This article was co-authored by Adrian Tandez. Adrian Tandez is the founder and head instructor of the Tandez Academy, a world-renowned self-defense training center in Mountain View, California. Trained under the martial artist Dan Inosanto, Adrian is a certified instructor in Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do, Filipino Martial Arts, and Silat. Adrian has over 25 years of self defense training experience. This article has been viewed 460,649 times.

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Before you learn how to defend yourself with a knife, look up weapon laws to find out what knives are legal to carry in your area. Then, pick a knife that’s appropriate for self-defense, like a fixed blade that’s 5 to 7 inches long. When drawing a fixed-blade knife, make sure the blade points away from your body at all times. Maintain a firm grip on the handle, and extend the knife firmly up, out, and away from you. Keep your body behind your knife at all times to avoid harming yourself or being disarmed by your attacker. If your attacker moves in to hit or harm you, move with them, taking a big step back and to the side, then bring your knife to their forearm or wrist to either disarm them or harm them enough to escape. To learn how to use your knife as a distraction during a fight, keep reading!