[This is Part 2 of a
several part series on Knives & Knife-Fighting. Part 1 can be viewed here.
The series will culminate in the release of our coordinated Plains Knife
Course. Currently available Dixie Knife Games
& Comanche Knife Ambush.
Subscribe to our newsletter, or blog to not miss an article—both free. Subscribers
to The Black Box Subscription Service
will have discounted access to The Training Program.]
For those not in the know, “The 21-Foot Rule” is a bit
of tactical misunderstanding from a few less experienced minds inside the law
enforcement cadre and also manifests as a bit of bolstering wishful thinking
with certain aspects of the civilian blade-culture contingent.
In short, “The 21-Foot Rule” postulates that a
knife-wielding attacker can cover 21’ feet of ground faster than an officer [or
CCW citizen] can draw their firearm.
With this formidable information in mind, we were led
to assume two things.
One-That officers need to
expand their reactionary gap when a blade is present and/or always maintain
greater distance in all interaction as no blade visible is not evidence of no
blade on the person.
This assumption, even if in error, is not necessarily
a bad thing. [It can lead to poor engagement judgment; we’ll get to that.]
Two-The second assumption is
the wishful thinking that a knife wielder within 21’ feet is the equal of an opponent
with a firearm on the hip.
This has led to many overvaluing the blade itself and/or
making assumptions about the utility of their blade training. The danger here
is that it allows the blade-focused individual to allow other aspects of
training to lapse as they live in some fantasy version of the James Coburn vs. Cowboy-in-a
Corral scenario from The Magnificent Seven.
The Origin of the Myth
In 1983, Sergeant Dennis Tueller of the Salt Lake City
Police Department conducted several tests to determine at what distance a rushing
bladed attacker could cover before an officer could draw their firearm.
The distance ballparked at 21’.
The draw time at 21’ feet was approximately 1.5
seconds.
From Sergeant Tueller’s tests we can reason two
things.
1. We
should expand our reactionary gap beyond 21’ feet when facing a blade or the
threat of a blade.
2. We
should work on our draw to reduce holster clearance time.
“OK, Mark, I hear ya, but, um, where exactly
does the myth come in? So far, everything toes the line with obeying the 21’
foot rule.”
Stay with me.
Sergeant Tueller’s Test demonstrated that a speedy
blade-wielding attacker could cover that 21’ feet in sub 1.5 seconds.
Notice that…
·
The tests were conducted with athletic
recruits.
·
Men and women of an age and disposition to
be in Academy.
·
Men and women willing and able to cover distance.
·
Men and women covering this distance in
Academy gym conditions, that is,…
·
Clear terrain.
So, in moving towards myth we need to consider two factors
at the outset…
What are the athletic attributes of the individual in
my 21’ foot reactionary gap?
Does the aggressive 68-year-old grandmother holding a butcher
knife require the same greater-than-21’ feet of gap as when facing an
18-year-old high school wrestler from Iowa wielding an Arkansas Toothpick?
Athletic attributes matter.
Life is not merely a game of “Here’s the gear, you’re
as good as.”
If that were so, all runners with modern footwear and
Camelbak packs, the best gear that 21st century runners can acquire
should easily best Roger Bannister’s 1954 breaking of a four-minute mile
wearing subpar shoes on a cinder track.
Gear does not necessarily connote ability.
Blade in hand does not suggest or imbue ALL with
magical distance covering.
The officer on the scene needs to factor in the “Who” in
designating the proper reactionary gap.
The avid bladesman must not assume that training the blade
itself imbues one with the ability to cover the 21’ feet like a young recruit in
a Salt Lake Police Academy.
Attributes Often Matter MORE Than Gear
Assumptions can overweight training choices.
In conversation with Mick Thorton of the Straight Blast
Gym, who was being badgered by many in-the-weeds tactical questions, assurances
of “Yeah, I’m a squared away sort, you wouldn’t believe how many seminars I’ve
been to.”
Thornton stops one and all in their tracks with, “If
all this is so important to you, you are all so squared away, why are you fat?”
Mr. Thornton was not fat-shaming or hoping to lead
many a fine soul down the rabbit-hole of body dysmorphia.
He was shaming cognitive error and contradictions of intent.
If one values combat tactics and touts them day-in,
day-out should we not see some reflection of this in the canvas of the body that
should at least embody a bit of athletic robustness.
The 21’ Foot Rule Does Not Mean That ALL
Can Cover That Distance
Distance Does Not Exist in a Vacuum
It matters where that 21’ feet are.
“Differences in weapons, terrain, weather, and
circumstances have made each battle unique. U.S. military leaders in the Union
and Confederate forces, for example, often tried to mimic the methods of
Napoleon, but new weapons and different terrain made Gettysburg very different
from Austerlitz.”-- Brigadier General Robert Doughty
·
Terrain matters
·
Weather matters
·
Circumstances matter
·
No matter how successful a tactic was at
Austerlitz with its open plains, it is not the varied wooded hollows of the
Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia.
The Generals who tried to follow “Napoleon’s Maxims of
War” meant for the plains of Austerlitz or “rules” devised on the gym floors of
the Salt Lake City Police Academy did not and will not survive long in the “wilderness.”
Distance & Barriers
Yes, distance is your ally when facing a blade.
But…so are barriers, so is the terrain.
Gravel slows the sprint.
Parked cars between you and the assailant are better
than expanding your reactionary gap to 22’.
21’ Feet & The Hair Trigger
Some have interpreted the “21’ Foot Myth” to mean, “Uh,
he has a knife, I reckon the distance to be 15’ feet, I am legally justified to
shoot.”
Or…
“I have a tactical folder on my hip, inside 21’
feet I am the match for any man with a side-arm.”
Again…
What are the attributes of the blade-wielder?
Psychotic Grandma? Mr. Thorton’s ego-deflated waistline
inflated wannabes?
What’s between you and them?
The last time I checked my .357 on this side of a
hollow core door trumps your K-Bar on that side of the door.
We must consider the totality of circumstances before
we fall back on the lazy thinking of 21’ Foot “Rules.”
Who Else Says There is No 21’ Foot Rule?
Why Sergeant Tueller himself.
His idea behind conducting the test with recruits and
supplying us with valuable knowledge is to show us what is possible at the
margins from a determined athletic aggressor on clear ground.
He wanted to knock the cocky out of any officer who
suffered from “100 Pound Badge and 500 Pound Gun” Syndrome.
He did us all a favor.
Many woke up and gave more respect to the blade and upped
tactical awareness.
Unfortunately, some over-corrected and abandoned
common-sense and tunneled on the distance and failed to factor in the Who is
Wielding and Terrain of Circumstances.
Unfortunately, some trained the knife to greater and
greater degrees of baroque filigree in the odd assumption that they were now possessed
with something akin to a close-range “Get Out of Hell Free” card.
The Knife is Formidable
Now, none of this [NONE] of this is to say that blades
are weak sauce.
None of this says that knife training is useless.
I train the blade, Comanche Plains Trade Knife, to be
specific.
What this essay does say, as does Part 1 in this
series and the parts to follow is…
Do Not Over Value Blade Tactics At the
Expense of Common Sense, Athletic Attributes, and Sensible Evaluations of All Compounding
Factors.
The Totality of Circumstances are the bedrock of true
tactical and strategic thought.
[This is Part 2 of a several part series on Knives
& Knife-Fighting. Part 1 can be viewed here.
The series will culminate in the release of our coordinated Plains Knife
Course. Currently available Dixie
Knife Games & Comanche
Knife Ambush. Subscribe to our newsletter, or blog to not miss an
article—both free. Subscribers to The Black Box
Subscription Service will have discounted access to The Training Program.]
Resources for Livin’ the Warrior Life
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