Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Military Study: Hand-to-hand combat realities

I heard that on a Spike TV reality show. MMA fighter trained with Marines in their hand to hand course. The Marine stated very confidently, "we don't train for points, we train to kill as fast as possible."

As others have said before, at 63 I am not what I once was.

I try to be watchful and observant, don't go out much at night

and carry daily.

But on the flip side,



Beware the old fart in the green vest.

Best,

GWB

Some very good points Doc, as well as some excellent points/ comments by the other posters.
Before I went into law enforcement, I was a member of a college judo team. Came in very handy out on the streets. Like was said, alot more about grapling, etc. than actual blows. However, effective blows, particularly when out numbered, can be crucial. Hate to tell you what I did and what used. Let's just say if I had an opening I took it. I'm still here. BTW, never hit anyone with your fist unless it's something "soft" like a nose, etc. You'll break your hand on his jaw and then you can't use that hand for weapons like guns.
Like somebody said, he who moves first, usually wins. You really need to see it coming. Above all, your intial, first move must be effective. If it isn't, you are real danger of losing in a very bad way.
Yes, your opponent will try to take any weapons from you and probably will use them on you. When I went through my police training, we were told that 80% of the cops shot dead were killed with their own weapons.
Last of all, never worry about using excessive force. I've seen people die over such concerns. At worse, remember, "I can can explain anything but my own death."
Yes, I, too, have had to fight for my life and my weapons hand to hand. More than a couple of times. I've seen others try this and some of them failed. We buried a few of them. E

Hand-to-hand?

Don't let those you don't know close with you
Know your surroundings, particularly behind you
Eyes, throat, crotch
Gun trumps knife trumps hands & feet
The better part of valor
Bigger, younger, fitter wins
and best
It looks bad, so I won't go there

A good article for those of us who still get to experience the thrill of being there, but most of us do best having a little healthy paranoia and caution.
And us others have said, being max nasty in a fight not avoided.

Yeah several videos showing police can take more time in eliminating their enemies than soldiers get to do.

You got that right!!!

But if the guy is able to get his hands on you, you still need to skills to retain and draw you weapon so you are able to put 2 in his guts.

Have you considered what that might look like?

The Clinch:

Experienced streetfighters, like cops and bouncers, avoid going to the ground if at all possible because someone will come out of the crowd and use your melon for a football.

The bad guy has some say in how the fight will proceed, it is probably a good idea to have a plan to solve an entangled engagement and create space to allow other options like your gun or knife etc.

If you can go full out for 1 minute you are a badass.


mike r

Hey sometimes reality can be brutal. All in all I won't let you take me down easy and it may get rank.

Yep, put the perp on the ground first like was done here:

rut-roh, I just heard there might be a negro in a pickup truck headed for North Central Florida and he hates pit bulls...

That is the truth right there.

One time I had to peel a thug off one of my buddies. I was this close to going for 3 pts with his head when I realized it probably wasn't worth murder charges.

At age 67, multiple damaged vertebrae; [C3-7,T7-10,L1-5, L6-S1]-3 herniated discs, 2 heart attacks, 1 stent[LAD] and Bi-lateral Neuropathy plays hell with trying to protect myself today as I was able to do in my younger days.
I do everything possible to avoid confrontation of any degree. If, however it becomes evident that aggressive behavior and/or physical contact toward my person is eminent, then a call for immediate assistance is necessitated:
My preferred prescription is a High-Potency Super Vitamin; A 230gr .45 cal. pill; Semi-conical nose with wide, deep dish; Copper clad w/lead core. Administered at the velocity of 975 feet per second, as a last resort. 2nd dose rarely required.
WILL.
Retired-15 yrs. Ga. Dept. Corrections; I don't have time to deal with foolish people playing stupid games.

I've been training in MMA for 18 years now. I've come to the following conclusion...If you know you're not in the physical condition to fight...and by that I mean that you don't train/fight every week...then you need to make sure you've got your gun out and pointed before someone who is trained gets close enough to touch you if they know or suspect you have a gun. If you don't have your gun out (and you're not an exceptionally strong individual) then I don't think you'll be able to draw it and if you started to it might get taken away from you (again, if they know or suspect you have a gun). If they don't consider the possibility of you having a gun then it's more likely you'll be able to get it.

Glad we got nationwide concealed carry for you.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/fla-deadly-theater-shooting-texting-son-article-1.1720738

100% I was a bouncer for 5 years in my early 20s, i learned real quick to judge who was bluffing and who was really a bad dude. I always acted 1st. If I thought it was someone bluffing, i could usually grab them quick and introduce them to the door. If it was someone intent on getting into it, id watch thier hand wiht my arms crossed but my right hand close to my chin, from here as soon as I saw a hand move, i would deliver a very quick powerful elbow to the jaw. im not sure how many guys i knocked out that way, but it was more than 10 less than 20 probably. I always carried an ASP and had to use it more than i would have liked. A large guy (6'3 265) vs me (5'10 220) had a broken bottle and was trying his best to cut as many people as possible, stopping him included breaking his arm with a 36" asp with a 2oz tip. and another 10-12 strikes to take him down so the other guys could hold onto him. If i would have wanted to kill him, i could have easily split his stupid skull with that asp.

Agreed.

A man with a 1911 in a Milt Sparks holster on his hip is going to be toast if he's late recognizing the threat in the two teenage kids walking toward him.

Yep, best for LE to shoot anyone within 21 feet of them even if the officer is the cause for that lack of distance.

Ruh-roh!!!

But seriously, I've enjoyed reading the replies from all and sundry. Since I'm not a guy who's been in a lot of dust-ups, it's educational to read what some more experienced members have had to share.

But I've had a good bit of LE defensive tactics training, and learned early on that I'm not good enough at it to survive a serious fight with an opponent who is more skilled and stronger than I.

The only exception to this rule was at a LE conference after my first divorce, where I got into a lively discussion with a ginger-haired female defensive tactics instructor who kept trying to rassle with me at the bar. Eventually I had to cry "uncle" and take her up to my room, where we rassled to a mutually satisying draw. It was without a doubt my most enjoyable defensive tactics lesson ever.