There are places where you can carry a knife that you cannot carry a gun. Period. For those of us that travel outside the US (or travel there for work and that work does not include LE, MIL or armed security) then you will NOT be carrying a gun. In that case a knife beats the heck out of nothing at all. All you have are shooting skills? Well that kind of limits your ability to respond when there is no gun to be had... The whole world is not a "shall issue" state.
As to the tired old "not bringing a knife to a gunfight", it is just as dangerous (or more so ) to try to insert a gun into a knife fight when that knife fight started before you heard the opening bell ring. You really need some specific empty hand skills to deal with the knife that is already in play to keep from getting stabbed repeatedly FIRST and THEN access your gun (or knife or sap or blackjack or flame thrower or hand grenade or whatever....). Where do we learn that? In GOOD knife classes.
Now do most knife classes out there focus on "dueling"? Yes many of the more "traditional" martial arts schools focus on that. Just like most of the more "traditional " gun schools historically focused on shooting at 5 yards and farther and did not focus much at all on truly useful pressure tested touching distance solutions (and if you say "speed rock " then you get to put on the dunce cap and go sit in the corner).
If you look at what the Shivworks guys (Craig and Larry and Chris and Cecil) are doing that is not traditional dueling, it is accessing the knife under duress and under actual physical pressure at arms length or closer and using it to open up space, it is not predicated on knife on knife dueling. Craig's Edged Weapons Overview class spends a significant amount of time on fighting in the clinch, accessing your blade and using it to open up the clinch and get away and in using the blade against a disparity of force issue ( 2 vs 1 ) . Also Tom Sotis in his Accessing While Under Attack class focuses on initially reacting with empty hands and then accessing your tools. I taught the same stuff in the Zero To Five Feet class when I was still teaching for Suarez and I teach that same type empty hand vs knife material in my own "Bringing a Gun to a Knife Fight "class .
Useful knife training is out there. It just is not readily available in most traditional martial arts venues and fewer gun schools.
As to the tired old "not bringing a knife to a gunfight", it is just as dangerous (or more so ) to try to insert a gun into a knife fight when that knife fight started before you heard the opening bell ring. You really need some specific empty hand skills to deal with the knife that is already in play to keep from getting stabbed repeatedly FIRST and THEN access your gun (or knife or sap or blackjack or flame thrower or hand grenade or whatever....). Where do we learn that? In GOOD knife classes.
Now do most knife classes out there focus on "dueling"? Yes many of the more "traditional" martial arts schools focus on that. Just like most of the more "traditional " gun schools historically focused on shooting at 5 yards and farther and did not focus much at all on truly useful pressure tested touching distance solutions (and if you say "speed rock " then you get to put on the dunce cap and go sit in the corner).
If you look at what the Shivworks guys (Craig and Larry and Chris and Cecil) are doing that is not traditional dueling, it is accessing the knife under duress and under actual physical pressure at arms length or closer and using it to open up space, it is not predicated on knife on knife dueling. Craig's Edged Weapons Overview class spends a significant amount of time on fighting in the clinch, accessing your blade and using it to open up the clinch and get away and in using the blade against a disparity of force issue ( 2 vs 1 ) . Also Tom Sotis in his Accessing While Under Attack class focuses on initially reacting with empty hands and then accessing your tools. I taught the same stuff in the Zero To Five Feet class when I was still teaching for Suarez and I teach that same type empty hand vs knife material in my own "Bringing a Gun to a Knife Fight "class .
Useful knife training is out there. It just is not readily available in most traditional martial arts venues and fewer gun schools.