, one of the only cool things I managed to find on the trip was this beautiful antique Sri Lankan knife called a piha kahetta:
Piha Kahetta - Sri Lankan Knife
It was very rusty when I bought it, but I spent this morning cleaning it up and I must say it’s a very nice looking knife. It’s heavy, and extremely solid. I love the carved handle:
All empty hand vs. knife defenses are problematic. The guy with the knife has a huge advantage. With that said, there is one unskilled attack, common in prisons, that is harder to deal with than the rest…the jab and stab, shove and stab, or sewing machine. In this attack the attacker uses his lead arm to shove you and keep you away from the knife wielding arm while he repeatedly stabs you.
Sewing Machine
Even if you manage to block the first stab the attacker just pulls back cutting your arm, or continues to stab you faster than you can block. So what do you do? Here’s a solution as good as any: The Jab & Stab Defense.
I’ve been meaning to post for months now, but haven’t had the time recently. Last week I was able to film a couple of videos, one on Pekiti Tirsia Knife Tapping and another on wing chun trapping and boxing. I’ve just put the PT video up, which you can access from the previous link, and in the next few days I’ll get another up on wing chun and boxing. Let me know what you think.
How ideal is the knife as a self defense weapon? Although most Filipino martial artists, according to internet polls such as this one from FMATalk, carry a knife, I have my doubts. Here’s the short version of a more detailed write up on carrying a knife for self defense:
-Justifiable Use: There are a very limited number of situations when knife use is legally and morally justifiable. In these cases there are better suited weapons. Click here to read more »
