Like all beginners...

There's a tendency, in MA, to perfect the right attack. Besides the little annoying nugget that "right" depends on a lot of things (place, weapon, armour, size...), you cannot be sure that your attacker will perform according to your expectations.

These mistakes are sometimes obvious (seated defence against AK-47, anyone?), sometimes not so much. Now, however, next time you picture a defence against a knife attack, don't imagine a stationary mugger. Think an enraged fishmonger. Don't think about a flimsy switchblade (unless you're practising surprise attacks), think this:

Also, I was thinking about that knife up there, how similar it is to a Barong, how to maybe even turn it into one... And something clicked in. Short swords (or real long knives) might be the worst item to defend against, unarmed. Too long to reach behind, too fast reacting to use the downtime after a strike. I'll have to think on that one, see if a broadsword is short enough for this. If so... it would explain things.

Take care.