Combatives is a term used by the United States Army for its hand-to-hand combat training program. Although the key for military personnel during missions is to never find one’s self in a situation without a rifle, sidearm or knife, sometimes a soldier has to defend himself with his fists.
Initialized by Rex Applegate during WWII and presented in his book Kill or Get Killed (1943), American combatives’ foundation lies in the close quarters combat techniques developed by British armed forces officers William E. Fairbairn and Eric A. Sykes while working for the Shanghai Municipal Police between 1907-1940.
In 2002, Matt Larsen created the Modern Army Combatives program, which incorporates judo, escrima, boxing, muay Thai and the Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The effectiveness of combatives’ training methods come from their short, easily repeatable drills, so soldiers can rapidly learn and effectively perform combatives techniques.
– May 7, 2012
I was recently fortunate to train, have dinner with and catch up with two friends who recently returned from Afghanistan. They’re members of a special-mission unit composed of some of the nation’s best warriors; they are to warfare what Olympic athletes are to sports.
One is a serious martial artist and
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– February 27, 2012
Many of the worst injuries from street violence don’t result from the punch that knocks someone out; they result from the head hitting the ground when the person falls. A 6-foot-tall man’s head drops six feet to the asphalt, perhaps smacking a car, a curb or a trash can along
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– November 11, 2011
Back in 1983, I heeded the call of Uncle Sam and joined the U.S. Army. Basic training at Fort Bliss, Texas, was easy enough and mostly fun, what with the M16 rifles, M60 machine guns, hand grenades, Claymore mines and LAWs (light anti-tank weapons). A martial artist interested in state-of-the-art
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– October 27, 2011
Unfortunately, there’s been an uptick in multiple-assailant violence involving zombies. Just this morning, I read an account of a young man who was jogging home when three or four zombies attacked him. He landed in the hospital with a bite wound; doctors then monitored him until he transformed. It’s definitely
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– October 3, 2011
To help us learn more about traditional training in a modern world, our friend GK Zachary from AdultMartialArtist.com sat down with combat-hapkido founder John Pellegrini.
Pellegrini’s been inducted in more than 20 martial arts halls of fame and has been on the cover of 17 self-defense magazines, including our own. Why?
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– September 14, 2011
The Combatives for Street Survival Book+DVD Set has been a very successful entry in the ever-expanding Black Belt martial arts multimedia collection. The self-defense content is first-rate, presented by a high-caliber book author and demonstrated on-screen by a dynamic and entertaining modern martial arts instructor. Both the author and presenter
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– July 19, 2011
The hot topic in the martial arts is reality-based self-defense. Its counterpart in the firearms world is Combat Focus Shooting. The two disciplines share plenty—for instance, they start by reminding you that an attack in the real world stands a good chance of catching you by surprise and leaving you
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– July 1, 2011
On March 8, 2007, reality-based self-defense expert Mick Coup visited the offices of Black Belt to be photographed for a feature article in the August 2007 issue. In the article, “Reach Out and Touch Someone,” Mick Coup discusses the role of indexing and how this age-old skill–when properly tuned up
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– June 29, 2011
Combatives and self-defense expert Kelly McCann comments on use of live training partners in this exclusive combatives training video! McCann details certain commonplace aspects of martial arts training that should NOT be part of combatives training with a live partner. He and his partner Jack Stradley discuss grabs and assailants
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– June 21, 2011
On March 8, 2007, reality-based self-defense expert Mick Coup visited the offices of Black Belt to be photographed for a feature article in the August 2007 issue. In the article, “Reach Out and Touch Someone,” Coup discusses the role of indexing and how this age-old skill–when properly tuned up and
Read More »
