Thursday, October 30, 2008

Army Combatives

More in our Combatives category. Has it been an effective program for the Army? Chime in.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ive only ever seen video of this before, never done this specific training system but I think its a good idea. Anytime 'aliveness' and basic gross motor movements is taught to combat soldiers can only be a good thing imho.

Doug Bromley said...

Its amazing how many of the techniques are based on ju jutsu. And often 'new' techniques aren't new.

Unknown said...

I have mixed feelings on this. I agree with your point, Adam, "Anytime 'aliveness' and basic gross motor movements is taught to combat soldiers can only be a good thing," And I also understand the criticism that there's too much of an emphasis on the ground aspect.

Basically, much of the Level I curriculum (that's what this video covers) is purely BJJ - they consulted with the Gracies almost exclusively. It's mixed with some of the old-style techniques, and includes, of course, bayonet, knife, baton/improvised weapon, but you will see a very heavy emphasis on the BJJ aspect.

Why is that bad? The training pattern and muscle memory leading a soldier in close HTH combat to habitually go to the ground could get a soldier killed.

I am interested in getting much more empirical data back from the army now that we've done so much house to house combat in the Global War on Terror.

You're right, Doug, the techniques aren't new, just repackaged. What may have changed are the tactics.

Great comments. Thanks to you both.

Anonymous said...

I think the program is great. The problem with the old training was that it couldnt be trained in an "alive" enviroment and in a competitive fashion. This ment that after the required training it was never practiced again. This was because guys were not confident in the techniques and had no incentive to practice.
I believe that starting with BJJ or ground fighting as the base is perfect. If you cant fight on the ground you cant fight. Also the better a ground fighter you are the quicker you can end a fight or get up when it goes to the ground. It also gives the soldier a sportive means to practice. And builds a warrior mind set. The soldier can see results very quickly which builds confidence. Once the basics of grappling are obtained its easy to add in clinching, striking, weapons, and "dirty"/ survival techniques.
The old techniques of just practicing eye gouges and groin strikes dont work. These techniques by themselves never work. On the ground you still have to know how to escape a bad position and then you can add the dirt. If you just use dirt you will get knocked out or choked out.
Also this comes from a 4 year Marine Corp Infantry vet, a BJJ purple belt and I have been a cop for 7 years now. I remeber when I first joined the Marines almost our whole program started with a guy placing his hand on our chest and then we went wrist lock, eye gouge, takedown, to foot stomp. Since then I have had to fight for my life once or twice and I have yet to have anyone do this. Now I had people try punch, tackle, and take my gun. I have to say there is not much of a difference between the real world and the cage as every one thinks.