The modern battlefield is a different place than it was even ten years ago. The services have become very reliant on hardware versus the combat training of the human system. In my military combat experience I have found that a basic understanding and practice of hand to hand combat techniques such as what you may see in a typical MMA match can prove invaluable in combat. I would like to talk about some of the techniques that I have found useful but I don't want to give the impression that this is a complete system and besides, anyone who says they can train you everything you need to know for combat with a few basic moves is a fraud plain and simple. So here are some of my top techniques that I think could be useful if added to a regimen to make training sessions more focused.
The triangle choke is one of a hand full of ground fighting techniques that I believe can be very useful to a tactical athlete in the context of real combat. The Army and Marines have a battery of ground fighting techniques they teach and I think anything you learn can be useful, but the basic problem with ground fighting is mobility is lowered so escape becomes difficult if you need to break contact. Ground fighting generally is much less effective against multiple attackers and because of this I think it can be found lacking in real combat. The reason I include the triangle choke is because if done properly it can leverage the use of the legs to immobilize a combatant freeing the arms to engage with a second combatant or reach tools to get the advantage back. The potential to utilize the triangle happens when you are being attacked and are under an attacker, if the attacker places one arm in the guard and one arm out of the guard you can slip your legs into a figure four configuration over one shoulder and under one arm the squeezing of the legs should apply pressure to the neck and starve the brain of oxygen. In training it should be tightened slowly and released when your opponent submits.
The arm-bar is a secondary move in my opinion because it does not in itself denies a combatant the ability to continue to fight. Though an enemy can fight after successful application of an arm bar I think it would be rare that this would not dramatically swing the fight to your favor or break the will of the combatant. One other problem of the arm bar is most application is done while ground fighting which is inferior in most combat situations. The arm bar is executed by trapping the head and body under the legs and trapping an arm between the legs. Once trapped downward pressure is applied against the elbow causing an uncomfortable hyper extension of the elbow joint that when applied strongly can cause a dislocation of the elbow and loss of use of the arm for a period of time. In a combat training session be sure to utilize the arm bar slowly and release pressure as soon as your opponent first feels uncomfortable from the hold.
The mount is often said to be the most dominate positional advantage a person can attain in single unarmed combat. Though the mount is not an ideal position for true life and death combat it seems to happen often enough due to intention or chance that training the mount can prove to have tremendous benefit. As important as training to attain the mount it is at least as important to learn proper defense from the mount. In combat training the mount can be trained with very little equipment and with relative safety so long as rules are abided by so as to not cause any real harm to the opponent. Practice the mount in combination with other combat training and during non live fire training to gain a proficiency in both attaining and escaping.
To a practitioner of jiujitsu the cross collar choke is one of the first aggressive techniques that you learn. The reason the cross collar choke is taught to every beginner in MMA is because it is easy to learn, easy to apply and effective. In training for combat the cross collar choke is very effective especially against opponents in uniforms with heavy construction the fundamentals of the choke can also be applied to persons in t-shirts and almost any other clothing. The cross collar choke works like many other chokes by applying pressure to the arteries that supply blood to the brain and cause a loss of consciousness to the opponent. This potentially lethal techniques should be trained under strict safety guidelines and slowly applied to give the opponent time to submit. Also when applying the cross collar choke in training you must be very aware of the level of consciousness of your opponent so as to cause no harm.
The triangle choke is one of a hand full of ground fighting techniques that I believe can be very useful to a tactical athlete in the context of real combat. The Army and Marines have a battery of ground fighting techniques they teach and I think anything you learn can be useful, but the basic problem with ground fighting is mobility is lowered so escape becomes difficult if you need to break contact. Ground fighting generally is much less effective against multiple attackers and because of this I think it can be found lacking in real combat. The reason I include the triangle choke is because if done properly it can leverage the use of the legs to immobilize a combatant freeing the arms to engage with a second combatant or reach tools to get the advantage back. The potential to utilize the triangle happens when you are being attacked and are under an attacker, if the attacker places one arm in the guard and one arm out of the guard you can slip your legs into a figure four configuration over one shoulder and under one arm the squeezing of the legs should apply pressure to the neck and starve the brain of oxygen. In training it should be tightened slowly and released when your opponent submits.
The arm-bar is a secondary move in my opinion because it does not in itself denies a combatant the ability to continue to fight. Though an enemy can fight after successful application of an arm bar I think it would be rare that this would not dramatically swing the fight to your favor or break the will of the combatant. One other problem of the arm bar is most application is done while ground fighting which is inferior in most combat situations. The arm bar is executed by trapping the head and body under the legs and trapping an arm between the legs. Once trapped downward pressure is applied against the elbow causing an uncomfortable hyper extension of the elbow joint that when applied strongly can cause a dislocation of the elbow and loss of use of the arm for a period of time. In a combat training session be sure to utilize the arm bar slowly and release pressure as soon as your opponent first feels uncomfortable from the hold.
The mount is often said to be the most dominate positional advantage a person can attain in single unarmed combat. Though the mount is not an ideal position for true life and death combat it seems to happen often enough due to intention or chance that training the mount can prove to have tremendous benefit. As important as training to attain the mount it is at least as important to learn proper defense from the mount. In combat training the mount can be trained with very little equipment and with relative safety so long as rules are abided by so as to not cause any real harm to the opponent. Practice the mount in combination with other combat training and during non live fire training to gain a proficiency in both attaining and escaping.
To a practitioner of jiujitsu the cross collar choke is one of the first aggressive techniques that you learn. The reason the cross collar choke is taught to every beginner in MMA is because it is easy to learn, easy to apply and effective. In training for combat the cross collar choke is very effective especially against opponents in uniforms with heavy construction the fundamentals of the choke can also be applied to persons in t-shirts and almost any other clothing. The cross collar choke works like many other chokes by applying pressure to the arteries that supply blood to the brain and cause a loss of consciousness to the opponent. This potentially lethal techniques should be trained under strict safety guidelines and slowly applied to give the opponent time to submit. Also when applying the cross collar choke in training you must be very aware of the level of consciousness of your opponent so as to cause no harm.
About the Author:
Abel Cossas is an Army Special Forces Operator and combat skills trainer, for more information on the Tactical Athlete visit his blog. Be sure to go to the premier Training for Combat site on the net.