"In a close-quarter hand-to-hand combat situation, a 160-pound professional soldier with quick reactions, plenty of endurance and stamina-with enough power to slash a knife and cut deep, will be at a distinct and lethal advantage over a 250-pound powerful and fast, unarmed hand-to-hand combat expert."
...........................................................................................Michael D. Echanis

The knife has been an integral part of human evolution and history in one form or another for thousands of years. From the primitive stone and flint knives to the Japanese Samurai sword and literally everything in between. Knives are used on a daily basis as a tool for survival even in this modern society. One only has to look at the knife we cut our meat with, butter our bread, or the surgeons scalpel to see that this is true. And, in moments of life threatening peril, the knife can also be used as a very effective weapon in a self-defense/combat situation.

Perhaps even more so than using a handgun in self-defense, the knife brings forth psychologically terrifying images when used in self-defense and by its very nature tends to, at least visually, create more shocking images of damage to the human body than a handgun does. Therefore, it should not come as any surprise that, for the most part, you will be under more intense scrutiny for using a knife in a self-defense situation than you would a handgun. As with any and all armed and unarmed self-defense techniques, one must be careful to only use those techniques or tools that are appropriate for the situation and to use no more force than is necessary to ensure the safety of yourself and your loved ones. Ignorance of the law is not a legitimate defense! Know the laws in your area and abide by them!

Knife combatives are to be taken very seriously as they can have life changing consequences if you ever are forced to use them. They are an integral part of the curriculum taught here at Reno Krav Maga and go hand-in-hand with knife defense and disarming. An individual can not reach their true potential at one if he isn't equally well versed in the other.

Here are just a few of the many things we teach in our various knife combatives courses.

* Grip Variations
* Legal Issues
* Force-On-Force
* Live Blade Training
* Realistic Scenario Training
* Proper Targeting
* Fixed Blade and Folding Blade
* Knife vs. (insert weapon or technique here)
* Emergency First Aid
* Defense Against Multiple Attackers
* and much, much more!

Reno Krav Maga instructor, Shawn Kovacich, has a wealth of experience with the use of edged weapons both in training in a controlled environment and also under real world conditions. He is the designer of the OSOK Combat Knife, which is personally endorsed by his knife combatives instructor, Guro Felix Valencia, who is considered by many to be one of the best knife fighters and knife fighting instructors in the world.

Knife Combatives Seminar:

Although knife combatives is an integral part of the curriculum taught at Reno Krav Maga, we do also teach individual seminars which focus on specific techniques, which in this case is knife combatives. These seminars are usually held over a weekend and encompass 8+ hours of intense instruction in the use of a knife as a tool for self-defense. These seminars cover the entire range of topics and techniques covered during the regular curriculum, only much more condensed and over an intense eight (8) hour period, rather than during the normal course of instruction.