Close-quarter concealed knife attacks: How much time do you have?

The purpose of the study was to examine concealed knife attacks from eight feet away of three different knife motions and how age and sex effected attack time. Seventy-four subjects completed three different knife attacks on a target using a rubber training knife. Mean attack times were: thrust (1.43 ± 0.26 s), horizontal (1.55 ± 0.33 s), and overhead (1.60 ± 0.32 s), with the fastest attack time of 1.04 s, a thrust, by a young male. Age groups did not differ in attack time, whereas males were significantly faster in each knife motion. Practicing defensive maneuvers and tactics in these timeframes may serve to determine optimal responses.