Martial Blade Concepts

MBC Course Descriptions

MBC – An Easily Learned “All-Purpose” System

The goal of the MBC method is the development of “all-purpose” defensive skills. Rather than learning a large number of specific techniques to defend against specific attacks, MBC focuses on perfecting a few proven techniques and learning how to apply them to literally hundreds of different defensive situations. Through this easy-to-learn method, students develop defensive proficiency very quickly and have both the ability and the confidence to employ their skills after only a brief period of training.

Unlike traditional edged-weapon training, MBC is not about “knife fighting.” Instead, MBC’s basic physical goal is to “learn how to fight effectively with a knife” – applying the attributes of the knife to the broadest possible set of defensive circumstances. At a more advanced level, the physical skills of the MBC method are also designed to form the basis for unarmed defensive skills – including unarmed defenses against knives – and the use of improvised and other purpose-designed weapons for personal defense.

Consistent with my professional commitment to provide responsible, ethical self-defense solutions, MBC also emphasizes the concepts of tactical awareness, avoidance, and de-escalation. When these concepts are combined with the broad range of physical skills presented in the curriculum, MBC becomes a truly comprehensive, all-purpose self-protection system.

It is also important to understand that, although Martial Blade Concepts has become known as the namesake and most recognizable element of my system, it is only a portion of what I teach and practice. I believe that a truly comprehensive personal protection plan must include empty-hand skills, edged-weapon skills, impact-weapon skills, and firearms skills. Through diligent practice and analysis, and the extraordinary good fortune to have worked with some of the greatest instructors in the tactical industry, I have developed my own approaches to these disciplines. As such, the full scope of my personal training, and the training education that I offer, includes the topics described below.

Please note that these are all complete disciplines of study. The exact content of my training events typically combines elements of these topics to meet the specific needs and interests of my hosts and students.

Martial Blade Concepts - Standard-Grip Tactics

The fundamental skills of MBC focus on the use of the standard grip, with the knife extending from the thumb side of the hand. The curriculum for this phase of MBC training is vast, but can be focused to meet the needs of the training group. The topics addressed in this phase of training include:

Martial knife grips
Angles of attack
Ballistic cutting and thrusting tactics
The use of natural body weapons in conjunction with the knife
The proven “Zone Defense” system that enables a practitioner to effectively defend himself against hundreds of different attacks by mastering a few basic defensive movements.
Reflex training drills that quickly develop spontaneous defensive reactions
Critical defensive applications
Defensive knife selection and evaluation
Secrets of tactical folding knife carry and deployment
High-speed one-handed opening techniques
Advanced training drills to develop conditioned defensive reflexes to virtually any type of attack
Advanced combative applications
Coordinating empty-hand striking and “live hand” checking with the defensive use of the knife
“Speed Stops” – high-speed, fight-stopping tactics that will enable you to quickly, humanely and legally end a fight with an edged weapon
Combination cutting and the concept of cutting on retraction

Martial Blade Concepts - Reverse-Grip Tactics

The focus of this phase of MBC training is high-speed, close-quarters knife tactics and the use of the reverse grip. These advanced techniques and reflex training drills develop the ability to defend yourself effectively at extremely close ranges and in confined spaces. They also introduce a different set of body mechanics and help expand the student’s knowledge and application of their standard-grip knife skills and provide a foundation for improvised-weapon tactics. The topics addressed in this phase of training include:

Advanced live-hand checking skills and fundamental unarmed threat-management techniques
Advantages and disadvantages of the reverse grip
The tactics, leverage, and timing of extreme close-quarters knife use
Reverse-Grip partner training drills to develop conditioned defensive reflexes
Hooking, redirecting and trapping with the reverse-grip
Applied defensive tactics with the reverse-grip
Reverse-grip defenses from disadvantaged positions
Applying reverse-grip tactics to standard-grip defensive techniques

Martial Blade Concepts - Advanced Tactics and Training Methods

This phase of MBC training puts it all together, combining previously-learned skills with advanced instruction in knife deployment and unarmed threat-management techniques to create a complete defensive system. This phase of training integrates effective unarmed defenses with high-speed knife deployment techniques to provide an immediate escalation from empty-hand tactics, to the use of the knife as an impact weapon, and finally to the use of the knife’s blade. This training also includes advanced drill-integration training to develop superior reflexes and addresses defensive knife tactics from disadvantaged positions, including the use of the knife in grappling situations. The topics covered in this phase of MBC training include:

Integration of MBC skills into a comprehensive training methodology and a complete fighting system
High-speed knife deployment tactics
Bridging from unarmed tactics to the deployment and use of the knife
Knife defenses from disadvantaged positions (mugging, grappling, carjacking)
Adapting MBC skills to improvised weapons
Using MBC skills as a basis for empty-hand tactics

Counter Blade Concepts (CBC)

CBC is an outgrowth of the MBC curriculum that presents instruction in practical, effective defenses against edged-weapon attacks. Based on the concept of "knowing your enemy," CBC uses the empty-hand aspects of MBC tactics as the basis for its technique. By drawing from the skills of the knife user, CBC becomes a powerful and extremely effective structure for the knife defender. CBC has received critical acclaim from the law enforcement community, particularly corrections officers who deal with edged-weapon threats on a regular basis. CBC training also serves as an excellent primer in empty-hand tactics and defenses against other weapon threats. The topics covered in the CBC curriculum include:

The anatomy of real knife attacks
Effective defensive actions against edged-weapon attacks
Natural body weapons and how to apply them
The three phases of CBC
Edged-weapon control tactics
Using an attacker's weapon against him
Knife disarming tactics
Use of improvised weapons to defend against edged-weapon attacks
CBC as a foundation for empty-hand fighting skills
CBC defenses against other ballistic and static weapon threats

Martial Cane Concepts (MCC) and Martial Stick Craft (MSC)

The MCC/MSC curriculum is based on Michael Janich’s critical analysis and distillation of the Filipino martial arts. Relying largely on the same principles and body mechanics used in MBC, it applies these skills to the attributes of impact weapons like sticks, canes, and telescoping batons. Like MBC, it focuses on tactics and targeting designed to stop an attacker by destroying his ability to wield a weapon effectively and/or destroying his mobility. MCC/MSC courses can be tailored to meet the specific needs and interests of a student group and can range from traditional Filipino-style stick training (focusing on single and double-stick elements of Serrada Eskrima, Arnis de Mano, and Corto Cadena Eskrima) to law enforcement and security-oriented impact-weapon tactics to walking-stick defenses for the elderly and disabled. The key instructional elements of the MCC/MSC curriculum include:

Striking techniques and angles of attack
Single and double-stick training methods
Defensive responses with impact weapons
Locks and disarms with the stick
Accelerated striking methods
Reflex training drills
Weapon-specific tactics for use of the telescoping baton and cane

Improvised Weapon Tactics

As our ability to carry purpose-designed weapons becomes more restricted, the ability to adapt weapon skills to the effective use of improvised weapons becomes increasingly important. Michael Janich is one of the few instructors to have taken a critical look at improvised weapons tactics to develop a practical, comprehensive system of personal defense based on their use. Drawing from the same body mechanics used in MBC and Martial Stick Concepts, this system teaches the student how to remain constantly aware of the weapon-ready objects in his environment and immediately assess both their suitability as a weapon and the most effective tactics for their use. In the process, the system addresses and dispels the many myths surrounding improvised-weapon use and instead teaches basic, reliable, easily learned tactics that can be applied to a variety of weapon-capable objects. The topics addressed in this curriculum include:

Environmental awareness and sources of improvised weapons
Identifying and evaluating weapon attributes
One-handed weapon tactics—fist loads and baton-like weapons
Two-handed weapon tactics
Shields, flexible weapons, and projectile weapons
Reflex training drills
Integration of improvised-weapon skills and natural body weapons

Defensive Use of the Tactical Flashlight

The tactical flashlight is an incredibly useful tool that can also serve as an excellent improvised impact weapon. Drawing from his highly evolved improvised-weapon curriculum, Michael Janich has developed a specific program of instruction devoted to the defensive use of the tactical flashlight. This program includes many of the same tactics of one-handed weapon use taught in the improvised-weapon curriculum; however, it also shows how the attributes of the tactical flashlight can be used as a force multiplier to significantly enhance their effectiveness. Perhaps more importantly, this curriculum teaches you how to integrate a tactical flashlight into your approach to awareness and avoidance to revolutionize your approach to crime avoidance. The topics addressed in this curriculum include:

Tactical flashlight selection criteria
Use of the flashlight as an awareness/crime avoidance tool
The three fundamental flashlight tactics and their applications
Reflex training drills to perfect your flashlight tactics
Integration of flashlight skills and natural body weapons
Pressure-point and leverage techniques with the flashlight
Defenses from disadvantaged positions
Integration of flashlight tactics with the use of other purpose-designed weapons

Specialized Training

In addition to the curricula described above, Michael Janich also offers specialized training for advanced MBC students, law enforcement officers, and military personnel. The topics of instruction included in this specialized training include:

Handgun point shooting—both traditional and modern methods
Handgun tactics, including contact-distance shooting
Integrated-weapon tactics—combining empty-hand, contact-weapon, and handgun skills
Joint-locks, restraint-and-control, and “Junkyard Aikido”
Damithurt Silat—Michael Janich’s empty-hand fighting system. Not a traditional Indonesian form of pencak silat, the significance of its name lies in the pronunciation: “Damn, it hurts a lot!”

Michael Janich Seminar Schedule

As the founder of MBC, I am extremely proud of all my newly certified MBC Instructors and am honored to have them representing the system. Their certification represents a new era in the evolution and teaching of the system. With my full confidence, they are now authorized to share the MBC and CBC systems through their own teaching, making the system available to a much broader audience than I could alone.

Because of the demands of my full-time position with Spyderco, Inc. and my involvement in The Best Defense TV series, the time I have available to teach is limited. I am therefore focusing my teaching efforts on larger, less frequent events, my annual Martial Blade Camp, and specialized training for law enforcement and military units. The details of my public teaching schedule are included on the “MBC Schedule” page of this web site.

For those interested in learning more about MBC or sponsoring a seminar in your area, I encourage you to contact me or any of my instructors to organize training events with them. Contact information for MBC instructors is included on the Contact page of this web site.

An Edged-Weapon Self-Defense System Developed by Michael D. Janich

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