Knife Defence is The Biggest Lie

The moment I see someone teaching knife defence, I lose respect.

Real knife violence is rapid, chaotic, and ambush driven.

Teaching people to “block, trap, disarm” isn’t just wrong, it’s negligent.

In the wake of every knife related tragedy, our newsfeeds fill with grief, outrage… and unfortunately, opportunism, and within hours, instructors begin posting on social media, selling “knife defence” workshops of how their methods could save your life. Let’s be honest, that isn’t education, it’s just simply exploitation.

I'm not writing this to shame anybody in particular, that's not what this is about. It’s a call for ethics, empathy, and realism in a field that should be about protecting lives, not chasing likes or profit.

A real knife attack is not a training demonstration. It’s not slow, predictable, or controlled. It’s a blur of fear, adrenaline, and chaos, and often over in seconds.

Victims don’t experience it like an action movie; they experience it like a nightmare.

The body floods with adrenaline, fine motor skills collapse, the mind tunnels, and fear takes over. That’s not weakness, just simply biology.

If you’ve never stood in that moment, never felt that shock, the confusion, or the aftermath, you have no right to claim you can teach others how to “win” in it.

Behind every “case study” headline, is a family torn apart. To exploit tragic events to advertise a “knife defence seminar” is not just insensitive, it’s disgraceful.

These tragedies should drive reflection, not promotion.

Let’s say it clearly: There is no guaranteed defence against a knife. None. Zero, and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying, to you, to their students, and to themselves.

Training can improve awareness, decision making, and reaction under pressure. It can teach avoidance, distance, verbal de-escalation, and last resort responses, but it cannot promise survival in a frenzied multiple stabbing or a mass casualty attack.

Real training acknowledges limits, and responsible instructors teach how to avoid, escape, or survive, not fight for ego or fantasy.

Instead of chasing viral views, we should be teaching:

𝗦𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 : seeing the threat early and leaving before it starts.

𝗗𝗲-𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: calming conflict before violence.

𝗕𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 (𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱): saving lives when seconds count.

𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: knowing when to act and when to disengage.

These save real lives. Not hashtags. It’s time the industry raised its standards.

If you teach knife defence, show your credentials. Work with recognised bodies. Base your training on medical, legal, and psychological reality. Be trauma informed. Stop using tragedy as a marketing tool, and if you don’t understand what real violence does to the human mind and body, learn before you teach, because when you give someone false confidence, you don’t make them safer. You make them a victim waiting to happen.

To the instructors and organisations who teach with compassion, humility, and evidence, thank you. You’re the reason this industry can still change lives.

Let’s keep each other accountable, stay connected to truth, and honour victims by doing better. Not through noise, but through integrity.