Caution: The contents of this article are for education purposes only. The principles described are extremely dangerous and are for military close combat training and operations only. Their application applies solely to the military.
Ground Fighting for sport or as a traditional hobby is very different from military ground combat where the objectives are to eliminate your enemy, incapacitate in order to eliminate and where regaining your footing is the priority and not holding position on the ground for any length of time.
Definite and deadly – the Applegate Fairbairn smatchet
being employed for military ground combat.
Prevention is far preferred over counter and this also applies to being decentralised.
Methods to maximise the exponent’s ability to defeat their enemy at long range or if not possible, at the closest of close combat ranges, bodily contact to reduce the enemies strike velocity by shutting them down.
The battle field offensive assault options employed must all target the enemies ability to maintain bodily functions, either in the immediate point of time or permanently, depending on the desired outcome or the application situation.
To cripple by attacking the spinal system to eliminate the airway or blood circulation, impair the vision or blind your enemy or to dislocate the knee joint are priority options with unarmed offensive or counter offensive assault.
Well before the combatant should ever consider unarmed options they must employ their primary or secondary weapons or improvised personal weapons or environmentally provided improvised weapons.
You won’t find many ground fighters prepared for or capable of continuing to fight on the ground after they have been shot or stabbed and mortally wounded.
While many rough and tough fighters may be able to weather unarmed encounters on the ground, it becomes a very different matter when an object that is far sharper and harder than human flesh and bones is employed against human flesh and bones.
The immediate environment itself can be a handy weapon with hard surfaces and loose debris as well as discarded items that a trained dirty tricks brigade mind would quickly put to good use.
The exponent is from day one drilled in the dangers of taking their enemy on and takeouts in preference are the only recommended options. They know all too well that to take on a seasoned ground fighter or stand up fighter at their own game is tactically flawed and against close combat standard operating procedures.
Basic exponents are indoctrinated with the belief that their enemy is bigger, stronger, faster, fitter and more skilled than themselves and always armed and that they must take them out with dirty and deadly battle proven tricks immediately and never quit in the execution of these options.
Immediate and the safest ground recovery are instructed followed by ground combat that is based on land and sea warfare. The land principles come from climbing and maintaining the safest surface contact footing, balance and holds and the sea principles come from the marines rolling deck close combat practises.
The ground combat assault methods are great equalisers against the odds as they are proven to incapacitate or eliminate combat necessary bodily functions.
You don’t require a lot of imagination to understand that applying a submission technique on the ground becomes far from a priority when someone has their thumb in your eye socket or is ringing your testicles.
Having a crushed airway or blood spurting from your arteries is counter productive to ground fighting but one must always remember a determined combatant can and would kill you even in their death gasp, never underestimate any enemy.
The two other important phases of ground combat are the toughener or sickener phase where combatants are made to endure punishment while in the execution of their takeouts and reduce the effects of the attacks as much as possible while maintaining the ability to achieve their objectives. The second being the ability to prevent the enemy to employ their ground fighting methods as some techniques are made to work if properly employed and primary option prevention is far safer and easier than secondary escape.
The combatant is also drilled in the dangers of being bogged down in ground fighting where they could be drowned in swamp conditions or battered or broken on hard ground, not to mention the danger of enemy accomplices and the considerations of the enemy being of greater physical attributes, far more skilled on the ground or armed.
Grappling or ground fighting against a blade is generally fatal.
Exponents are also drilled in how to make ground and achieve cover or concealment to mask a takeout for safety under fire or for escape and evasion after achieving their objectives or avoid death, defeat or capture.
Ground recovery or hard targeting as well as methods to tactically cover ground are drilled before any ground combat options are instructed.
Sport fighting submission fighters are well versed in ground fighting and are prepared to go to great lengths to achieve submissions. They are premium endurance athletes and have a wide range of individual skills and set up applications to achieve their desired result, that being to submit their opponent by striking or the application of submission holds.
There is a lot of variables in such contests like weight, height, experience and some times luck and in combat those odds are simply too dangerous. The time it takes to become good on the ground, the tactically incorrect dangers it creates by going to the ground and fighting on the ground and the disadvantages of opponent superior physical attributes create make these options too complex to learn and difficult to train masses of exponents in and with minimum practise time available, they are simply not suited to the role.
Webbing uniform and body armour considerations are all part of the ground combat package.
However European military close combat has been designed to combat enemy fighting arts of the world by preventing their effectiveness or employing the options that were designed to cripple, maim or kill an enemy of any shape, size or practise when applied first, fast and ruthlessly with no respect for life or limb.
If these options fail you will most likely be dead as nothing else would have helped you or could lay claim to being so simple, dirty and deadly.
Much of the close quarter combat and ground combat would disgust most people and even tends to shock the most committed when facing such extremes, having their genitals exposed and man handled being bludgeoned, burnt, bitten and the lethal reality of edged weapon orifice or internal vitals penetration.
Having to and doing the uncivilised and unthinkable is a priority in combat and having the grounding to finish under threat and achieve ones objectives is paramount.
The options are simple and require more determination than complex skill but do provide principles to combat a wide range of ground threats, armed and unarmed with minimum effort and maximum safety.
The basic ground combat provides a reliable means to maintain a ready position while weathering an onslaught or while fast mapping your options.
Combatants are warned that the assault skills must be applied immediately, ruthlessly and with total commitment with no mercy as an enemy attacked in this manner and not taken out is extremely dangerous.
These methods could never be employed for anything other than military combat and during the familiarisation with enemy fighting arts phases in military close combat courses have proven to be more lethal and in turn more effective, quicker to learn and employ simpler and quieter methods than any other options.
Under comparison test conditions they have enabled basic exponents to be as effective as advanced and instructor class close combatants simply by depending on who was first to target the other. For the average man to defeat a trained and skilled grappler come ground fighter with all the advantages on his side the only chance he has is battle proven ground combat and even then he must know how to counter out any immediate prior enemy advantage and employ any contingency options to deal with situational changes to achieve the desired final outcome.
As to the individual skills, well you have to join up and prove yourself to get them but lets say I have had grappling master instructors comment over there many decades of training, grading and competing they have never seen such deadly options.
In conclusion the content of this article is military ground combat and could never be employed in competition or for self defence in a civilian situation as it would be outside the laws of self defence but on the battle field where its killed or get killed ground combat is the difference between life and death.
Interested in Close Combat Training? Todd Group Depots are located throughout New Zealand and at various overseas locations.
For more information on Todd System of Close Combat see the following books, dvds and cds:
- Close Combat Books
The Do's and Don'ts of Close Combat – Tactical C&R – Control and Restraint – No Nonsense Self Defence – Military Close Combat Systems Phase One – Combative Masters Of The 20th Century - Close Combat DVDs
Self Defence of the Elite – 80 Years of Combative Excellence – Primary Option Control & Restraint – Military Unarmed Combat – Phase 1 - Close Combat CDs
Technique To Command – Combative Code of Conduct
