The most recent review of my knife defence book “Watch Out For The Pointy End” on Amazon.ca
VERY comprehensive and positive – thank you.
SLHinchey:
5.0 out of 5 stars- Comprehensive work book and training guide to increase your chances of surviving a knife assault.
October 16, 2019
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Rick Wilson’s knife defense book “Watch Out For the Pointy End” presents a very pragmatic approach to developing a set of self-defense skills that would improve a person’s chances of surviving a knife assault.
In addition to surviving and minimizing injury, law enforcement officers and security personnel may be duty-bound to gain a position of control over the attacker to disarm and handcuff them. By contrast, usually the best strategy for a civilian after dealing with the initial assault is to gain distance so that they can run away or grab an improvised weapon. This book addresses strategy and tactics in detail and explores these kind of contextual distinctions.
This book is very up front and honest about the harsh realities of a knife assault and makes no unrealistic promises. The best self-defense training can only ever improve our odds of successfully handling an assault – there are no guarantees. What this book does, however, is show you step-by-step how to develop an integrated, working skill set that enables you to respond to a knife assault by gaining control over the attacker as quickly as possible while avoiding the blade. From there, you can either disarm and disable, control and cuff, or gain distance for escape or to grab a weapon.
This book differs from those self-defense offerings which take a technique-based approach, meaning that material is a presented in a format of “if the attacker does this, then the defender does movements A, B, and C”. By contrast, Watch Out For the Pointy End takes a very gradual, principles-based approach where each component skill is taught, drilled, then added on to the larger piece, with principles emphasized at every step. Principles refer to the “how” and “why” a self-defense technique succeeds or fails and provide insight on how to self-correct a technique that’s not working when tested during training. The author lists 21 principles in all and references them throughout the book to explain how the principles are being applied in the drill being worked on.
The approach taken by Watch Out For the Pointy End has a number of advantages over the more common technique-based approach. For one, the technique-based approach assumes that you’ll go away and drill the sequence until you’ve ingrained the movements, meaning that the instruction is more about providing you with information rather than a training guide. By contrast, this book structures your learning very deliberately, with the skill set built up layer by layer, though of course it’s still up to you to put in the necessary repetitions and practice with a partner. The final product might superficially resemble a series of techniques for different scenarios, but the difference here is that you have developed the building blocks or component skills along the way, enabling you to respond in a flexible way as your body navigates the attack, rather than attempting to apply a fixed pattern.
Another advantage of the approach taken here is that it doesn’t train you to rely on scenario recognition. By contrast, the technique-based approach assumes that you are capable of recognizing an attack scenario and responding appropriately using a distinct, tailor-made technique sequence. In reality, assaults tend to come out of the blue with the attacker immediately up close and on you. Even if you can see it coming or somehow catch your breath, with adrenaline surging it is gravely unlikely that you will be able to mentally match the scenario to a learned technique pattern. Instead, this book starts by training a universal way to move your body and arms to intercept an attacking arm – whether it contains a knife or not, whether you can see it coming or you’ve been struck by surprise – so that you do not have to mentally recall a response specific to the situation. From there, depending on whether you need to escape vs. disarm and cuff, the book trains you to rely on tactile sensation to rapidly control the attacker to achieve that goal.
Due to its very gradual, principles-based approach, this book is very sequential. At first I must admit I found this off-putting, as I’m used to martial arts books that are more modular or more structured like a reference manual. However, the more I go back and rework the material, the more I appreciate the sequential, layer-by-layer approach. This is a work book and a training guide – to develop these skills you have to work your way through the book and do the drills and training as instructed in the sequence presented.
Lastly, I would say that the gradual, principles-based approach makes this book very transparent. The author explains how and why each piece of the skill set works and guides you in drilling each piece. The author also explains how to live test what you’ve learned with a non-compliant partner using a safe stand-in for a knife so that you can test the effectiveness of your response. If you find yourself getting stabbed, go back to working the drills and conditioning your responses, test again, repeat as necessary.