Part 41 of the Close Combat Files
The Contingency Options And Ambush Phase
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.
Military close combat is about principles and skills not techniques that are set in stone, as set techniques can get you killed when the situation varies or changes completely or even slightly.
When you see victims continue to hold too long or incorrectly even when by that very action they are being stabbed or will let go completely and in doing so lose control of the weapon and end up with it used against them for no other reason than they don’t know what to do or find out all too late their techniques were tactically flawed is a very unfortunate situation indeed.
Nothing is foolproof and often in dire situations it may very well come down to risk reduction where injury may be incurred to achieve a disarm and end to the threat but everything must be done to prevent this and as a last resort reduce the damage to the lowest degree.
By having a sound knowledge of the principles in every threat category one can assess the threat situation decide on the best option and employ the general principles to deal with the specific situation they are facing.
The reality is that edged weapons are always loaded and only the best of battle proven principles should be employed and only as a last resort. Your best option is either deadly force from a distance for military disarming or get out of the threat area by miles and don’t turn your back in doing so until you are far enough away that you can keep and increase distance so as to prevent your enemy closing distance and sticking you in the back.
There are many situations military personnel may face in relation to their role their enemy and their enemy’s intentions at the time they are under threat. This includes being compromised under a drawn weapon threat or being held at weapon point in an ambush threat.
There is also considerable likelihood that once controlled at weapon point that the weapon will be employed as a means of continued control to move, position, secure, decentralise you, or as a quick direct threat for field interrogation.
Only the individual at the time can make the best decision required to work with all the information there and then, and employ the decided option to combat the threat. This is the time for them to call on all their prior training and knowledge of how to assess a situation and not panic or guess.
Having a sound knowledge of their enemy and enemy strengths and locations as well as previous reports of their modus oporandis is an advantage but can’t be accepted as always being gospel.
Recognising extreme signs of threat escalation and realising that this is your signal to employ what ever is the best option immediately is critical. Such signs as get down on your knees or move over there behind those trees or take this e-tool and dig a ditch are potentially dire.
Knowing how to stall, negotiate, create distractions or minor changes to your current situation and position yourself to employ your correct and best means of disarming disabling or disposing of your threat and or escape and evasion are priorities.
Some of the areas of expertise required for dagger emergency contingency options are listed below. These threat situations our close combat instructors team practise year round and this includes every possibility and variation we could be presented with and can come up with that are likely and probably terminal if you do not have the skill and will to defeat them.
I also develop offensive skills that are impossible to combat or as close as possible to combat in the same threat category for our operators to employ if required.
- Dagger disarming where evasion is not possible
- Preventing the dagger being drawn
- Point of evasion factor of confusion contingency options
- Perceived concealed dagger threat including palming
- Enemy dropped weapon
- Close quarter dagger throw threats including ballistic daggers
- Switch and flick blades and gravity opening folders
- Dagger intimidation including changing dagger from hand to hand and CQ pointing
- Stab and slash injury deduction
- Ambush phase upright
- Ambush phases kneeling lying face down and face up
- Ambush phase against a solid backdrop
- Ambush phases multiple dagger and enemy threats
- Coming to the aid of another in a dagger ambush threat
- Primary and emergency dagger disarming options
This is but an outline of categories covered in this phase of training and each category will encompass endless threat variations of options. You will be best at what you plan for, practise at and prepare for and if your training does not include continuous repetitions of the principles and skills required you simply are not going to be confident and competent.
Dagger disarming where evasion is not possible
You may have found yourself backed up against a solid back drop or the blade has been employed covertly and the first thing you know is you see the flash of metal entering your CQ zone.
Immediately pivot both feet turning your body side on and making it a lesser more easily protected target simultaneously raising your guard to right angels from your side and not in front of the blade.
Then attack the attacker either to disarm your enemy of the weapon or if the weapon forearm is not available to disable or dispose of the threat for military roles.
After attacking the enemy dagger holding forearm if the weapon is still in their hand you must employ an opposing forces seizure of the enemy dagger holding wrist and hand.
The dagger itself can then be driven into the solid background object to cause a release and skills to incapacitate or eliminate the enemy dagger attacker can be employed in relation to your role and the threat level and law of self-defence.
Preventing the dagger being drawn at close quarters
Secure the enemy weapon drawing wrist in the pocket or webbing pouch or sheath lock it in and against their body and attacker your attacker.
Point of evasion factor of confusion contingency option
Step back has been completed causing dagger to miss, allowing evasion.
In the ready position to evade where you find yourself unsure which side to evade to you need to take a small step or steps backwards at the last millisecond prior to the dagger reaching you. Remain focused on the dagger until you are ready to evade away from the travel of the dagger on its final travel to you the target.
The previous disarm options can then be applied to cause a weapon release or seize the weapon holding wrist and hand and disarm disable or dispose of the threat in relation to role and threat and laws of self-defence. They will let go of the weapon when you successfully attack their major vitals and you can forget about any of the tactically incorrect wristlock disarms or the like against a committed combatant bent on killing you.
Perceived concealed weapon threat such as palming the dagger behind the back
The best option is to make distance and escape and evade and or secure an improvised weapon to employ for disarming.
If this is not possible because of being cornered you need to quickly assess the perceived position of the concealed weapon and decide on the direct direction away from the hand the weapon is being held in while concealed and then attack your attacker or escape.
If both hands are concealed behind their back a distraction such as spitting in their face or throwing anything that will make them remove their hands from the position of concealment to guard their face and in turn reveal the weapon holding hand is required.
Any such manoeuvre must incorporate constant focus on the enemy quadrants related to the concealment and when the weapon is uncovered on the weapon itself.
An affinity with the ground in the ready to react position is essential and moving away from the exposed weapon and diagonally forward towards the weapon holders non weapon side where you can use their unarmed side to gain time and as a barrier against their weapon before taking out their vitals are the general basic principles outline.
Enemy dropped weapon seizure
Immediately if you are in range to do so make ground towards the dropped weapon and either step past it positioning it between your front and rear leg as you crouch and kneel on your trailing knee and pick it up with your rear hand while guarding yourself with your lead hand or perform a combat weapon recovery roll or barrel recovery roll for situations like decentralised ground combat recovery.
Close quarter dagger throws counter offence
The moment the dagger throwing arm tells you the weapon is being cocked ready to throw, you need to make ground diagonally forward and away from your enemies weapon hand holding side and either continue to make ground to escape after the dagger has missed you its target or line yourself to your now dagger less enemy and attack them. You must not turn your back on the weapon and you must keep your eyes locked on it so as to be able to adjust your movement to make it miss you.
Switch and flick daggers and gravity folders
While knife disarming methods do not change for different types of knives like different types of pistol makes and models don’t change disarming principles the following are some specifics to folders and automatic and gravity openers.
Any hinged folder type knife although is great for concealing is more prone to breaking than full tang daggers in combat and survival.
The blade can be forced against a hard surface after the dagger holding hand has been seized and secured and snapped at the hinge or jammed in any crevice or driven in the ground surface and levered and possibly snapped off.
That is why full tang daggers are superior in strength for combat.
Gravity openers although can be opened quickly by a skilled user if you can interfere with the opening process by attacking the weapon holders vitals or their weapon holding hand preferably with a weapon immediately prior to the opening process you can cause the weapon to be dropped or even cause them to cut them selves.
The attack the attacker disarm distraction would usually involve distracting by throwing some thing in their face followed by a continued offensive.
Flick daggers and automatic switch daggers are obviously most effective when in the fully opened and locked position.
They can be neutralised at the close quarters clinch position by restricting the draw by seizing the weapon holding wrist and hand and jamming the front for switch blades and the opening side of flick knives against the attackers own body or a solid object.
This will stop a front switch auto opener from being able to open from the front or a flick knife to open from the side.
You can with flick knives under the previous conditions prior to opening secure the entire closed knife ensuring the blade can not be released from its housing.
Always be aware of if the folder is doubled or single edged when any forced closing of the weapon is involved in the clinch and use the weapon holders body to close the weapon against himself.
Once you have rendered the knife jammed closed against the knife holder, employ disarming disabling or disposing offensive options.
Dagger wise guy intimidation and hand changing
You can utilise the distraction throwing of any carried or available object in the wise guys face as he changes the knife from hand to hand causing him interference with his unwise knife craft and you can follow up with attack the attacker and seizure of his dropped weapon.
Close quarter pointing in your face with the dagger can be combated by breaking ground to a safer ready to disarm position or completely escaping.
If at your disposal use an implement that is hard enough to cause a release of the dagger by attacking their weapon holding hand.
The best means to achieve this is to attack the hand on the outer grip knuckle side of the weapon holding hand by pivoting or moving and cenrteing your body on the outside of the weapon holding hand away from their free hand.
Attack the weapon holding hand from the outside in a down ward and inward direction ensuring the forced release of the dagger is down and away from you.
This will also reduce risk of being grabbed and stabbed and will ensure the flying dagger will travel away from you on release when you shatter the holding hand with your implement.
You could use any object that is harder than human flesh such as furniture tools bottles sticks brooms expandable batons.
If you are close enough to the weapon and are trained and confident to do so and if the weapon fits the criteria you can initiate the following.
Attack the outer knuckle side back of the hand and simultaneously attack the inner razor tendon side of the wrist joint while turning your body by pivoting your boots inwards to end facing the knuckle side of the weapon holding hand.
You should never turn your back on the weapon holder’s free hand.
This will ensure the weapon flies out of hand away from you on the finger opening palm side of your enemies weapon holding hand.
This method is best used for less than razor sharp daggers and is ideal for short less sharp weapons such as screw drivers ice picks and unbroken bottles it should not be a priority if you are not confident and competent and if the threat situation is not correct for this option. The disarming description is a scissor action double hand edge strikes.
You would follow up immediately with more offensive actions.
Stab and slash injury reduction
While all combatants trained in dagger disarming realise the danger that a dagger presents they also know through training and believing in themselves and their skills they can accomplish their objectives under the situation dealt up to them.
This may mean employing a less than the primary option simply because it is the only best and safest option at their disposal.
This is at the most extreme when there is no other option but you are going to get stabbed or slashed.
This could be because you are being held by an accomplice or got caught unawares or made a wrong move or simply because your enemy is highly skilled with a knife.
The objective is to reduce the injury to the minimum by slight changes in position and using your limbs to cover major vitals keeping your arteries and tendons sides in against the major vitals.
The instant you are wounded in the described non-lethal manner you must employ your attack the attacker combative disarming disabling and disposing of the threat skills.
Remember first aid is only a priority once you have taken the threat out or escaped and as long as you have an airway circulation and have vision and limbs to attack or escape you are able to continue.
Military close combat training provides exponents with knowledge on what to expect with said injuries and by arming them with such knowledge reduces the risk of panic or shock.
Upright ambush phase
Once you have assessed the immediate situation and decided that you can not negotiate your way out of the situation and that your ambushers objective is to maim cripple or kill you then its time to set up your disarm.
Distract verbally your ambusher and then always move directly away from the weapon secure the weapon holding hand and attack your attacker.
This principle can be applied in many situations from the front side and behind and with the weapon positioned anywhere from your throat to your abdomen side of your neck and in your back.
The principle allows you to call on your previous combative skills or problem solve by adjusting the principle to accommodate changes in position of the weapon or the way you are being controlled.
Ambush on the ground
The principles of dagger ambush disarming upright are very similar to the kneeling and grounded positioned disarms.
You still move directly away from the weapon secure the weapon holding hand and make the weapon safe by positioning it ready for take out disarms.
Moving away from the weapon can include sliding on the ground and inhaling to create safety for seizing the weapons holding hand.
The major differences come in the post weapon holding hand securing and positioning and methods of causing a disarming release.
After seizing and securing your ambushers dagger holding hand you may have to move your body position and change the placement of the secured weapon holding hand to ensure your ambusher can not easily recover his dagger with his free hand before you continue with the disarming phase and more offensive actions.
The terrain can be used after seizing the dagger hand to disarm the dagger or bury the blade.
The dagger point itself can be rammed against a hard surface that will see the hold on the dagger slide forward towards the blade and your ambusher may be cut by his own weapon or may have to release his hold on the weapon to prevent this.
Ambush against a solid backdrop
The principles remain the same as for all upright ambush phase dagger disarms and are employed in the same manner as previously described.
The moving away from the dagger when your restricted against a wall or similar back drop must be modified to deal with this restriction.
You may have to inhale making bodily space to execute your disarm by reducing your body mass and or slide your back directly up or away from the dagger combined with your seizing and securing the dagger holding hand and completing the disarm.
Ambush phases multiple dagger and enemy threats
A bad situation indeed and requires as early recognition and avoidance or escape and evasion as possible.
However if this is not possible one needs to reduce the risk by making your rear flanks safe by getting your back against a solid backdrop or at least keeping your attackers to your front or at worst your sides.
Sound assessment is essential and you need to quickly decide on the best and safest option by employing your prelearnt skills and principles combined with situation specific risk reduction.
Your plan must incorporate once you have ascertained that there is no negotiating your way out a means of positioning yourself at the correct range to execute your decided option from your previous training.
General principles in this situation where you have enemy threats to your front and sides and where some or all are armed with daggers is to employ your military distract disable and dispose of your forward threat and then seize his weapon and utilise it against his accomplices.
If your primary forward target was unarmed after taking him out you can escape or break distance for cover or concealment or utilise an available improvised weapon preferably some thing long and hard against any continued dagger threat.
As a last resort after taking out the initial forward threat if he was unarmed you can employ unarmed dagger disarming if there is only one ambusher threat remaining.
The decision you make will be based on your previous military close combat training in the situations and current situational specifics you are facing.
This will include the dire situation where you are grabbed from behind and the second ambusher is to your front and armed with a dagger and attempts to stab you.
Coming to the aid of another in a dagger ambush threat
The actual physical skills to each specific threat situation as per your prior principles for the threat category from your military close combat training would be employed and must incorporate the following components.
Stealthy approach from behind the ambusher followed by on the orthodox or preferred side immediate weapon hand securing and positioning of the dagger against the dagger holder himself and victim moving directly away from the ambushers weapon and offensive actions to incapacitate or in military required roles eliminate the ambusher.
On the unorthodox or non-weapon holding side the same stealthy approach is required with the addition of an initial offensive action to incapacitate the ambusher and simultaneously move the victim away from the weapon.
Then by attacking the attackers weapon holding forearm and seizing and securing it prior to continued offensive actions or if the weapon holding forearm is not available employing immediate offensive actions to stop and drop him in his tracks you will have saved the victim and stopped the ambusher.
Primary military dagger disarming options
In combat shoot him before he stabs you to death or use a less lethal option if that is all you have at your disposal such as your expandable baton or pepper spray.
When you do not have any primary or secondary weapons at your disposal employ an improvised weapon such a chair, broom, vacuum cleaner tube, frying pan, stick, star picket, tent pole – preferably something long and that is robust.
Combine your improvised weapon with your tactically correct and battle proven principles that ensure you are as hard a target as possible and get away safely or end the encounter quickly and quietly by means of your previous combative training and a will to win, not merely survive.
The important aspects that can only be learnt from military close combat training include post battle reports and details provided from veterans that have employed skills operationally as well as battlefield combat, psychological conditioning, the tactics, principles and skills and the preparation employment continuation and contingency practises.
One other very important aspect is knowing how to con and convince your enemy to buy time and distance or convince him you are a friendly and no threat at all or even have him believe you are an allie.
To do this you must know your enemy, know human nature, be well versed in how to convince the most uneasy and vigilant.
You must have been taught how to think like the bad guy and use your brain to out smart him and not get it rattled as the late hand to hand combat and self defence expert Charles Nelson would always tell us.
Military veterans provide information that to them may often seem insignificant but these gems from those that have killed so as not to be killed are worth their weight in combat gold.
I learn all the time in such special environments where things are very simple, direct and most importantly have been proven in combat.
There is no substitute for learning the best of battle proven from the best in the business.
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
