- J. Torres
- Mar 17
- 7 min read
Definition
Combatives is a set of tactics and techniques designed to preserve your life in a violent situation with no regard to flashiness or formality.
Some were created specifically for this purpose, while others were borrowed from the traditional martial arts. Either way, they become part of the combatives curriculum only if they can be easily taught and easily remembered.
Even more important, they must be easy to execute under duress. That’s why they usually rely on gross-motor movements, motions that are largely unaffected by the adrenaline spikes that occur in a fight.
“When combatives are made complicated, they’re no longer combatives,” said Kelly McCann, a renowned combatives authority and Black Belt’s 2008 Self-Defense Instructor of the Year.
With that mandate to keep things uncomplicated, McCann described 10 tactics and techniques that he teaches to all who attend his combatives seminars. He has found they’re every bit as useful to beginners as they are to black belts.
1. Hollow Out to Avoid a Blade
Anyone who’s studied an art that includes reality-based knife defense knows that hollowing out—the act of thrusting your abdomen backward when it’s targeted with a blade—makes a lot of sense. After all, why attempt a block and risk failure when you can move the part of your body that’s under attack out of the path of the edged weapon?
It’s because of this logic, this simplicity, that McCann is a fan of the tactic. “When you hollow out, not only do you throw your ass back, but you also do it violently enough to make your feet move a good 18 inches,” he said. “That will put serious space—usually 24 to 30 inches—between the knife and your body.”
At the same time, you need to move your arms out of harm’s way, he said. “That’s why we teach you to thrust your hands toward his face. If you get a finger in his eye, that will back him off.”
The tactic is every bit as useful against a stick attack that’s aimed at your abdomen, McCann said. “The trick with any weapon defense is to not isolate the evasive movement. In other words, you have to be ready to chain a couple of moves together. If you hollow out and the guy misses you, you know he’s going to come back with another strike with the knife or stick. What you don’t know is whether he’s going to come back low again or go high to your neck and face. Therefore, you need to be able to switch between hollowing out and swaying back without losing your balance or getting your shoulders too far beyond your hips.”
In the combatives lexicon, “swaying back” refers to leaning your upper body backward without repositioning your feet. To make it work, McCann said, you need to be in a natural athletic stance, which means your feet are shoulder-width apart from side to side and from front to rear so you don’t fall when you tilt.
“After you sway back, the obvious follow-up is a shin kick or groin kick, the idea being to eat the elephant in small bites,” he added. “You need to make your attacker understand that every time he tries to stick you, he’s going to pay a price.”
2. Pound Away with the Hammerfist
The same day a new student of self-defense is taught to punch, he or she should be taught how easy it is to break the bones of the hand when doing so.
Rather than go into the relevant anatomy lessons, combatives instructors often will sing the praises of the hammerfist with a question like this:
You’re tasked with beating on a door as loudly as possible to get the attention of people on the other side—would you punch the door with your knuckles or hit it with a hammerfist?
Obviously, using a hammerfist presents minimal danger to your bone structure and guarantees maximum transfer of energy to the door.
“And that’s true—with one exception,” McCann said. “You can’t do the hammerfist with ‘dinosaur arms.’ That’s what we call it when people do tiny strikes with their arms always bent, cycling their arms in very small circles. They’re sacrificing power for speed, which wastes at least 50 percent of the power that’s possible with this technique.
“What you should do is open your arms up when you do the hammerfist. When a fist hits, you want to create a whipping effect by pulling the shoulder of that arm back. Your fist is hard, but your arm is relaxed. Once you make contact, jerk your shoulder back to set up the next hammerfist, and that shoulder pulling back is what actually snaps the hammerfist into the target.”
And your non-striking hand? That should be thrust toward your opponent’s face as you chamber your other arm, he said. “We call that the ‘truth cycle.’ You take your off-hand and attempt to stick a finger in his eye. Then, when he backs up, you smash him in the face with a hammerfist using your other hand. Pull that through and immediately exchange hands in midair. The whole idea is that once you start hitting him, there’s always something in his face. It’s either your hammerfist or your fingers in his eyes.”
Don’t get too hung up on targets, McCann cautioned. “If your offside hand hits his chest, it’s a check that keeps you in touch with where he is. It’s a signal that you got your range right. You can shove him and then go after his face with a hammerfist.”
3. Tactic: Target Your Foe's Face
Let’s face it (sorry) — the human mug is an unusually sensitive part of the body. We’re programmed to protect it, and we’re almost guaranteed to react vigorously when a strike penetrates our defenses. Which is precisely why the face is a frequent target in combatives.
The best attacks to the face target the eyes, McCann said. “The first is the eye jab. You shoot it out with an open hand — your fingers are positioned as though you’re holding a grapefruit. One thing it does is disrupt his vision. If he can’t see you, he can’t hurt you. If his eyes are tearing up, that’s good for you and bad for him.
“It also makes him turn his head. In a fight, you don't want your opponent to be able to see you. If he can see you, he can establish a base with his feet, legs, and shoulders and then counter. But if you make him turn his face away from you, it’s hard for him to fight.”
The other type of ocular attack is the eye gouge, which often involves grabbing an attacker’s head and digging in with your thumbs. “It differs from the eye jab with respect to speed and flexibility,” McCann said. “If you hit someone’s eyes with your fingertips, it’s a lightning-fast strike. You flick it out, and then your hand is back and chambered for something else. Gouging an eye requires you to commit because it’s most often done from a half-clinch.
“You can finger-jab an assailant’s eyes and then run, but you can’t do that with an eye gouge. You’re attached, and that gives him the opportunity to grab you. He’ll probably bear-hug you and try to put his face in a position where you can’t reach his eyes. Then he’ll wrap a leg around you and push forward. Now you’re on the ground, and he’s likely on top. The finger jab avoids all that because it lets you stay outside and move around as you attack.”
4. Technique: Let Fly the Roundhouse Kick
All kickers know the power of the roundhouse, Thai boxers in particular. They know how quickly it strikes, how it involves no wasted motion, and how it transfers insane amounts of energy using a virtually indestructible part of the body: the shinbone.
“Aim your roundhouse kick at your adversary’s thigh, the outside of his calf, or his knee — always below the waist,” McCann said. “The first reason is it makes it harder for him to reach down and grab your leg. The higher your leg goes, the easier it is for him to drop his arm and get under it.
“The second reason is high kicks aren’t as fast. The third reason is on the street, do you really want to kick high, knowing that you can never be sure what’s under your feet?”
If you want to drop your foe or take the fight out of him, aim your kick at his thigh. “But if you want to destroy the leg, slam your roundhouse into his knee,” McCann said. “If he’s got weight on that leg and you hit the side of the knee, you’ll probably hyperextend the joint. If you hit slightly to the back of the knee, you’ll probably buckle the leg and break his base. That might not destroy the leg, but it will inflict a lot of pain. Of course, if he’s experienced, he can turn his leg to lessen the impact, but that will mean he’s turning away from you, which is dangerous for him.”
Unless you’re prepared, kicking directly into the back of his knee can endanger you. Here’s why: “The strike can cause him to collapse, and that can trap your leg between his calf and thigh and drag you down, too,” McCann said. “To prevent that, get your foot out of there immediately after you make contact.”
5. Tactic: Pull Your Opponent Into Your Strike
Think about how inefficient it is to throw strike after strike using a single arm each time. By leaving one arm out of the action, you're sacrificing half your firepower. Even worse, you could be reducing the effectiveness of what you are using.
For instance, you can slam a right elbow into the melon of a standing opponent, and it might get the job done.
However, if you place your left hand behind his head before using your right elbow, you’ll boost the likelihood of hitting the target and maximize the power transfer.
“In that example, you can make your strike even more powerful,” McCann said. “Don’t simply cradle his head to keep it from moving backward when you hit him. Use your off-hand to yank his head, disorienting him a little, and then force the head into your elbow. That creates a head-on collision. Two cars moving in opposite directions on the highway tend to result in a worse accident than when one car hits a car that’s parked.”
The same logic applies when you’re firing a knee thrust into a bent-over attacker’s head, McCann added. “Don’t just knee him in the face. Yank his head down to meet your knee as you thrust it up. That can be a real fight-ender.”
