What A Real Knife Attack Looks Like

Marc MacYoung notes at Non-Nonsense Self Defense common lies about knife fighting/attacks:

Lie #1You're going to have time to draw your own weapon | Lie #2 It's going to be a knife "fight" | Lie #3 But what if I'm cornered?" | Lie #4 He's going to attack you a specific  way | Lie# 5 And then he is going to passively stand there while you carve him | Lie #6 Trapping and stripping | Lie #7 Bio-mechanical cutting | Lie #8 Knowing how to stickfight means you know how to knife fight | Lie #9 Knowing kali makes you a knife fighter | Lie #10 Grappling with a knife | Lie #11 The knife is an extension of your hand | Lie #12 There is such a thing as a "master knife fighter" | Lie #13 That this is a "fight" at all | Lie #14 Expect to get cut | Lie #15 The FMA are the ultimate knife fighting systems | Lie #16 It's easy to disarm an armed opponent | Lie #17 You can successfully fight an armed attacker | Lie #18 Drills teach you how to knife fight | Lie #19 You can use a knife on another human being without legal repercussions. 

There are many so-called "experts" who claim to be able to teach you either knife fighting or defense against a knife. The problem is that most of them are just teaching regurgitated martial arts, usually from the Philippines. While I have lots of respect for the martial arts of other lands, the truth is that you live where you do. Odds are you are not in a "knife culture." And that means that whatever you do regarding knives must:  

A) Work to keep you alive against how you are likely to be attacked by a knife in your homeland and  

B) If it does work, not put you in prison for murder or manslaughter 

While B is important, it only becomes an issue if you survive A. Unfortunately, based on a lot of what I have been seeing taught with my own eyes or encountered while working with the students of these self-proclaimed "knife experts" getting past A is going to be a whole lot tougher than you think. Quite simply, most knife assaults are assassination attempts...how they occur is significantly different than how one "knife fights." ... 

He goes into some detail on each of the "lies," so read the whole thing. Although MacYoung somewhat disparages the notion of "biomechanical cutting," here is an article on that subject at The Truth About Knives. However, be sure to read what MacYoung has to say on the topic.

For some extra food for thought, here are a couple videos about real knife attacks. (Note, probably NSFW).