BRADLEY'S NIGHTMARE Bradley Cooper reveals he ‘got held up at KNIFEPOINT’ in NYC & details the traumatic incident calling it ‘insane’

BRADLEY Cooper revealed he was “held up at knifepoint” in New York City while on his way to pick up his 4-year-old daughter Lea from school.

While detailing the traumatic experience, the 46-year-old actor said he thought he was going to be asked for an autograph or photo, not have a knife shoved at him.

As this week’s guest on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, Bradley shared that he quickly realized he’d gotten “way too comfortable” in NYC when he found himself being help up at knifepoint at a subway station.

Of the late 2019 incident, he said: “I used to walk around New York City all the time with these [headphones] on, this was pre-pandemic, and I was on the subway [at] 11:45 to pick up Lea downtown at Russian school.

“And I got held up at knifepoint. It was pretty insane. I realized I had gotten way, way too comfortable in the city."

Bradley said his “guard was down” as he hung out by the end of the subway platform, which is where he usually wait.

He continued: “I felt somebody coming up. I thought, ‘Oh they want to take a photo or something,’ and as I turned, I’m up against the post like it’s the French Connection or some s**t, and I turned, I looked down and I see a knife.”

In shock from it all, the A Star is Born actor recalled just thinking how the three-inches-long knife looked “nice,” like it had “some history,” before coming to terms with the situation he was in.

If he’d have been armed he could have shot the knife wielding man dead.

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Really?

Know why cops operate under a 21 foot rule? Any suspect within 21 feet can seriously injure you with most any weapon, especially one you don’t know he has.

At knife point robbery distance, you try to pull a gun and he can stab you 3 times before it clears the holster.

Most people don’t give knives anywhere near the respect they deserve. The Schrade I carry in my pocket can shave the hair off my arm just about any time. A dull knife can do plenty damage too, as anyone who has ever gotten a paper cut can attest. Paper is not sharp at all...And a dull 2 inch knife blade is deadly.

Up close, a gun is useless, unless you already have it in your hand, in which case the potential robber would be bothering someone else. Best bet is to punch they guy right in the nose, HARD, then stomp down on his foot before he can gain his balance. When your foot hits the arch of his, it will cause intense pain, he won’t be too worried about robbery any more.

If you know how, you can grab the wrist holding the knife and push against the elbow above it. Be very careful, not hard to break it. and you only get one chance.

Don’t draw back your fist and give him any warning, learn to deliver a sudden punch from waist level with no warning at all. A “snap” punch is what I call it. I learned it as sparring partner for a black belt. Couldn’t hit the guy if he knew it was coming...Same for him, he couldn’t hit me if I knew it was coming. We both used snap punches. And yeah he could knock me down...and did, plenty times. I gave as good as I got, but I landed on my ass plenty times too. Ditto for him.

Stomp the arch of the foot - That’s not hard to do, even from behind. Feel with your foot, when you find his shin, stomp down. You’ll hit the arch of the foot. Anyone who has ever dropped a hammer on it will tell you it’s not fun. He will forget all about robbing you. Broken nose, broken foot...must be a bad day...

Or just kick his knee from the front (after the punch to the nose)...good chance you can break it. From the side works too but not as easy to break the knee..Drop to a crouch and kick...

But you have to be fast. Catch flies in midair fast. My average at age 12 was 7 out of 10. By 18 it was 9 out of 10.

And there are excercises to build speed too.

Have someone hold a pencil or pen at eye level. Hold your arms at your sides. Relax. Have the friend drop it with no warning. Just let it go. I’m betting most people can’t catch it 3 times out of 10. My best average was 7 when I was about 30. Hint...watch his eyes.

Hold the pen at chest or waist level, with your hand open and ready at the same level. Try to catch it when he lets go. Harder than it sounds. The pen, literally already in your fingers, will drop through before you can close them. Most people might do a 2 out of 10...on a good day. I think my best was 4 or 5.

Hold your hands out, open, palms up. Have a friend hold his palm down an inch above yours. Try to slap the back of his hands before he can get them out of the way. One hand, or both, alternate...And yes, he gets to slap yours too.. Set a time limit, 2 minutes maybe. Don’t do the same thing twice. Slap the hand above yours, then cross over to the other one, then both...then both again...then the other hand...change it up.

You’re developing speed and reflexes. And try to catch flies in midair. Better yet mosquitoes.. they’re harder because they fly more erratic. And harder to see. I caught very few mosquitoes. Don’t try it with bees though...

There are ways to approach self defense at close range when a gun is not appropriate. Especially women. If a guy tries to rape you, let him pull you in close. then poke your finger in his eye. Two fingers in both eyes. And run. Or stomp the arch of the foot. From front or behind. Knee to the testicles is not fun either. You do have options in close quarters if a gun is not handy or unwise.

But if a guy tries to rob you with a knife, forget about the gun if it’s not already in your hand. It will only get you hurt.

I dont even need to read past your first “Really”.

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Then you go on to prove you actually did read much further.

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I am fully aware of Tueller and the Tueller drill. You aren’t telling me anything I havent been teaching for 20+ years.

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Then why did you tell someone if he had been armed he could have shot the guy? You should know quite well I was right, once he already has a knife to your gut if you try and pull a gun, he can stab you at least 3 times before it clears the holster.

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Engage in a conversation, not a lecture, son.

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I’m not your son and I don’t need your insults.

Ok, I will reset. You went to a lot of time to make your original post. In doing so you 1) missed my point completely, and 2) told me your idea that to defend yourself from someone with a knife you either already had to have a gun out, or you had to be a super ninja.

You obviously have had some exposure to marshal arts. And I was probably a bit harsh, but you came in like you have seen it all. You havent. There are many schools of defensive thought and practice out there. Any situation can have a number of actions one can choose from to counter a threat, dependent on the moment. There are some wrong answers, and there are often many right answers. Over arching all the training and options is the mental decision and will to win the fight, never give up, make your opponent react to you, not you react to him.

Back to 1) my point. I said if Mr Cooper had a gun he “could have” changed the situation. There are risks to that but with a will to win, a single stab would should not mean “OMG, I am bleeding, stop hurting me....” If you google “knife attack” you can find many instances of people surviving knife assaults with multiple stabs by fighting back. Yes its ugly, but you never give up. The better you are trained at fighting back the better chances for you. George Zimmerman was on the ground being beaten and he managed to shoot his assailant. I could go on and on. Statistics show that giving in has a higher likelihood of your death than resisting.

To 2) There are whole schools of training for close in combat, with and without a gun. I cant possibly cover all the facets of that in this thread, but there are numerous techniques I could relate. These come from training with LEO’s, with military operators, and others. They go steps beyond your basic CCW class.

My point in my original comment in this thread, was that while I dont know Coopers politics, one would think he would have learned some things while making ‘American Sniper’. Maybe he did and maybe he has forgotten them already. But to think anyone can safely just walk around NYC or NYC subways at night is almost stupidity on display, certainly a huge lack of awareness. My ending comment was that if he had actually taken out the person who did threaten him with a deadly weapon, that would be 5 star court room entertainment with more lefty heads exploding. Missed opportunity. Have to settle for watching Alec Baldwin squirm.

I wasnt really delving into the techniques or risks Cooper would have to overcome, both physical and legal, of doing so.

Again, my reply to you may have been too harsh. I hope after reading this you might reflect on this as well and in the future we can have enjoyable conversations. There is already too much nastiness from some who come here basically to berate others and ruin the fun of this forum.

Well thought out.

And I may have been a bit harsh as well.

Yes, I have had some exposure to marshall arts, sparring partner with a black belt for over 2 years, and assisted an instructor with his workouts, but not actually sparring partner.

With the sparring partner, the wrist slap thing was one of the things we did to develop speed and reflexes. Nothing like trying to get your hands away from a black belt...and Imean legitimate black belt, not some guy with 6 months karate classes who likes to brag...we also sat on the steps and got into fly catching contests, same idea, build speed and reflexes. It was not a game, fun, but a serious excercise. Always started with a bow...always.

Eventually our friends started placing bets on which of us would win the next match. When we started, I had no idea, I had been sparring partner for my brother who had maybe 2 months of karate classes..

You can tell the guys who know just enough to get hurt, they love to brag that they “know karate”. 1st thing he taught me is NEVER brag, some fool will always want to try his luck. Your adversary should not know until his ass is already kicked...oops...the guy who worries me is the small quiet one who just watches...the big ones usually don’t try to start trouble.

Marshall arts is all about self defense, and your greatest victory is when you do not allow it to escalate into a physical fight. But if it does, someone like the guy I was dealing with can be downright dangerous. He got into a verbal scuffle with 2 guys one night and a little minor shoving...someone who didn’t know us asked me why I didn’t step in and help my friend...I just smiled and told him he didn’t need my help...he knew he had it if he did though. I was on my guard, but just watching. And watching the rest of the room even harder. He also knew that...

No, I haven’t seen everything, not even close. And fortunately I’ve never had to use what I do know, The worst I had to do was throw a guy across a bar in College Station one night, picking a fight with a guy smaller than me, and I’m a small guy. 5’10” and 130lbs then. Fellow he was p[icking a fight with was probably 120 and maybe 5’8”...attacker was at least 170 lbs and close to a 6 footer.

I never had more than one beer, ever. I had quit drinking altogether a couple of years before. Stopped the fight, told the bigger guy to leave him alone, take it outside and pick on someone his own size. A few seconds later he was on top of the kid again. I got pissed and threw him about 8 feet across the bar. Don’t know how, he outweighed me by 40-50 lbs, no way I could pick the guy up, but I did, and literally threw him across the room.

Adrenaline...

Bartender, Tiny, (yeah right, about 6’3” and 260-280lbs) brought me a pitcher of beer and told me thanks, after he carried the guy outside and let him know he was not welcome to come back, told me he could not get there in time..literally carried this guy out with one arm, by his collar...

Otherwise, I’ve never had to use any of the things I learned. And I’m glad.

But yes, there are plenty options in close quarters, and sometimes a gun is a bad idea. If someone tried to rob me with knife, I would not go for the gun that’s on my belt. He’d land in the hospital, or the morgue, but not by gunshot. He could easily do serious damage before I got it out of the holster. There are better options.

We’re good..

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