, 17th century
Traditional schools During the long history of the knife as a weapon, many systems or schools of knife fighting have developed around the world. Each is usually distinguished by region and culture of their origin. In past centuries the repeated invasion and conquest of foreign territories by invading armies frequently resulted in the dissemination and adoption of knives and knife fighting techniques. These were in turn adapted and improved upon through long practice and drills, sometimes over hundreds of years.
Scherma di stiletto siciliano The Italian
stiletto, originally a purely offensive weapon used to kill an unsuspecting or wounded adversary, was later embraced throughout Italy as a fighting knife for
close combat confrontations. The popularity of the stiletto in the
Kingdom of Sicily resulted in the development of the
scherma di stiletto siciliano (Sicilian school of stiletto fighting).
Andalucia of traditional design, with a blade In
Andalusian Spain, the use of the large
navaja (folding knife) as a fighting knife has been commonly used by the peoples of that region since the 17th century. In that part of Spain, sword and knife fighting techniques (
espada y daga) were regularly taught to young men as a necessary skill, often passed down from father to son as a rite of passage to adulthood (and in some cases, to daughters as well). In 18th- and 19th-century Spain
esgrimas de navaja (fencing, or knife-fighting schools) could be found in the major cities and throughout Andalucía, particularly in
Córdoba, Málaga, and Seville. Among navaja
aficionados, the gamblers or
barateros of
Málaga and
Seville were cited as the most skilled practitioners of fighting with the navaja. The firmly-established knife-fighting tradition with the navaja in Andalusian Spain, especially as reflected in the 19th century treatise
Manual del Baratero,
Esgrima Criolla The
Esgrima Criolla ("Creole fencing") method of knife fighting was popularized by the South American
gaucho and his large-bladed
facón. Deprived of their ability to wear a sword by various edicts, Spanish gentlemen in South America adopted the facón, together with fighting techniques developed directly from
el legado Andaluz, The facón was later universally adopted by the
gaucho of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, and later by men of the rural working class of those countries. Knives similar in style and length to the facón were carried by a wide variety of South American men who were either prohibited from carrying swords or who needed a more convenient, wearable close combat weapon. In an 1828 account of the capture of
Las Damas Argentinas, a pirate schooner carrying a mixed group of Spanish-speaking pirates, the carrying of knives very similar to the facón is mentioned: "Amongst these [weapons], were a large number of long knives – weapons which the Spaniards use very dexterously. They are about the size of a common English carving knife, but for several inches up the blade cut both sides." After the turn of the 19th century, the facón became more of a utility and ceremonial weapon, though it was still used to settle arguments "of honor". In these situations two adversaries would attack with slashing attacks to the face, stopping the fight when one of the participants could no longer see due to bleeding from shallow cuts.
Arnis Arnis, also referred to as Eskrima and Kali, is an indigenous Philippine martial art involving the use of sticks, knives and other bladed weapons. Like most other knife fighting traditions,
Eskrima is learned by constant practice, using sparring encounters between two or more opponents in order to hone a practitioner's physical skills and mental concentration. This martial art flourished for hundreds of years as part of a society with a
blade culture, and the system's already impressive indigenous techniques were later directly influenced by Spanish and Andalusian fencing and knife fighting systems with the introduction of the
angles of attack and the use of
espada y daga (the word
eskrima is a Filipinization of the Spanish word
esgrima, meaning a fighting or fencing school).
Modern techniques in
Shanghai, during the 1920s Modern tactics for knife combat were developed by two British members of the
Shanghai Municipal Police of the
International Settlement in the 1920s. At the time, the Shanghai streets were rife with criminal activity, exacerbated by the political tensions of
the time and the breakdown of social order in much of the country. Captain
William E. Fairbairn and Sergeant
Eric A. Sykes developed knife fighting skills and defenses, which they began teaching to both police recruits and members of the British Army, Royal Marines and U.S. Marine units then stationed in
Shanghai. Fairbairn reportedly engaged in hundreds of street fights in his twenty-year career in Shanghai, where he organized and headed a special anti-riot squad. The length of the blade was chosen to give several inches of blade to penetrate the body after passing through the of the thickest clothing that was anticipated to be worn in the war, namely that of Soviet
greatcoats. Later production runs of the F–S fighting knife have a blade length that is about . In all cases, the handle had a distinctive
foil-like grip to enable a number of handling options. Many variations on the F–S fighting knife exist in regards to size of blade and particularly of handle. The design has influenced the design of knives throughout the many decades since its introduction. ==Basic knife fighting techniques==