I’m sure we’ve all heard variations of the fabled “21 foot rule.”

This conventional wisdom says that you can’t let a bad guy within 21 feet of you with a knife or any other contact weapon before drawing your gun, because if you do, he’ll be able to close the distance between the two of you and start using his weapon before you can draw your gun from your holster.

The reality of the matter is that an intelligent, experienced, and skilled knife user isn’t going to come running at you with a knife held overhead like in the movies. Attackers in the  real world simply don’t tend to telegraph threats from a distance, unless they’re unhinged.

This video shows how an experienced gun fighter gives himself a chance against an experienced gun knife fighter by changing levels and creating distance. Otherwise, the best he can do is avenge his own death.