304 - Knife disarm (video)
So there you are on your way to the local Mensa meeting when you realise you’re a bit low on cash.
Using your higher intellect, you quickly come up with a way to address this financial embarrassment…
Several interesting points in this in terms of knife defence as it shows a completely distracted robber experiencing a sudden role reversal when having his knife snatched from him.
Yes, the shop keeper was lucky - especially as he wasn’t the focus of attack when the robber had first leapt the counter, but he handles this really well given the circumstances.
A classic British reaction from the first shopper who walks in and then pegs it - “Sorry”.
As an employee you would want to seriously question whether your life is worth the loss of some stock as the further the frustration goes up at a locked till, the higher the chances that this will end with injury for you. A family owned business may see this very differently.
His torso is completely unguarded as well throughout this, but these are armchair observer points - very different from experiencing the real thing.
As the attempt to retrieve the weapon is triggered, he traps the limbs with his left arm and drives the toe rag back while retaining the weapon back and out of reach in a reverse grip from the initial grab.
The attempt to restrain the attacker by the shopkeeper from across the sales area was never going to work and would have upped his risks of injury the longer it went on. He also has to keep working there and any real harm that might’ve befallen Brain of Britain, either physical or, god forbid… custodial, would be very likely to result in making him a marked man.
UPDATE: VIDEO here including slo mo - courtesy of Nic The Brit
One In One books by Jeth Randolph
Visit my Amazon author page to purchase these self defence / survival books:
Or support your local economy by using the ISBN -13 codes and ordering from your favourite independent book shop.
I don’t think this went down how he saw it going down in his head…. Very quick and as sensigirl commented difficult to see exactly how he disarms him.. I thought at first maybe he just grabbed the knife from the man as he was rooting around in those draws… fierce reaction from his passive demeanor.. the thug seemed pretty sure he was not going to be met with any resistance… he was lucky he didn’t get sliced and diced… that guy who walked in and then turned around was classic! thanks for sharing. 🐺
Even slowed down, it’s really hard to see quite how he manages to disarm the attacker. I suppose it helps a little that the knife is in his non-dominant hand as he uses his right hand to grab stuff.
It’s interesting to compare this with the equally bright chap in the video in entry 53, whose “let me into your night club (with this knife) or I’ll stab you” strategy doesn’t seem brilliantly thought through.
I find it interesting how relatively calm the shop keeper appears - that the appearance of the knife itself isn’t enough to gain compliance, and how he waits for the right moment before attempting a disarm.
His initial response to (presumably) summon help via his phone seems a good example of how unreliable that approach would be.
Very interesting point about having to function in that community afterwards. Geoff Thompson talks about that a lot, doesn’t he - usually in the context of having to send a very strong message to the trouble-maker’s friends, but only if there isn’t a way out that would save face for the attacker….
I wonder what the woman at the end thought? Maybe she knew the youth? Did the first shopper call anything in? Did the lad make it to his Mensa meeting in the end? So many questions.