Unarmed combat—whether sport-based or street-oriented—is often divided into categories to make specific aspects of fighting easier to discuss.

Typically, these are described as “ranges of combat,” arranged from outside to inside. This scheme can seem arbitrary and is often mistakenly based on an outside-in military model. In that model, long-range artillery occupies the outside, while infantry represents the inside. The unarmed version follows a similar logic: kicking on the outside and grappling on the inside.

I find the range model lacking because it encourages fighters to equate distance with tool selection. For example: “I’m in kicking range, so I don’t need to worry about this or that.” Big mistake. Or, “We’re grappling now, so striking is off the table.” Another big mistake.

Anyone who has spent time in MMA—or even watched closely—knows that strict range models don’t truly apply to blended fighting. Worse, they can actually hinder performance.

Admittedly, this may sound like splitting hairs, but range is simply a measure of distance. If what we’re describing isn’t strictly tied to distance, why use that label at all?

I’ve settled on the word “element” to describe the individual aspects of a fight. I chose it deliberately. Elements are distinct entities, yet they can combine with others to form entirely new substances.

I consider boxing one element and the clinch another. But as we all know, boxing can be brought into the clinch, and the clinch can be brought into boxing. When we combine them, we create something new—something that should be addressed on its own terms rather than by trying to determine what distance we crossed to move from one “range” to another.

With that framework in mind, here are what I see as the six elements of unarmed combat:

Boxing

I place hand strikes at the top of the list for two reasons. First, it’s intuitive. People with no training naturally try to hit each other with their hands. It’s easier to refine an instinct than to build a counterintuitive skill from scratch. Second, it’s effective. Whether standing or on the ground, statistics consistently show that punches end more fights than any other tool.

Boxing-Plus

This is your boxing game augmented with knees, elbows, kicks, head-butts, and any other strikes you choose to employ. Rather than separating these into different categories (such as “kicking”), this label emphasizes the primacy of the hands even when other weapons are added. Notice how skilled kickboxers often set up their kicks with punches.

Shooting

This refers to takedowns initiated without first establishing a clinch. While often aimed at the lower body, it is not exclusively limited to it.

The Clinch

The clinch is a naturally blended element. It can deliver fight-stopping strikes and set up a wide range of takedowns—particularly upper-body techniques. Despite this versatility, it deserves recognition as its own element because it is neither purely striking nor purely grappling.

Mat Work / Wrestling

Separate from submissions, this element focuses on control, positioning, and pressure on the ground. While submissions may emerge from this work, the foundation is fluid control and defensive awareness. Overemphasizing submissions while neglecting wrestling fundamentals is like teaching punches without footwork, slipping, or head movement.

Submissions

Exactly as the name suggests: techniques designed to force an opponent to yield through joint locks or chokes.

It’s easy to treat each element as completely separate—and drilling them individually is useful for addressing weaknesses. But we must avoid isolating them for too long, or we’ll fall into the same trap as rigid range thinking. We don’t want fighters who mentally shift gears: “I’m boxing… now I’m clinching… now I’m on the mat.”

Instead, we should recognize that a fight is composed of these elements working together. Their true power lies in combination.

Hydrogen and oxygen are both essential elements of the universe, but in isolation they don’t sustain life. Combine two parts hydrogen with one part oxygen, however, and you get water—the substance that keeps us alive.

Combat works the same way.

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