© COPYRIGHT 2010 BY BRADLEY J. STEINER - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Sword and Pen – June 2010 Issue
[Reprinted With Permission]
American Combato
Seattle Combatives
WE have received many e-mails and even letters from marines and soldiers and specialist (i.e. SWAT) police officers that express their utter contempt for the "ground grappling" and competition material that had comprised their training in "hand-to-hand combat" (so called!) and/or "defensive tactics". Being a part of the organizations that have mandated their being instructed thusly, these individuals have asked for anonymity (which I shall always be delighted to respect — so if you wish to contact us with information of a sensitive nature, please feel free). Yet they have plainly asked that we keep urging AGAINST this in-vogue approach to training, since — as they say, and as we have been saying since the thing took off as a new fad in this Country — IT IS ENTIRELY UNREALISTIC AND WHOLLY INAPPROPRIATE TO THE DEMANDS OF ACTUAL CLOSE COMBAT AND DEFENSIVE PREDICAMENTS.
One theme that has been 100% consistent in the communications that we have received is outrage at the fact that, entirely aside from such ground-grappling material being absurd even when a given situation enables them to employ it (since there are far better ways to drop one’s foe in an encounter), these warriors CANNOT POSSIBLY EVEN TRY TO EMPLOY SUCH SKILLS WHEN IN BATTLE DRESS!
A soldier, marine, or SWAT officer goes into action encumbered by a lot of heavy gear. The equipment weighs a lot, is bulky, and places him in the position of a turtle on its back (using the analogy provided by one U.S. marine combat veteran who wrote to us) when and if he "goes deliberately to the ground" in a "wrestling match". Police SWAT officers (actually, even many patrol officers, as well) carry plenty of encumbering equipment, also. These men cannot roll around on the ground and grapple for a pin or a mount with a violent suspect. Their possession of a sidearm that may be snatched by the felon is also a bit of a problem!
We have no interest in converting true believers in the MMA, cage fighting, UFC stuff to our way of thinking. These people have every right to do whatever they wish, and if they wish to participate in these events, and to insist that this is "real combat", so be it. However, we do not agree, and neither do many actually experienced military, police, and intelligence people who DO IT FOR REAL.
Our Monograph on the subject is available if anyone wishes to have the entire phenomenon of ground-grappling’s unsuitability for self-defense presented. We thought that our visitors might be interested, however, in this very excellent point regarding the matter of battle dress and its resulting bar to the use of that which is (we feel, ridiculously) now taught in some military and law enforcement training circles. It has been raised, and is being raised, by real world hand-to-hand fighters
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