Defending the edged weapon

[Pick187]

In my mind the best defense to an edge weapon is time and distance. An edge weapon isn’t much of a threat if there is a lot of distance or a barrier between you and the person with the knife. In our training we start by doing some drills where they are not engaging people yet. I then take students one at a time away to an open field. I have on safety gear so the switched on officers already realize, Hey I get to shoot someone real quick. I explain that they are interacting with a person who they were dispatched to as being a mentally unstable person. We are standing in an open field with very little cover for a good 30 to 50 yards. I ask the officer how far they would be to the individual so they can deal with the person and I move back till they tell me to stop. I then draw a line in the dirt when they tell me to stop. I count steps back to the officer. On average most officers have me about seven yards away. I start talking about the distance and how it is important and start back to the line, I start looking for the line and ask where the line is to the officer (get their mind on to something different). When I think I might have them distracted I announce that I am going to kill them and turn towards them and flick open a folding training knife. I then start towards them at a brisk walk/jog. Most officers will take a couple of steps straight backwards while drawing and then light me up with airsoft. After the scenario is stopped we discuss what could be done different. I point out that just going straight back doesn’t help them because I just gain momentum by going straight to them. I explain how they can help themselves by going away at an angle or even zig zagging causing the suspect to change direction which makes the suspect lose some momentum. I then rerun the scenario, this time as soon as I get hit a couple of times I stop and double over. As soon as I stop, all of the officers except one, stops. I then go after them again. After the scenario is over I ask why they stopped and so far everyone has said, because I had stopped. I explain that this is the time to get more distance and seek cover. A lull in the action is time to better yourself whether it is to get on the radio to get the cavalry, combat reload, or anything to better yourself, but never stop unless you are to spot where you are safe.

We are a small to medium size department. Whenever we do something like this we try to shove as many officers through as fast as possible. This time we put our foot down and only allow four to five officers to come through the training at one time. So we still have a lot more officers to bring through this training. I am interested in your thoughts and if there is anything you would change. Lets have some discussion!