The Naked Edge: The Complete Guide to Edged Weapons Defense (Elite Professional Series)

Rating:
Summary: Excellent intro and beginner's book
Review: First, I need to address the previous very negative review, which said that most of the techniques in the book aren't very realistic, and won't work against an opponent who is very skilled and "pumping stabs" in and out at you. While there is a lot of truth to this, in the sense that defending unarmed against a skilled knife wielder isn't realistic to begin with if you're unskilled; however, one needs to distinguish between the unskilled to somewhat skilled knife fighter and the expert. If one simply decides that such defense is hopeless from the very start then that dooms you to passive acceptance of death or serious injury in even a basic encounter with a blade. (And there is no disgrace in going down fighting whether one is skilled in knife-defense tactics or not).

However, realistically, that's not usually the case. Most knife wielders (at least in the U.S.) aren't going to be experts or gurus in some Pacific Rim art, and simply aren't going to be in that class. In that case, you have a chance of surviving such an enounter if you develop some basic skills and basic knife awareness. This is the purpose of this book and in that regard it serves very well. Of course, if you have the opportunity to study directly under a skilled teacher of these arts, that would be even better, and give you further skills and abilities that will enhance your chances. When it comes to serious knife encounters, it's all about increasing your options and chances of survival, and there's no doubt that increasing one's knowledge and developing basic knife skills will do that. In other words, at least you will have a fighting chance.

And if you advance to the intermediate to advanced level, your chances increase even more, although against a skilled knife wielder you will no doubt still be at a disadvantage empty-handed, but if you're skilled you may, as I said, have a fighting chance. And against a less skilled knife wielder you should have more than a fighting chance.

Another thing to remember in such an situation (and that I explain to my own students), is that in a deadly or weapons based encounter, your goal is not really to win, but not to lose and to escape with your life, because winning might require using more risky techniques and thereby expose yourself to a deadly counter. Your goal is simply to survive the first few seconds and then disengage and run if at all possible.

If you don't have a local instructor in one of these arts, the next best thing would be to get some of the excellent videos available on knife fighting and bladed arts, such as the very fine series put out by Rey Galang and Christopher Ricketts on Kali Illustrisimo, the knife videos by Danny Inosanto, James Keating, Kelly Worden, W. "Hock" Hockheim, Jim Mahan, Edgar Sulite, Ted LucayLucay, and Frank Cucci, to list some of my favorites, which are well worth getting and viewing. It will require investing a little time and money (you can get them quite cheap used on e Bay, however, where they turn up with some regularity), but a dozen to two dozen well selected videos from these teachers will give you an excellent idea of beginning to advanced knife and knife defense techniques and in a diversity of arts and styles.

But getting back to the present book, as I said, knowledge gives you options and enhances your chances, even in a bladed encounter, and this book serves very well there. This book cuts through the bewildering complexity and diversity of knife styles and arts to present the most important basic and core skills needed by every student of the blade.

If you're an experienced or already skilled student of the knife, most of the book will probably be too basic for you, but if you're a beginner or novice this book is an excellent place to start learning, and it was no doubt intended to be used in that way. (I suspect much of the material follows the syllabus of the knife defense course Mr. Tarani has taught at Gunsight and other venues). It goes through all the needed basics, including stances, footwork, range and distance considerations, parries, blocks, and traps, grips, and even a little practical groundwork. The pros and cons of the different carry and retention methods are discussed as well as some consideration given to choosing a blade.

One nice feature I appreciated was the introductory chapter on the history of the blade in combat and in duels in both European and Asian traditions from ancient times to the present. Tarani discusses its use in French main gauche, Spanish espada y daga, English sword and dagger, Scottish basket hilt and dirk, and so on. The illustrations from 1600s training manuals and manuscripts and some ancient sources are a nice touch, and helps to place the blade in its historical context. As Mr. Tarani points out, since the advent of firearms, the knowledge and teaching of the bladed arts have declined in the west, but have been preserved in the east and the Pacific Rim and have come down to us in more or less intact form.

Mr. Tarani provides many useful and practical drills to enhance your footwork and mobility, knife handling skills, knife control abilities, and so on. Special attention is given to middle and close distance, which he refers to respectively as contact range and ECQ or extreme close quarters, since these are the most difficult areas to deal with.

Tarani also has an extensive discussion of metal, aluminum, wood, plastic, and rubber training blades for adding realism to your training. My only fault with the book is there is no discussion of the concept of "defanging the snake," which is the best strategy in a bladed enounter, but that assumes you have a knife yourself. Since this is basically a book on unaided and unarmed defense against the knife, that omission is probably deliberate, but those of you who have studied the Filipino and Indonesian knife arts know what I mean by it. Most untrained people who pick up a knife to attack you are not going to understand that principle, and if you do, then you have the advantage.

Rating:
Summary: A practical and effective guide to edged weapons defense
Review: In The Naked Edge, professional law enforcement trainer and martial artist Steve Tarani provides clear and detailed explanation of the fundamentals of unarmed defense against a knife assault. The emphasis throughout the book is on avoiding or controlling what is referred to as "the contact connection", the connection of your attacker to his knife and his knife to any part of your body. Simple and effective tactics and techniques are presented for dealing with attacks starting in non-contact range, contact range, and extreme close quarters, along with drills to practice them shown step by step with easy-to-follow photographs and instructions.

Part 1, Fundamentals of Edged Weapons Defense Technology, presents an overview of the history of the knife and covers a variety of subjects including the importance of edged weapons training, how to choose a knife and training knives, the anatomy of attack and defense, carry and deployment, and a variety of grips and common attacks. Most importantly, part 1 covers a variety of defensive movements and postures using gross motor skills and based on natural movements, used to move you off the line of attack while covering your vitals.

Everything presented is highly practical and with enough practice can be performed successfully against an attack performed at full speed and with intent. As a test, I convinced a notoriously uncoordinated friend to practice moving off the line of attack and performing the QuickShield™ position to cover his vitals as shown in the book. After about half an hour performing the first few drills he was able to consistently evade 1/2 speed attacks on the low line from non-contact position - the distance at which with both of our arms extended we could not touch each other. A person with average or better agility should be able to successfully defend against full speed attacks at that range with consistent practice.

Part 2, Defending Against Non-Contact and Contact Range Attacks, covers ways of moving off of the line of attack and out to a safe distance against attacks from non-contact range, and defenses against both low-line and high-line attacks at contact range - the distance at which with both people's arms extended they can touch wrist to wrist. These defenses include methods of breaking and clearing - stepping off the line of attack while shielding the vitals using the QuickShield™ position then pushing the attacker's knife arm down and away or transitioning into elbow controls, primarily the arm bar and figure-four arm lock. Again, our uncoordinated test subject was able to make these work against me attacking at about 1/2 speed with a little bit of practice and coaching, and I am able to make them work against him despite a weight disadvantage of over 80 lbs. All of it practical, effective stuff that can be made to work well with consistent practice.

Part 3, Defense and Disarming at Extreme Close Quarters, covers footwork, controls and disarms for situations where one has to defend against an attacker only an arm's length away, such as when one is up against a rear obstacle and unable to move back away off the line of attack and the only way out is to go past the attacker. The emphasis here is still on avoiding the contact connection and getting away, and it is stressed that disarms should only be attempted if there are absolutely no other options. A few basic strip and takeaway disarms are covered against both forward and reverse-grip attacks. As with everything else, these are all demonstrated with step-by-step photos and instructions, and are simple and practical techniques. Simple, however, does not mean easy. Like everything else, you have to spend time practicing them to expect them to work when it counts.

Overall, The Naked Edge is one of the best books I've read on the subject of dealing with knife attacks, and I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Nice Book But Lacking in Realism
Review: Steve Tarani is well known in the law enforcement field, and in martial arts circles, but truth be told, most of the techniques presented are not very realistic. Sure filipino martial arts were designed for self preservation, and to defend against the edged weapon, but against another person trained in the same art. Not too many people train in the blade arts who are going to attack you with a blade. To put simply trying to parry a fast moving blade in close is suicide. Parries take perfect timing to execute, and if someone is pumping stabs in and out parries will not come close to doing the job of defending a person's life. Parries are more useful at range, but again I don't like the way the author does it. By extending your limbs during a defensive action you open yourself up if the person changes his line of attack and you risk getting stabbed, which is something filipino artist train to defend against, by pulling back and cutting the extended limb anyway.

Grabbing the knife hand is an often practiced defense but the knifer is still able to fight back with his other hand, and if you're even able to get a good hold of the fast moving limb holding a blade in the first place, then you're either lucky, or the person attacking you doesn't know what he's doing (which I'd hope is the case is most instances). But it's my opinion that one should train for the more skilled person who may use such tactics, because the "pumping" action isn't necesarily one of a trained person. Just powerful, anger driven thrusts and slashes, though not as crisp and fast as someone with some skill, can be hard to catch whether the person is trained or not.



Overall the book was nicely put together but the actual techniques are risky at best and deadly (for you) at most.



Rating:
Summary: Excellent presentation of techniques
Review: This book is filled with series of photographs, in which Steve Tarani shows various techniques to defend against a knife attack. The techniques themselves are fairly simple and basic; in fact if you have any previous experience from martial arts, you probably are familiar with at least some of them already. But that is not a bad thing, since the more simple a technique is, the more probable it is that it will work in real situation. So, as the techniques presented here are all very simple, they have a chance of working in real life without years of study.

When you fist look at the book, you get the impression that there are dozens of techniques, based on the vast amount of pictures. But, surprisingly, there are only a handful in the book. Still, they are so universally applicable that they probably cover the vast majority of situations. As stated, the techniques are very simple, and realistic for the most part. However, there were two techniques I felt would not be my first choice. In both, you start in the "inside" position of an attack, then you block the knife and transfer to the "outside" position. Granted, outside position is superior one, but it demands you to pass in front of the blade. I would hesitate to do that, especially if the attacker were committed to making a new attack after the first one failed. I would prefer just blocking the attack, and making my move from the inside position (that would be faster, in addition to allowing a more positive control on the attacker's knife hand as there would not be a need for a transition to outside position).

In my opinion, Tarani is not a very fluent writer. On the other hand, on some occasions he explains some thing over and over, but in some cases I had to re-read a chapter several times to understand what he was trying to say. As the names of techniques and principles are printed in CAPITAL LETTERS, on some captions there were more text in capital than in normal text. In my opinion, that made the book a little annoying to read. In addition, there were quite lot typos in the text, giving an impression on poor editing.

But the main thing in the book is contents, and in this book the techniques are presented in excellent manner. In fact, I believe I have never read a book that presents physical techniques in this much detail. In my opinion, the best thing about this book was that there were not only techniques presented, rather Tarani has designed several drills for each technique, making it easy to practice the techniques from ground up.

To sum it up, this book offers superior presentation of basic, yet effective techniques. If there were not those two techniques I feel uneasy about, I would probably have given this book five stars.