The movement patterns, sure.
The fact that it's merely and extension of your hand, sure.
But the reality of the thing is that they are two entirely different tools with polar opposite uses.
The stick is a very good intermediate force option that delivers highly effective striking capability while also being more than capable of enhancing any joint locking maneuvers.
The knife is very much a deadly force option and is really suited to cutting and thrusting, though certain single-edged blades do allow for use similar to an impact weapon, either striking or for enhancing joint locks, by using the spine of the blade.
My Phillipine Combatives Instructor, Guro Julius Melegrito, said during my very first seminar with him:
"A stick is a stick and a knife is a knife." Sticks seek bone, blades seek flesh.
So let's look at some options available during a deployment of a contact distance weapon....
We'll start with the stick because even in a sterile environment that is truly weapon free, you can definitely find a weapon similar.
The stick's most obvious advantage is that many are much longer than knives. I have carried and do occasionally carry a 16" ASP baton. 16" overall is quite a bit longer than most knives one is liable to encounter. A cane is a good option, is legal everywhere, and is longer than even the longest of standard batons.
This length can allow the stick to be used against a knife to great effect and in all reality, when dealing with a dynamic knife assault, I actually find a stick much more desirable than most other weapons available BECAUSE of it's length and since the stick is solid, ergo I won't get cut at all during the stripping process of the disarm if my skin doesn't get near the blade.
As for total objectives, there are a few...
1. Deadly Force
2. Less-Lethal Force against an unarmed attacker
3. Less-Lethal Force against an attacker armed with a contact distance weapon
4. Disarming
Breaking these down.
1. Deadly Force
-This entails strikes to the head, neck, and other highly sensitive areas of the body. If using a stick to deploy deadly force, a solid strike with a good follow through to the base of the skull on the back of the neck, in the upper "C" vertebrae, will usually do the trick. Another deadly force option for the stick is using it to enhance your empty hand chokes. There are two chokes that you must truly experience to comprehend the meaning of the word "Choke." The first one is a rear naked enhanced with a stick. The other is from a Gracie (I've been choked by Renzo... WOW! That's about all I can say...).
2. Less-Lethal Force Against An Unarmed Attacker
-This is where that Fair-Play idea starts to grind my gears. An impact weapon is perfectly acceptable when deployed against an active, combative perpetrator. When facing an unarmed threat, targeting should focus on the long bones of the body such as the femur (thigh) and humerus (upper arm). These bones have nerve centers along them that are highly receptive to pain. Keep in mind, that a subject under the influence may not realize this is supposed to hurt and the fight may proceed to escalate, so be prepared to use other tactics.
-Another Less-Lethal option for the stick is using it to enhance an joint locks you may be using. Things like replacing your forearm with the shaft of the stick during a hammer lock, using the butt of the stick to activate a pressure point as opposed to your hand, or using the stick as a lever in the joint of the wrist during any number of wrist locks are no more physical force than the same locks with the empty hand, but amplify the pain dramatically.
3. Less-Lethal Force Against An Attacker Armed With A Contact Distance Weapon
-This involves the same lock enhancements of Section 2 above, but includes what we call "Ballistic Disarming" where the forearm or hand holding the weapon is struck, HARD, with the objective of totally obliterating the bone structure of that limb. The stick also becomes a blocking instrument that gives the attacker's weapon something to hit that doesn't involve that weapon drawing our blood or breaking our bones.
4. Disarming
-This is a separate objective in and of itself. I'll be the first to say, I don't like disarming firearms with anything but the empty hand. But for knives and sticks, the stick is the gold standard to beat. You can use it to strip the weapon away from the attacker through any number of specific disarming methods or you can use the ballistic disarm discussed earlier.
The knife is a whole new animal! Even though the movement patterns of the stick and the knife, and even some of the targeting for the two, are very similar but very different. Remember, A stick seeks bone... A knife seeks flesh. This is due to the differences of how the two work as a weapon.
Remember our article on cardiac tamponade that discussed blunt and penetrating trauma?
Ties in here.
Sticks do what they do through blunt trauma where a blade relies on penetrating trauma and a hard, sharp edge to rip through the skin and sever tissue, organs, and blood vessels.
The objectives for the knife are more limited...
1. Deadly Force
2. Deadly Force Against A Contact Distance Weapon
3. Disarming
1. Deadly Force
-Thrusting into groin area or internal organs, cutting into the throat, inner thigh, inner upper arm, inner wrist, or lower abdomen to open up major blood vessels and organs. This can be an outright objective in a truly offensive context such as sentry removal or used during an ambush, or this can be used in any number of defensive actions (even as an only objective).
2. Deadly Force Against A Contact Distance Weapon
-Crew, knives are deadly force... Period. But sometimes that level of force can be applied without THE INTENT of being deadly. This could be what we call "De-Fanging The Snake" in the Filipino Martial Arts where an attacking limb is targeted and cut up. This could be thrusting the point into a hand with a weapon. This could also involve "Mobility Kills" attacking the muscular structure of the thigh so an attacker can not pursue.
3. Disarming
-Of course, where a stick can be used to disarm, so can a knife. Cutting the hand. Cutting the nerves, muscles, and tendons of the forearm. Thrusting the point through a weapon hand. Using the spine of the blade to hook and strip a weapon. If the blade is sharp and heavy duty enough, removing the limb holding the weapon entirely.
I VERY STRONGLY RECOMMEND that everyone learn how to use both a edged and impact weapons effectively. They are extremely common on the streets and in the prison system, there are no shortage of folks who train to use these weapons effectively. I am very firmly of the belief that whether you choose to carry one or not, you should know how to use both edged and impact weapons offensively and defensively so that you have an understanding of how they operate and can more effectively, efficiently, and safely deal with the assault.
Stay Frosty
V/R
-Kenny Smith
Chief Master Instructor
President, Total Force Training Group