MORE Conversations From the Professional Front Lines

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Pie, whisky and ant venom. Who knew?

[Broomstick]

(I did still afterall, have to go into the lab the next day and dissect the testes out of 2 mm long wasps).

How DO you dissect the testes - or anything else - out of a 2mm anything?

[Terralthra]

How DO you dissect the testes - or anything else - out of a 2mm anything?

Very, very carefully.

[Alyrium Denryle]

How DO you dissect the testes - or anything else - out of a 2mm anything?

Very, very carefully.

^What he said.

You use tiny, very very fine pins. You can either try your luck directly manipulating minutiae pins, or you glue a set of them to slightly larger needles. At which point, dissection scope and a really steady hand.

[Raw Shark]

MY OLDEST REGULAR: I'll be right back. Keep the engine running.

YOUR DRIVER: [joking] You're not going to kill somebody, are you?

MY OLDEST REGULAR: I haven't killed anybody since I was nineteen.

YOUR DRIVER: [not joking] [Name]. Look me in the eye. You're not going to kill somebody, are you?

MY OLDEST REGULAR: [sigh] No, just keep the engine running, because this might go south quickly.

YOUR DRIVER: I thought you went legit. What happened to that?

MY OLDEST REGULAR: I prefer to think of it as legit-ish.

[Broomstick]

Yeah, I get funny looks sometimes when I slip up and say things like "I'd prefer not to get in another knife fight"* or "I haven't broken anyone's nose for about 35 years". Really, there's stuff people would just rather not know about like "I haven't killed anyone since I was 19".



* Keep in mind I'm a smallish female heading into middle age and look more like someone's mom or grandma than a Dangerous Person. That statement is really incongruent coming out of my mouth. It's the whole "looks harmless" thing. Just for the record: two knife fights and yes, I really would prefer not to do that again.

[Raw Shark]

Keep in mind I'm a smallish female heading into middle age and look more like someone's mom or grandma than a Dangerous Person. That statement is really incongruent coming out of my mouth. It's the whole "looks harmless" thing. Just for the record: two knife fights and yes, I really would prefer not to do that again.

I'm also a Dangerous Person who looks pretty harmless and has been in two knife fights, both of which involved another guy who had a knife when I didn't, and I (and maybe the other guy, in one case; pretty sure the other would like a second round but he's in prison for first degree murder because he stabs people so fuck him) would like to not do that again. Knife fights are kind of shitty. Too unpredictable. Do. Not. Want.

[Raw Shark]

Ghetto Edit: Public Service Announcement: Do not start knife fights. That won't end well. That said, if somebody starts a knife fight with you, lock up the knife arm and then do not hesitate for a second to do what you have to do (I recommend elbows to the face, but you should appraise what is expedient and improvise). If you don't do that, you're fucked.

[Broomstick]

^ word

(Me, too - other person had knife, I didn't. Disarm, knock down, run like hell.)

[Raw Shark]

You run, they probably stab you in the kidney. Grab the knife wrist and stap them and there won't be any more stabbing. The simplest solution is the best.

[Broomstick]

By "knock them down" I mean "disable them so they're rolling around in pain and can't get up". I'm not big enough/massive enough to simply knock someone down, for me to get them on the ground it requires something either EXTREMELY painful or something like blowing out their knee. Which I do by fighting dirty.

If I grab the knife wrist WTF am I going to do next? If it's a man he's going to overpower me fairly quickly. Another woman? How long am I supposed to arm wrestle them? Hurt 'em real bad then get out of Dodge works for me.

Really, there is more than one approach to these situations.

[Alyrium Denryle]

^This conversation is why I got really good at conflict de-escalation.

[Broomstick]

It's why I re-located 300 miles away from where I grew up. Then moved out of Chicago 20 years after that. I prefer to avoid those situations entirely when possible.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

You run, they probably stab you in the kidney. Grab the knife wrist and stap them and there won't be any more stabbing. The simplest solution is the best.

Or break the knife arm, if you can get enough leverage.

[LaCroix]

Or break the knife arm, if you can get enough leverage.

If you can hold on long enough for that, you can just as well stomp-fold their knee with less effort and more suprise effect. Increases your chances of getting away a lot more than a broken arm does. Also a LOT easier than any method of breaking an arm.

Follow up with a knee to the face for bonus points.

[Elheru Aran]

I'd say to go for the nads, but while painful, it's actually surprisingly hard to get a square blow in on those when in the middle of a struggle. Men are simply conditioned to protect those bits a little too well; nad-shots tend to work best if you have a wide opening or before anything starts.

(man this board, some days...)

[LaCroix]

I'd say to go for the nads, but while painful, it's actually surprisingly hard to get a square blow in on those when in the middle of a struggle. Men are simply conditioned to protect those bits a little too well; nad-shots tend to work best if you have a wide opening or before anything starts.

(man this board, some days...)

Useless - I had 3 times of guys going for them against me, and both who were in a frontal struggle with me only hit the inner thigh, and it lost them the fight. The only one who did strike a glancing hit came from behind while I was fighting off his friends.

Stomp their knee as hard as you can - works every time, from every side, and allows you to control both their arms at the same time (or the knife arm with both hands). Worst case, he should still go down on the knee, which gives you perfect leverage to use your knee against their arms you're still holding on.

[LadyTevar]

A Scadian friend of mine is a true Renaissance man* who not only teaches art, but various martial arts and self-defense classes. His advice when it comes to being unarmed in a knife fight? 1. Let him come to you. 2. Sidestep to his off-hand side. 3. Kick the fuck outta his knee. 4. RUN LIKE HELL.


*As Cubstrider of the Kanawha, he follows his Native American heritage; tanning leather, hand-sewing buckskin garments, crafting beadwork from porcupine quills, stone, and bone, and teaches knife-fighting.
As Valentine de Periquone, he teaches fencing, book-binding, ink-making, illumination and calligraphy, and makes not only his, but also his wife's Italian garments.
As Mr. Cat, he creates steampunk/Barsoom jewelry out of acid-etched metal, gemstones, and leather, as well as making his and his wife's garments. Mr. Cat also does Japanese ink drawings (of cats) and crafts detailed insectoid models from wires and gears that have limited movement. Finally, he also teaches knife-fighting and bartitsu (cane fighting).
All of his personae, he is a skilled singer and story-teller.

[Raw Shark]

By "knock them down" I mean "disable them so they're rolling around in pain and can't get up". I'm not big enough/massive enough to simply knock someone down, for me to get them on the ground it requires something either EXTREMELY painful or something like blowing out their knee. Which I do by fighting dirty.

Also a good plan.

If I grab the knife wrist WTF am I going to do next? [snip]

Yeah, I typo'd there. That was supposed to be, "grab the wrist and stop them." Not permanently, just long enough to dislocate the wrist on the hand holding the knife [I don't care how big you are, you can leverage that if you put your body into it], and then for a life lesson involving your elbows to their face. Throwing the elbow on the button is almost always better than punching. It's harder, sharper, and less likely to break than your fingers. Elbows FTW.

(man this board, some days...)

That's why we love it!

[Broomstick]

Or break the knife arm, if you can get enough leverage.

If you can hold on long enough for that, you can just as well stomp-fold their knee with less effort and more suprise effect. Increases your chances of getting away a lot more than a broken arm does. Also a LOT easier than any method of breaking an arm.

Follow up with a knee to the face for bonus points.

... and that's where things get sticky with self-defense laws. Where I live, if you have the guy disabled (incapacitated via broken arm and/or busted knee joint) and you then proceed with a knee to the face you have just moved from self defense to assault. Which, as far as I'm concerned, is yet another reason to disable and then get the hell away from the other party, don't give yourself an opportunity to get stupid.

I'd say to go for the nads, but while painful, it's actually surprisingly hard to get a square blow in on those when in the middle of a struggle. Men are simply conditioned to protect those bits a little too well; nad-shots tend to work best if you have a wide opening or before anything starts.

(man this board, some days...)

Yeah, the one time I found myself in a fight and I went for a crotch-shot I missed. Wound up breaking his leg, which also worked, but it could have gone very badly... (Given the force I was using, he probably would have taken the broken leg over that kind of kick to the nuts if I had given him a choice anyway)

[Elheru Aran]

Remind me to never get into a fight with youse guys. Jeez.

[Raw Shark]

Remind me to never get into a fight with youse guys. Jeez.

What? We like you...

[Elheru Aran]

Remind me to never get into a fight with youse guys. Jeez.

What? We like you...

And I'll keep it that way hopefully!

[Broomstick]

Used to have a pin-on button that said

I Hate Violence!
(but I'm very good at it)

Which pretty much sums up my view of the whole situation - given a choice, I'd prefer to leave before a confrontation gets physical but if you back me into a corner I am ruthless.

[Zeropoint]

I haven't been in a fight in my adult life, and have NO close combat skills of any kind, but . . . I have to agree with Broomstick on a philosophical level, at least. Avoid violence as long as possible, and when it becomes necessary, don't hold anything back.

I don't know what would happen if I actually had to fight, though.