Writing about things I have no experience with

[Nessa]

In particular: knife fights. I want a knife fight in my story and found some great websites for reference, but would any of you have ideas?

[MPlease]

Your profile says you're from Utah, and if you're anywhere near Provo I highly recommend visiting the ARMA group here. We study historical knife fighting as well as swordfighting and we've got some people who are really good at it and could show you what a real knife fight would look like as well as some tips on how to make it sound realistic in your writing.

[Skar]

Vaj's suggestion sounds perfect.  However, ifyou can't do that for whatever reason, I've had some experience in the matter and would be happy to give comments/suggestions if you like.   I'd need to know the details though.  Do both parties have experience fighting with knives? What kind of knives?  What are the fighter's relative sizes? etc...

[MsFish]

Remind me never to make Skar angry, especially in a kitchen.

[Faster Master St. Pastor]

Remind me never to make Skar angry, especially in a kitchen.

Lol  

That brought rather strange images to my head.

[The Jade Knight]

I can also vouch for the Provo ARMA group (though it's too bad Jake's not there any more . . .)

Vaj, do you know who's currently in charge?  I'm wondering if it's anyone I might know.

[Maxwell]

knife fights hurt.... um maybe i can help, i've done it befroe(don't ask how many times, it's not funny, well it kinda is, but not exactly relevant nor would i like to explain myself)

[MPlease]

Vaj, do you know who's currently in charge?  I'm wondering if it's anyone I might know.

Stewart Feil is still in charge and took over for Jake Fall '03. If you knew Jake, it's quite likely that you know Stew. Practices are Saturdays 11-1 and Tuesdays 6-8 in the Smith Field House Annex if anyone'd like to show up.

[Nessa]

Vaj,
Thanks for the intel, I'll have to check it out. I'm in Salt Lake, and don't go to Provo often, but I will be househunting there in the next few months.

Skar,
My protagonist is a woman, with no fighting experience, but suddenly finds herself needing to know how to protect herself. I assumed a knife would be a good start (please correct me if I'm wrong), so she's in the process of being taught. From what I've read, the stomach causes more psychological damage than physical and is easier to do, so I was going to go that route (jab vs slash). What's your take? Also, how difficult is it to learn to throw a knife?

[The Jade Knight]

I'm glad to hear Stew is still there, Vaj.  I did indeed know him.

[MPlease]

I'm not sure about how hard it would be to throw a knife as my aim has never been very good... It's something of a joke but when I throw something at one person, everyone else in the room tends to duck.

In my personal experience I've found that knife fighting is a lot more difficult for me than swordfighting, simply because I don't have the weight or skill to pull it off very well. In the "intro to knife fighting" classes, we're told to think of a knife fight basicly as grappling with a sharp pointy object. You're still going to be getting in close and doing throws, breaks, etc as well as stabbing. If you character is petit she may have some difficulty, but good technique can overcome weight differences. (My technique just isn't that good :p) Since it's a story, you can do whatever you want. Oh the brilliance of being a writer.

The plus side of your character learning knife fighting first is that (a) it's cheap. Swords tend to be expensive while knives are easy to come by. (b) If it's for self defense, a knife is often easier to get out in a tight situation and is also less conspicuous. (c) In many societies knives were perfectly acceptable to carry in places where you'd be require to set aside a sword or larger weapon.

[fuzzyoctopus]

Remind me never to make Skar angry, especially in a kitchen.

That's on my list too.  You don't step on Superman's cape.  You don't spit into the wind.  You don't make Skar angry especially in the kitchen.

[Spriggan]

My protagonist is a woman, with no fighting experience, but suddenly finds herself needing to know how to protect herself. I assumed a knife would be a good start (please correct me if I'm wrong), so she's in the process of being taught. From what I've read, the stomach causes more psychological damage than physical and is easier to do, so I was going to go that route (jab vs slash). What's your take? Also, how difficult is it to learn to throw a knife?

I don't have dagger experence, but I have experence with Hand-to-hand and Swordplay and I can say it's all about the same difficulty at the entry level.  So I'm fairly sure simple dagger fighthing skills and sword fighting are about the same for a beginner.

From my experence it's more how well someone takes to a certain style then the style itself.  

[Nessa]

So, Skar, did you have any comments, ideas?