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For the band from Florida see Hand to Hand.

Combatives FM 21-150 Figure 4-1, Vital Targets.

Hand-to-hand combat (sometimes abbreviated as HTH or H2H) is a generic term for close quarters fighting, particularly when the outcome is likely to be fatal, as in melee military combat or a duel. This distinguishes it from combat sport. Usually the phrase "hand-to-hand" indicates unarmed combat or combat using improvised "field expedient" or contact weapons such as clubs or knives.

Close combat is the common term for combat within close range. It may include lethal and nonlethal methods across a "spectrum of violence" or within a "continuum of force" as established by rules of engagement. Unarmed close combat is sometimes called combatives. Close combat with weapons may be called close quarter battle at the squad level. Current NATO terminology is to use MOUT for higher-level strategic and tactical considerations of urban warfare or MOOTW for "military operations other than war" such as peacekeeping or disaster relief.

Combatives is a term used to describe various hybrid martial arts, which incorporate techniques from several different martial arts and combat sports. Unlike combat sports, such systems usually have limited sport application and often focus on simple techniques for use in self-defense or combat.

Definitions

As defined by US Army FM 21-150 Combatives:

Hand-to-hand combat is an engagement between two or more persons in an empty-handed struggle or with handheld weapons such as knives, sticks, and rifles with bayonets. These fighting arts are essential military skills. Projectile weapons may be lost or broken, or they may fail to fire. When friendly and enemy forces become so intermingled that firearms and grenades are not practical, hand-to-hand combat skills become vital assets.

Also known as hand-to-hand combat, close combat is the most ancient form of fighting known to man. A majority of cultures have their own particular histories related to close combat, and their own methods of practice. There are many varieties within the martial arts, including boxing and wrestling. Other variations include the gladiator spectacles of ancient Rome and medieval tournament events such as jousting.

History

Military organizations have always taught some sort of unarmed combat for conditioning and as a supplement to armed combat. Soldiers in China were trained in unarmed combat as early as the Zhou Dynasty (1022 BC to 256 BC).^[1]

Even through major technological changes such as the use of gunpowder in the Napoleonic wars, the machine gun in the Russo-Japanese War and the trench warfare of World War I, hand-to-hand fighting methods such as bayonet remained common in modern military training though the importance of formal training declined after 1918. During the Second World War, bayonet fighting was often not taught at all among the major combatants; German rifles by 1944 were even being produced without bayonet lugs (see Cyrus Lee's SOLDAT books).

Sometimes called close combat, Close Quarters Combat, or CQC, World War II era American combatives were largely codified by William Ewart Fairbairn and Eric Anthony Sykes. Also known for their eponymous Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife, Fairbairn and Sykes had worked in the Shanghai Municipal Police (SMP) and helped teach the British armed forces [1] a quick and effective and simple technique for fighting with or without weapons in melee situations. Similar training was provided to British Commandos, the Devil's Brigade, OSS, U.S. Army Rangers and Marine Raiders. Fairbairn at one point called this system Defendu and published on it, as did their American colleague Rex Applegate. Fairbairn often referred to the technique as "gutter fighting," a term which Applegate used, along with "the Fairbairn system." In practice, such military systems are the fruit of dozens and even hundreds of dedicated instructors and personnel, known and unknown.

Other combatives systems having their origins in the modern military include Chinese Sanshou, Soviet sambo, Israeli Kapap and Krav Maga.

The prevalence and style of combatives training often changes based on perceived need, and even in times of peace, special forces and commando units tend to have a much higher emphasis on close combat than most personnel, as will paramilitary units such as police SWAT teams.

De-emphasized in major militaries after World War II, insurgency conflicts such as the Vietnam War, low intensity conflict and urban warfare tend to encourage more attention to combatives. The general discipline of close-proximity fighting with weapons is often called Close Quarters Battle (CQB) at the platoon or squad level, or Military Operations on Urban Terrain (MOUT) at higher tactical levels.

The current Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP) replaced the Marine Corps LINE combat system in 2002. Also in 2002, the US Army adopted the Modern Army Combatives (MAC) program developed by Matt Larsen who was a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment, with the publishing of US Army field manual (FM 3-25.150) and the establishment of the US Army Combatives School at Ft Benning, Georgia. MAC draws from systems such as Brazilian Jiujitsu, Muay Thai and Kali which could be trained "live" and can be fully integrated into current Close Quarters Battle tactics and training methods.

The US Air Force adopted MAC as its hand-to-hand combat system in early 2008.

Civilian Instructors

Most civilian instructors in hand-to-hand combat train police, martial artists or combat sport athletes, but some may train civilians for private self-defense.

The very things which make combatives well-adapted for military training (simplicity, ease of use, modest physical demands) also make it suitable in many ways for civilian self-defense. The world's military forces train thousands of combatives instructors every year. Frequently emphasizing their law-enforcement, corrections or military background, many combatives instructors also offer training to law enforcement agencies, the military, private individuals, security guards or companies. Regulated in the United States much as private tutors, health clubs, private gun shops or private security agencies, some combatives systems are expanding into other markets and niches worldwide.

Some non-military systems may include basic training in edged weapons, baton, stick or firearm techniques. A partial list of such systems might include:

Defendo (Originally used as the slang catch all to describe world war 2 CQB inclusive of Defendu, boxing, wrestling judo, jujitsu, among others)
Defendu (developed by William E. Fairbairn; AKA Close Quarters Combat System, Gutter Fighting, Fairbairn System)
Kapap (having its origins in Israel, the Haganah movement)
Systema (Russian Martial Art)
Kombato (Brazilian Martial Art)

References

^ See Jiao li.

External links

Articles

TRADOC Public Affairs
Association of the U. S. Army
Army Times
Army Times
NCO Journal
USASOC
Ft. Benning Bayonet
Ft. Leonard Wood Guidon
Modern Army Combative in Ultimate Grappling Magazine
Program for cadetsat Kansas State University
On The Guard, Newspaper of the National Guard (Page 8-9)

[1] See Jiao li.

[1]

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 *[http://www.moderncombatives.org/pages/1/index.html United States Combative Arts Association ]
 *[http://defendyourself101.ca/ Practical Self Defense for Seniors and Women ]
-*[http://www.close-combat.info/International web site about hand to hand videos]
+*[http://www.close-combat.info/International web site of hand to hand videos]
 === Articles ===
 *[http://www.tradoc.army.mil/pao/training_closeup/090603.htm TRADOC Public Affairs]