Overcoming an opponent with a weapon (2)

(1) When the opponent is holding up a knife as shown in the picture to stab from above, move quickly to the side to avoid any injury. Cross your arms to block the opponent’s wrist from reaching you and then grab the arm with both hands to push the opponent down with your body weight. The key point here and with any self-defense technique is that when a weapon is involved, you must move away from the weapon range by instinct.

(2) In Picture 2, the woman grabs the opponent’s wrist and twists it from the outside inwards while pressing his elbow with the other hand at the same time putting down the opponent. Taking advantage of joints of the body helps overtake opponents. Practice is recommended to get this movement up to speed.

(3) Once your opponent is on the ground, make sure that the opponent cannot use the arm with the knife by using your leg to leverage the opponent’s leg upwards. The opponent will be in a standstill and will either drop the weapon or you can steal it away from the opponent’s loosened grip.

Pulling the opponent’s arm upwards with force as shown in Picture 3 may break the arm because leveraging with your leg will add strength to your pull. Always be cautious when practicing to prevent you or your partner getting hurt.

Seo Gyo-sun

By Seo Gyo-sun

Seo Gyo-sun, an internationally certified Taekwondo Grand Master, judge and coach, holds a B.A. in taekwondo from Kyung Hee University. ― Ed.