IGX

Sorry it took me a week to get this done. I'm pressed for time so I'll keep this short, but I'll keep answering questions as long as people keep asking in this thread.

First, let me say that I do not claim to be a knife expert in any way. I've always been interested in knife fighting, I've attended knife fighting seminars, and I do a bit in my training, but there are many, many others far more qualified than I am. Tom Furman can answer more questions than I can on this subject so let me defer to him as our local forum expert.

Also, my personal knife fighting plan is to run like hell or shoot them if I can. I have zero interest in every being caught in a knife fight. The truth, however, is that even if I was armed with a gun someone under 20 feet away can probably close the distance and stab me before I can draw. (especially from a concealed position) I can draw pretty quick, but most people in that distance will get stabbed before they get off a shot - even TRAINED folks. (See the Tueller Drill as an example of this. . . . ) Also - See Gabe Suarez and Marc Denny (Dog Brothers guy) for empty hand to knife to gun transition work . . . . ) So the point is that having a gun will not always help so you need to know what to do.

"The Essential Ray Floro" is the best Knife Fighting DVD I've ever seen. It is beautifully simple but brutally effective. I really like what I've seen from the Sayoc guys and the Atienza guys, but there is a depth and complexity there that I do not have the time to pursue given my other training priorities. Floro's stuff is extremely well thought out, very easy to understand, and most importantly, it's something that a lot of people can grasp and practice AND reproduce. That is the key here. THIS is something I can incorporate into my existing training routine. (and that is part of why its so very good)

To put it into perspective, this is something I feel like I could teach my 60 year old Dad. The techniques are simple, but flexible, and if I could teach the basic stabs and cuts, defense, and footwork, he'd have a nice foundation to work from.

Do not think that because this stuff is simple that it has limited effectiveness. Ray has created a wonderful simplicity that has more than enough flexibility to scale up to more complex fighting scenarios.

Ray's resume includes:

Okinawan Karate
Italian Fencing to National Level
Modern Arnis
Balintawak Eskrima
Lameco Eskrima (3rd Degree)
Kalis Illustrismo (Master Teacher)
BJJ with John Will and Michael Jenn

(Thanks Tom for this background info)

Some of his fencing footwork is scary as hell. Ray is so fast and he can reach out and touch you from much further away than you'd imagine.

Absolutely awesome stuff . . . . I'll buy anything else Ray puts out for sure. This DVD is going into my 'never get rid of' stack.

I can't say enough good things about it.

Feel free to ask more questions about what he teaches . . . .

Echoing what CQC10 says. I viewed the DVD's and have 12 pages of notes stacked up! Very good job. I did a little write up here.--
http://www.physicalstrategies.com/the-e ... review.htm

He reviews grip (overhand, edge down), stance like an upright front horse stance with hands at eye level and elbows out, defenses (hands in, 2 basic blocks and the sway), stabbing (like a punch from the stance), slashes (like a punch from the stance with the slash only at the end), open hand defense (basically the basic block with one hand sliding behind the knife arm to freeze its movement), improvised weapon defense and attack, and advanced sparring techniques.

Plusses for my interests: Always interesting to see an entire system, and it was interesting to see knife fighting techniques and his knife fighting sparring. For self defense, the tools of the basic block, forward motion attack and improvised weapon defense and attack were easy to learn and can be drilled into your mind without training.

Minusses for my interests: Much of the tape was about knife fighting and sparring as an art, which is not my interest. He did not talk at all about being stabbed or slashed and what it does to your body and mind. The sparring gives the impression that a stab or slash is like taking a strike.

By comparison, a few years ago I went to a Tim Larkin weekend with five other guys. What I liked about what he taught is that he taught only self defense and really changed the way I would look at any dangerous encounter: Essentially either run or, if you can't run or need to defend someone else who can't run, do whatever you can to maim, cripple or kill. Part of the training was watching videos of violent situations like felony fight or assaults caught on surveillance cameras. One was from a prison camera and showed a guy being stabbed to death with a shank. Another was pictures of guys who survived knife fights to see how many slashes someone can survive. He talked about knowing that you will be stabbed and slashed if someone attacks you with a knife and what the body can survive and how long. And we drilled how to use his target focus training against edged weapons. Some of it was similar to Floro's stuff, like forward motion and the use of improvised weapons. Floro's notion of blocking and attacking, though, is to my mind much better than what Larkin teaches. It also has the same benefit of simplicity.

Watching Floro also lets you know that if you meet someone skilled with a blade you will likely be dead before you even have a chance to react. The man is scary fast.