Medieval Dagger Defense - Effective or Contrived?

There are lots of instructional books and videos about defending yourself against a knife, and many (if not most) of them follow the McDojo Bullshido path of "how to get yourself killed in seconds". What about looking back at a time when dagger fights were not uncommon, and when writing and illustrating a manuscript was a lot more time consuming and costly? Did what they taught in the Middle Ages make sense?

So let's look at a few techniques from historical fighting manuals. I'll be demonstrating my interpretation of how they're described and commenting on how effective I would expect them to be. Keep in mind, I'm not an expert on knife / dagger combat, and I have not practiced these extensively. Also, unarmed against ANY weapon means the defender is pretty much screwed, so any attempt other than running away is highly risky no matter what. In fact even running away is risky, in case the attacker is able to catch up, and now you're out of breath on top of it. In other words, DON'T TRY THIS, be safe, and avoid trouble.

This video is for entertainment and a bit of education. Maybe it can serve as inspiration for fight scenes in fantasy stories, tabletop RPG's, animations in video games, etc.

Other videos you might find interesting:

How to Fight with Daggers (Historical Martial Arts)
   • How to Fight with Daggers (Historical...  

Dagger Against Longer Weapons | Dark Souls Rolling?
   • Dagger Against Longer Weapons  |  Dar...  

SICKLE vs. SWORD... It's Intense.
   • SICKLE vs. SWORD... It's Intense.  

Could THIS Make "Dual Shielding" Viable? (Brawler Style)
   • Dual Wielding Shields - Could THIS Ma...  


** Music credits **

"Medieval: The Old Tower Inn" by Random Mind
https://opengameart.org/content/medie...
CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain

"Small Loss" by HorrorPen
https://opengameart.org/content/small...
Attribution 3.0 Unported license (CC BY 3.0)

Outro:
"Highland Storm" by The Slanted Room Records
https://theslantedroom.github.io/stev...
Used with artist's permission


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