By Caleb Stephen
According to PJ Media, the Islamic State has issued the second issue of its magazine Rumiyah advising jihadists to get over any squeamishness about using knives and embrace sharp objects as “widely available” weapons of jihad in nighttime stabbing campaigns.
The report also goes on to talk about how knife-wielding terrorists are encouraged to target smaller crowds “or someone walking alone in a public park or rural forested area, or someone by himself in an alley close to a night club or another place of debauchery, or even someone out for a walk in a quiet neighborhood. One should consider canals, riversides, and beaches.” Shocking stuff, right?
The magazine discourages jihadists from using kitchen knives stating, “It is explicitly advised not to use kitchen knives, as their basic structure is not designed to handle the kind of vigorous application used for assassinations and slaughter,” further advising readers “to avoid troublesome knives, those that can cause harm to the user because of poor manufacturing.” Clearly, these children of Satan know what they’re talking about.
The article even goes into gory detail about how jihadists should carry an object like a baseball bat to inflict blunt-force trauma on victims before stabbing them and when carrying out stabbings, to go for major organs, arteries or the neck.
“Lest the operation be mistaken for one of the many random acts of violence that plague the West, it is essential to leave some kind of evidence or insignia identifying the motive and allegiance to the Khalifah, even if it is something as simple as a note pinned or attached to the victim’s body,” the terror guide adds.
Jihadists are told to plan their attacks in such a way that they “attain a reasonable kill count” and are reminded “the more gruesome the attack, the closer one comes to achieving the desired objective” of inflicting terror.
OK, now that we are aware of ISIS’ latest diabolical threat, the question is, how can people around the globe take sensible measures to be prepared for this?
I would say that we need to be more vigilant about our surroundings, more situationally aware. Don’t travel alone at night, and ensure that you walk in well-lit areas.
But when push comes to shove, it’s important to know what to do to protect yourself. Below, I outline six potentially life-saving tips to defend yourself against a knife-wielding assailant.
1. Run
This would always be my first choice. If you see someone brandishing a knife, it’s time to get out of that place as fast as your legs can carry you. So if you’re not good at sprinting several blocks, then you’d better begin practicing running! Once you’ve gotten yourself to safety, call for emergency help, giving the dispatcher as much information as possible.
If you can run, then go for it, because your chances of escaping are much higher. A knife attack is no time to display your ego. This is serious stuff. But sometimes running is not an option especially if 1) you cannot run fast enough, or 2) you’re trapped in close quarters. This is where tip No. 2 comes in.
2. Find a weapon
Look for something suitable, either makeshift or conventional, to defend yourself. Think outside the box and be creative. You can grab hold of a chair, metal pole, chain, baseball bat, a piece of timber or even a fire extinguisher to protect yourself.
Gun Carrier demonstrates how to use a simple stick to defend yourself against a knife.
Something that would shield you from getting slashed, like a thick cushion, garbage can lid, backpack or a briefcase is even better. Any weapon is better than nothing, so use it to the best of your ability. Aim your strikes at the hand holding the weapon followed up with strokes to the head and neck.
3. Protect vulnerable body parts
In any confrontation involving blades, one must always accept the fact that the chances of being wounded are extremely high. Thus it is very necessary to protect, at all cost, your most vulnerable body parts. These include your eyes, neck, chest, stomach or the inside areas of your arms and legs (where your major blood vessels and arteries are located).
If you sustain eye injuries, you will not be able to see in order to fight back, and if you get stabbed or slashed in an artery, then you will most certainly bleed to death.
4. Adopt a fighting stance
You may have noticed how MMA fighters adopt what they call a “fighting stance.” What is a fighting stance? Well, it basically allows for strong, effortless movement and an easy transference of force from body to extremity (arms) as well as allows you to protect your vulnerable body parts.
I figured an image is a best way to describe the fighting stance.
5. Control the attacker’s arm
Your No. 1 priority in a close-quarters knife attack is to rapidly take control of your attacker’s arm and redirect his blade so that it becomes useless or at least less effective. You want to trap that knife and ensure he does not grab it with his other hand. Either you do this when he’s caught off guard or when he makes his move – but regardless you’ve got to be ready, and you’ve got to be quick at controlling your attacker’s arm and weapon.
6. Take down the attacker
Once you’ve controlled the attacker’s arm and weapon, simultaneously drive him to the ground, pin him down and isolate the weapon. Describing it in words is very difficult, so here’s an excellent video by Gun Carrier that will make it easier to understand how to control and take down a knife-wielding attacker.
This column is by no means comprehensive, but hopefully it gives you an idea of what to do should you ever find yourself in a situation where you’re forced to defend yourself from a knife-wielding jihadist.
Theory never replaces training, so I would strongly urge you to get some professional training or even just find a friend and some training knives to practice these techniques.
At the end of the day, your survival boils down to how hard you’ve trained for this scenario. They say that you will fight like you train, and that’s very true. Train hard, and hopefully your chances of coming out of that fight on a gurney will be much lower.
Be vigilant and be a hard target!
Caleb Stephen is an Australian Christian conservative commentator and freelance journalist. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Pursuit of God Daily and the founder of Ultimate Survival Gear, Australia’s No. 1 Emergency Preparedness website. Visit his website www.calebstephen.com and follow him on Twitter @CalebSOfficial
