Knife Attacks in NYC and France Have Something In Common

Knife Attacks in NYC and France Have Something In Common

Self-Defence 48 Comments

In the eye-opening video “Knife Attacks in NYC and France Have Something in Common” on Hard2Hurt’s YouTube channel, Icy Mike casts a critical eye on real-life incidents with chilling consequences. Driving home the stark reality of knife attacks, Mike stresses the importance of having a solid strategy – and what often happens when you don’t. He deconstructs two distinct scenarios which he didn’t fabricate but are tragically real. Mike’s direct, no-nonsense approach to self-defence emphasizes the importance of strategic thinking and drills down how vital decisions made in a split second hinge on levels of training and ingrained responses. Believe me, this isn’t just a commentary; it’s a valuable lesson in survival.



Understanding Realities of Modern Self Defence

In a recent YouTube video by the channel Hard2Hurt, run by Icy Mike, he breaks down two recent incidences of knife attacks, one in NYC and the other in France. Much to our surprise, these two distinct events have a few common elements that can help us better understand the realities of self defence in the modern world, particularly against knife attacks. The video starts with a clear-cut statement: our conception of how we would likely react to a knife attack is probably far from the truth of what would unfold. Mike shares two contrasting scenarios fueled by an argument – one where a man is confronted by someone with a knife in the street, and another where a playground is suddenly invaded by a knife-wielding man seeking to harm innocent kids. The chief point in both scenarios is the reality of how people actually respond to violent situations, particularly when weapons like knives are involved. Despite the general consensus being that the best course of action is to immediately run, Mike emphasizes that most people are unlikely to do so. This, believe it or not, has a lot to do with how we’re trained and our innate human reactions to stress. Mike goes on to dissect a real-life example of a street fight that ended in tragedy for a man who arguably had some form of fighting or martial arts training. Anyone would think that running away would be the first instinct when confronted with an armed individual, but this man didn’t. He decided to stand his ground and fight, which cost him his life. The extremely enlightening point here is that when you’re trained in martial arts, sometimes the instinct to fight can supersede the instinct to flee, even when facing lethal danger. Mike touches on another crucial aspect of self-defence – the weird and unpredictable things we might do under intense pressure. Hypothetically, we tend to believe that we’ll rise to the occasion during high-stress situations, when in reality, we fall to our level of training. Stress can make us resort to actions that we know and, more importantly, actions that we practice regularly. This brings us to a key point in self-defence training – we should be as prepared to escape as we are to fight. Simply put, if you haven’t practiced running in stressful situations, chances are, you won’t be able to run effectively when you need to. The reality check that Mike delivers here is a sobering one. Most people, whether parents defending kids or martial artists confronted by an armed individual, are much less effective in real-world situations than they picture themselves to be. Modern self defence should not only prioritize practising strikes, kicks, or warding off attacks, but should also embrace the practice of running away, seeking help, and dealing with adrenaline-spiked stress. As the saying goes: “Don’t rise to the occasion, fall to your level of training.” The scenarios Mike presents are a reminder that realistic self-defence training needs to involve more than just controlled conditions and expected attacks. It needs to factor in the unpredictability and chaos of real-world situations, the haze of panic and stress, and the need to train both our minds and bodies how to react under pressure.

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Hard2Hurt is a YouTube channel run by a self-defense trainer, Icy Mike. It offers practical and dynamic self-defense training methods and gear reviews. Icy Mike combines professionalism with humor, making his videos educational and entertaining. His credible fight experience enhances the authenticity and effectiveness of the tutorials.

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48 Comments

  1. You are 100% right. This is why in the military you practice over and over again the most simple things, because when your pule is over 180 and shit hit´s the fan that´s all you will be doing.
    I have seen soldiers taking off their main guns and putting them aside while pulling a person out from a car to just find themselves now unarmed standing there like an idiot.
    I mean to anyone seeing this from a distance and being calm this is just moronic behavior but an untrained person will do such things, because they have never been in a certain situation before, humans are basically biological machines, each with their own program running. The DVD player story, or the guy fighing instead of simply running away, he even could have probably just walked away from what it looked like.

  2. Why was this 11 minutes of you will not run unless you train it. That took me 10 seconds to type 👍I understand driving home the point and you're helping…but I learn from this video if you don't train what you're going to say you default from to what you know for 11 minutes of you will not run.

    Now if you will excuse me the people of read NEED ME and Mom's almost done with dinner and she hates when her number 1 keyboard warrior come to the table red face with Rage and Breathing heavy😉

    Ps I'm a fan even if you spend a lot of time reacting to armchair quarterbacks and trolls.

    PPS I know about getting corrective training in Not about reacting to comments🙂

  3. Some will panic freeze, some would run and some would fight. Hopefully someone would have a bigger "stick" and the skills/mental state to use it. Had a teacher that always said if someone has something in their hands then you should too or run.

  4. Yeah even if they both have a knife.Usally both die or get hurt from just cutting each other.Theres not much defense in a knife fight .Its mostly just offense.

  5. 9:36 "You don't rise to the occasion. You fall to your level of training." Such a powerful statement. The difference between what we tell ourselves we would do in a situation vs. what we actually do in a scenario where primal fear has taken over. Great video!

  6. I heard man from NY say people have the wrong idea about NY they think if you move to NY you have a 50%chance of being stayed, that's not true ,it's only 47 %

  7. Having trouble finding the original video for the NYC knife attack, wish you would give more info about it in your description area. Also, that dude with the backpack was a straight up hero by chasing that attacker away from the playground, not sure why you're throwing shade his way.

  8. Here’s a pro tip to stop all violent attacks against you. Move to a gun friendly state
    Learn to be proficient enough to hit a target 10-20 meters away & carry daily.

    You are your own first responder in most situations

  9. The saddest thing from both these videos is that most peoples reaction is to whip out their phone and start to record, maybe because it puts it on a screen and therefore isn't really happening or because it's what they consider to be helping, I don't know what I would do in either these situations, but I can say this is the one thing I know I wouldn't do.

  10. a few years ago, i was jumped while moving my stuff between houses. it was late at night, and we had initially been driving on a narrow road, following the moving truck, driven by a friend. a bunch of guys in a van parked on the side of the road somehow started a verbal altercation with the friend in the truck, which escalated when my other friend, driving us behind them, started to retaliate. we got chased a couple of blocks, with the van trying to swerve into us, and my friend throwing a drink at them. multiple times, my friend tried to take a right turn into a residential block to 'deal with' the pursuers, but i advised against it. I said 'we're just here to move my stuff, and get the rental back in one piece. not to start a fight'. initially he agreed, but when we stopped at an intersection, he decided to take matters into his own hands, despite my protests. the light was red, but moments before he got out, it turned green, a fact i'd been trying to point out. the guy driving the moving truck immediately drove off, and my friend reached for a knife in his glove box, and stepped out to confront what we initially thought was one, maybe two guys.

    there were seven. he was instantly swarmed, fighting in the middle of the street, which then dragged over to the opposite sidewalk. at the time i'd trained in some karate, WTF taekwondo, some mma and self defense techniques, and a surface level knife defense (no kali or FMA whatsoever), but i did have years of lifesaving and emergency first aid training under my belt. I had always dreaded fighting against a weapon user, and when my friend pulled a knife, my stress sort of went into overdrive. i was on the phone with the guy driving the truck, and i immediately knew i needed to do something. But my hands were full with my belongings, the seatbelt was on, everything was clouding me. but i had one prevailing thought

    my friend is all alone out there, getting stomped by a bunch of assholes. he needs someone to help him.

    somehow i broke out of my freeze. not completely; i was taking a bite of a sandwich as i was getting out of the car. you do the stupidest shit when you're stressed out, right? the first person i saw when i got out of the car, i initially thought was an attacker. the guy clarified he was just passing by, so i recruited him to help me break up the fight. i hung up the call on my phone and dialed 911, and then pointed to a few bystanders in the car, getting them to also call for help. and then i entered the fray, rushing the group. The attackers were a bunch of men much shorter and smaller than me, so when they noticed me, they scattered and all, i assume, had a stress response of their own, trying to justify the attack. I shouted them down and got my friend, got him to the car, without needing to throw a single punch. he somehow didn't get stabbed, but he lost his weapon, something i was afraid would happen. we were about to leave, when one of the attackers smashed out our rear windshield. we sped off, got chased for like half an hour, but eventually managed to lose them. i cant remember if any of them were armed before my friend stepped out and drew his knife on them, but they certainly had to be by the end of the altercation. the police were entirely unhelpful; they picked up well after we'd gotten back in the car, and were berating me for having the phone on in the passenger seat while my friend was trying to get us out of there. even going to the police station and trying to get a report written up didn't work out; somehow there 'wasn't an officer on station to take a report'.

    my friend blamed me entirely for the incident, both right after we got to the police station, and even now, years later. despite me apologizing to him for not 'instantly killing all seven attackers', despite me trying to check up on him, or reaching out to him, despite how shaken up i was. he replaced me in his head, during that incident, with one of the bystanders i'd signalled. even to this day. he used to be my 'best friend'. someone i looked up to with admiration. now we're no longer friends, and i dunno what to make of myself.

  11. When you are part of a population that has allowed (or voted for) yourselves to be disarmed, all you will be able to to is scream and maybe hit the guy with your backpack, while he does whatever he wants to your kids.

  12. Thought the backpack thing was pretty good idea tbh, its a barrier between you and the knife but you can use it to smash the attacker and disorient him as well. It was a convenient weapon and a safe option as well

  13. Ive been stabbed on more then one ocation, I learned and i can only speak for myself is the deep slices didn't hurt while in the fight but the stab in my thumb hurt bad and oain distracts from doing the right thing and the only way in a knife fight or a protection situation is move..distance or a weapon ,a belt stick a rock..gun. But nuthing is 100 percent.

  14. I'd jump infront of a train for my son. Wouldn't hesitate.

    In that case if dude stabbing kids at park..obv slam tackled him and throw haymakers..hoping others joined in

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