The usual question came up the other night at the end of a stick defense class: What if the object is not blunt? What if it’s a machete?!

My very brief thoughts:

• RUN!
• Grab anything you can to use as a shield and/or weapon.
• If you have to make a defense, it is most likely going to be a “stick” defense rather than a knife defense due to the size of the weapon and the hacking nature of the attack, which more closely resembles how a blunt object is typically used. When making the redirecting defense against an overhead or angled swing, we ideally make first contact with the wrist and avoid the weapon altogether. When making the blocking defense against a horizontal swing, we ideally burst in past the weapon and slam into the attacker’s arm. The key adverb here being “ideally.” Our stick defenses are designed to “work” (i.e. avoid fatal injury but not necessarily serious injury) even if we’re very late in our defense. Not so much with a machete, though. And, of course, I would not recommend using a stick disarm against a blade!
• For me, my ideal defense (if I were able to kindly request of my assailant) would be Knife Defense Against Backhand Slash: dodge a forehand slash and pounce in on the dead side before it comes back. You know, if I could choreograph it.
• We’re talking about a miscreant with a machete here, not a master swordsman. If you run afoul of these dudes, I cannot help you.
• Did I mention RUN?!

Colin sent this video. It is NOT Krav Maga, and I don’t agree with everything in it, but there are some interesting and useful points.