Blood Of The Cut: The Mental Aspects Of Knife Fighting

American Handgunner, Nov, 2001 by Steve Tarani

SO YOU WHEY A COMBAT FOLDER. A BENCHMADE OR MAYBE EVEN AN EMERSON. GOOD FOR YOU. DOW FOR THE TOUGH PERT- WHET IF YOU ACTUALLY HAVE TO USE IT?

Arlington County Sheriff's Deputies arrived at the scene of an incident where a young man had been slashed across the throat with a box-cutter and left to die in the street, right in front of his own house. Already in shock and gurgling in a pool of frothy blood that bubbled from his esophagus, the man sputtered and twitched as emergency' medical technicians did what they could to keep him alive. Hours later, the ER doctor walked into the waiting room to tell the man's wife and children that the blade missed his jugular by a quarter of a centimeter and that he was going to make it-- a very lucky man.

The horrors of receiving a cut in a knife fight can only be exceeded by the horrors of delivering a cut, or a bullet, in a defensive or pre-emptive strike. The most common mind-set to getting cut on the street is, "Sure, I'll just take a little cut and then I'll blast him with everything I've got." Let's take a moment to analyze the full impact of what happens in an edged weapon encounter.

Although many of us have received a paper cut, cut ourselves shaving or even had a few stitches from a bad slip with a knife, very few of us have shared the experience of separating flesh deeply enough to see the glistening white of sinew or the naked horror of our own bone. Those who have gutted a deer or skinned a rabbit might have some idea of the extreme nature of what an edged weapon can do to flesh.

All cuts are not the same. There are varying degrees of lacerations, ranging from a nick with a Gillette to a Skil saw accident. What is the difference between a lethal laceration and a nonlethal cut? The delineating factor is, of course, the result of the cut. If the result is loss of life, then a cut is determined to be lethal. If not, then a cut is labeled nonlethal. The line of demarcation can, however, be a very thin line.

There are gruesome cuts that are nonlethal, and there are tiny punctures that are fatal. The severity of the cut is not necessarily linked to its survivability. Like in shooting, placement is 95 percent of the game.

Bloody Truths

Nave you ever had to clean a large cut and then bandage it? Ever get that queasy feeling of trying to stitch your own cut closed or having to do it to someone else, or even just watching the doctor tug away at the cat gut? There are some horrifying photos of lethal cuts from recorded police cases that would cause even the strongest stomach to shudder. For this exact reason, we have omitted morgue photos from this article, although it would be highly instructional. Rest assured that lethal cuts are quite effective and nothing to sneer at.

As in the true story about the slashed throat and the box-cutter, had the razor's edge penetrated only a few millimeters further, he would not have been able to spend next Thanksgiving with his family. In his case, the cut could have easily gone either way, fatal or survivable.

In the study of combat with edged weapons, there are many different types of cuts. Hopefully, it's still before dinner and you won't mind going through the list.

According to the Southeast Asian blade cultures in which the fighting arts of Eskrima, Arnis, Kali, Sabetan and others have perfected the use of a blade to a high degree, there are two primary groups or styles of cuts.

The first group is considered primary. Primary cuts include the slash, an example of which is O.J. Simpson's infamous ear-to-ear severing of Nicole's neck, Another primary type of cut is the hack, for which we have adequate examples in Jeffery Dahlmer's victims. Then there is the thrust, which many inner-city gangs favor for highly effective screw-driver stabs. Shank stabbings in prison are all thrusts.

Just for the record, the majority of lethal cuts recorded on police blotters over the past decade were thrusts. The thrust is the most lethal of the primary cuts.

The second group is considered ancillary, or "backup cutting." These include scraping or skinning, which are much like an ice-scraper against ice on a windshield. Hunters are quite familiar with this technique.

Another secondary cut is the tear, common to various West Japanese edged-weapon systems which involve hooking the flesh with barbs notched along the edge of certain fighting knives. This technique is specifically applied to the trachea in hand-to-hand combat.

Coring is similar to the move you apply to an apple core. Puncturing is used in certain Filipino knife fighting techniques that involve knife handling designed to puncture the kidney or bladder. This technique is similar to a can opener applied to a can of juice.

There are yet other types of cuts, but they are traditionally reserved for dedicated, long-term students of the bladed arts. However, for our purposes, the foregoing study should suffice to illustrate that there is more than one type of "cut" available. Receiving of any one or all of the above cuts could result in either a nonlethal or fatal outcome.