“Never take a knife to a gunfight,” how many times have you heard this sage advice?  What is the contemporary wisdom concerning Knife vs Gun?  Fact: a bullet, shot from any firearm, bores a tiny hole through the air.  Less than a half inch in diameter, that hole may extend in a liner fashion for hundreds or thousands of yards.   But, if it has missed you, by even the smallest of margins, it has missed you forever.  It will not twist sideways or come flying at you from another direction (excluding a ricochet).  Compare the bullet’s flight to a knife’s slash.  The keen edge of a good fighting knife is infinitely thin, but seldom does it travel in one nice straight line.  A blade driven in as a thrust may suddenly cut sideways, disemboweling its victim.  The blade may extend out in a long slash, and failing to reach you, stop in mid-flight to reverse its direction and stab you through the throat or heart.  A knife is not a linear weapon in the same way a bullet is.  A knife will cut a curving swath a foot wide and several feet long, and then, instantly and unexpectedly return along the same path or a completely different path. If you look real close at a bullet, then look at any knife, and you decide. 

The skilled knifer will use feints to draw you into his true attack.  Try executing a feint with a bullet.  Once released, your bullet cannot be redirected or recalled, nor can its impact energy be controlled.  A bullet is a mindless killer.  In the hands of a skilled practitioner a knife can merely prick or powerfully puncture, it can lightly touch, dismember, or terminate, all at the discretion of the user.  Within its circle of engagement, the knife is unexcelled.  The uneducated defender may assume that the knifer’s circle of engagement is only a few short feet, but an attacker possessing even moderately skilled footwork can quickly propel himself forward extending his reach to a dozen feet or more.  Best bet is to take a gun, and a knife, and know how to use them!  Here are two masterpieces by Larry Harley an original Battle Dagger and Battle Bowie.

​ 
Shiroi Kage ryu
Why the knife? I have had a concealed carry permit for pistol in NY and PA for over 35 years, so why the knife? I have heard this many times and the answer is, because a sword is too hard to carry concealed. Seriously I trained for over 15 years in kenjutsu (Japanese swordsmanship) and used the methods to expand my knife fighting repertoire.
There are times when a firearm is unbeatable. There was an old saying in Japan about the time that firearms became popular and swords waned. “From the safety of castles walls the gun excels. Once swords cross it is of no use at all.” We don’t live or fight in castles today but the saying holds true when we are talking about distance. The only place a gun holds the advantage is at a distance. Tests have proven that distance needs to be 15-20 feet or more!
What are the possible disadvantages to a firearm? The one most often mentioned is, unlike a gun, a knife never runs out of bullets. But in a private security situation there had better not be that many bullets flying or we encounter some of the other disadvantages of a firearm. Once loosed a bullet cannot be stopped or retracted. It will continue on in basically a straight line until its energy is spent. A knife can be stopped, redirected, and even reversed as needed. I never heard of anyone on the other side of a wall being killed by a misguided knife. Walls, furniture, other people can all be passed through by bullets and an innocent life lost. I have cut myself, at times seriously, but I never had an accidental discharge with a knife which caused unintended injury to anyone else. I have never had a knife ricochet, except off a bone, and no innocent lives were lost because of that either. No collateral damage is acceptable, especially in a sacred space. The degree of damage to an opponent can be more easily controlled by an edged weapon than a firearm. A firearm begins with tremendous energy and retains it for thousands of feet. A knife can take a small bite, or a large one, as the situation demands. If necessary I can easily hit my target with a knife while running at full speed. I cannot hit….. well much of anything when I am running or even walking with a handgun. 
There are probably more reasons for “Why the knife.” Right now I think I may have at least given you some food for thought.