Knives are incredibly important to the martial arts practitioner. A major reason for training is self defense, and if one is going to defend him or herself on the street with a weapon, we want to be sure we’re realistic about what we might have available to us. I mean, it’s cool to know how to use a katana, but how many of us are going to walk around downtown with a sword by our side in the 21st century? A knife on the other hand? Well, plenty I’m sure.
That said, not only do we want to be able to fight with a knife, we also want to be able to fight against one, too. So we need to be sure we’re practicing with knives, whether it is as the user or the one defending against it. These are some of the best knives I’ve come across for practice.
Aluminum Practice Knife Training Kali arnis self-defense martial arts
This thing is intimidating if you are a student. It looks almost exactly like a real knife, and when you are trying to defend yourself against something like this, you believe it’s real. The aluminum isn’t glossy or flashy but it shines enough to resemble steel.
An old trainer actually recommended I buy this product so that my wife and I could practice at home, and we did just that. We don’t get to practice very often but when we do, we use a few training weapons and this one is ideal for simulating a knife attack. The grip is good but I sometimes feel like it may slip out of my hand. However, the price is excellent for a training knife.
The ability to custom design the practice knife is cool. We didn’t take advantage of that, but I told my old instructor about the possibility and he thought it was a great idea. I’ve tried to purchase these a few different times but they have been sold out. I certainly am going to get another now that they are back in stock; they seem to sell extremely fast. If you take your training seriously, then you must consider purchasing this knife. It may just save your life one day!
BladesUSA E420-PP Martial Art Training Equipment, 12-Inch Overall
This is the ultimate training knife. I served four years in the US Army and recently thought it would be a good idea to teach my wife self-defense. She is very tiny and could most likely be a victim if the right person attempted to attack her. This was unacceptable to me. I couldn’t sleep at night if I were away from my wife knowing that I didn’t do everything I could to prevent possible harm to her. I wanted to give her the knowledge and skills to properly analyze a possible threat. I often travel for my civilian job so I can’t be with my wife and children every night.
It is identical in weight to a real knife. It has the dramatic effect of making you believe it’s a real knife so it helps for training and hyping up the senses. The all-black color makes it hard to identify, which is great for training. You aren’t always going to know exactly where the knife is going to be, so training where the hand might be helps deter focus from the knife itself. The training knife does its job. Overall, this is a great product, which you can get right here.
The knife is easy to hold and conceal. It makes training a dynamic environment, which is exactly what you want. There is no reason this knife should not last for several years. The description has is exactly right; it is virtually unbreakable. While our school is a gi-wearing school, a dear friend bought six of these for his dojo about six months ago and raves about them. They endure a lot on a daily basis and not one of them has a scratch on it.
He told me, “We often practice grappling techniques with one of the students being the attacker. The attacking student will conceal this knife in his boot. While grappling, the student on the offense will attempt to get to the knife and it’s the other student’s job to disarm the attacker or properly defend himself against a knife attack. The ability to conceal the weapon in the sock or boot is key. We are so grateful to be producing well trained students, and it is partly owed to this little training masterpiece! If you run a dojo and are looking for the perfect training weapon for your students, this is the knife you’ve been searching for! I will be back to purchase more once we expand our facility.”
Cold Steel Rubber Training Practice Knives 3 Set
I have a 9-year-old son who, for some reason, is in love with knives. I continuously buy him rubber or fake knives so that he won’t hurt himself or anyone else. He recently had a birthday, so I thought it would be a great idea to get him some knives as a present. I got him this same set in the past but he lost it (of course) and I thought it would be a good idea to bring them back into his life. The rubber knife set is actually three different blade types (I wasn’t aware of that—I guess I didn’t pay close enough attention). However, this seemed to be a great way to diversify on the knives he had in his collection. The fact that they are rubber is irrelevant to him, he’s 9.
He was elated! This must have been the best gift I have gotten him in 9 years … It was like no other presents existed. That was about a month ago and he is still playing with them every single day. They have been thrown in mud, water, fences, trees and pretty much anything else that exists in a backyard. I give two thumps up—great product (actually three great products)!
There are many different uses for training knives, but this is the first spring assist training knife I have seen. The weight is great; I can tell that it was made to last and is very durable. I got this for myself because I get a bit wary around sharp objects. I know that is extremely weird but I am honestly just trying to acclimate myself to maneuvering and handling the knife without the blade on it. The spring assist is awesome; it makes me feel pretty cool. The knife was designed with the user in mind. Now, my experience with knives is still somewhat limited compared to some of my fellow students, but my experience with products is not. It looks very real and I’m sure it would trick almost anyone into believing it was real. I suspect a lot of military personnel train with something like this because of its appearance but safety features built in. The dull blade is phenomenal; I know I won’t hurt myself. If you are just beginning with knife training, or wielding knives in general, you should start with this knife and make sure you feel comfortable advancing to the real deal.
There are all kinds of knife fighting skills. Hopefully you’ll find a good knife here, but if one of these didn’t do it for you, there are plenty more at Amazon. I’m sure you know how it works – just click on one of the ones above, and you’ll see tons of selections suggested that you can look at. Have fun and happy training!
Knives have always made me very, very uneasy. And yet I’ve always been fascinated by those who have mastered any of the martial arts. It’s amazing, what a true master can do with these weapons. But, gee … knives scare me. I think I’d go for the rubber knives!
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Heheh, knives make a LOT of people nervous, so I can’t blame you there. It’s a good thing there are rubber knives for practice (and real ones that are just dull) so you don’t hurt yourself getting ready for the real thing! I’m an Eagle scout, so handling knives is a long-time thing for me, although I’ve only recently started learning to fight with them. I had no idea just how versatile a little weapon they can be. Right now, I’m using primarily rubber, but I do like the dull metal ones for realism. Thanks for your comment!
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I always learn something so interesting about martial arts training from your posts. I didn’t even know these replicas of knives were available for purchase. I would love for my daughters to train with these and know how to use them as they are going out on their own now. The three knife set looks interesting and I’m going to look into those.
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Thanks, Linda! It’s pretty amazing how many kinds of practice knives there are out there. I also have daughter who has recently started learning ninjutsu with my son and me, and it really does make a difference to know that she can handle herself. She’s going into high school this year, so that’s closer to when she goes off to college, where her brother and I can’t be around to have her back. Kinda scary, so these skills might just come in handy!
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I myself am a martial artist and I really like this write-up on knives! I myself practice using nunchaku but have always wanted to take on knives as my next weapon as it feels more practical in real life situations. You gave me a starting point on what knives I should choose for practice, very informative article!
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Great, I’m so glad to hear that! I also practice nunchaku and LOVE the weapon, but you’re right – it is more practical in real life to know how to wield a knife since we don’t walk around with a pair of nunchaku in our belt. It IS still a fun weapon though… 🙂
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Thanks for the breakdown on these great training knives, they are incredibly interesting. One quick question, I know you mention we obviously wouldn’t walk around with a katana, but is there any potential problem from walking around with a real version of these kinds of knives? Some of them look to have blades that are well over the 4 inch threshold that would be allowed on a plane, but I’m not sure if that matters on a standard city street. Is this anything you’ve encountered in the past?
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Okay, so that’s dependent upon the state. I certainly wouldn’t carry on a plane unless it’s a utility knife; that’s just asking for trouble. But states are all different, and while in states like Illinois you want to keep it to about 2.5″, in Iowa, you just can’t conceal it if it’s over 5″. Just be sure you do your due diligence before buying a real knife to carry for self defense. Great question!
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