The difference between ‘take on’ and ‘take out’ to an instructor who has been trained and qualified in military close combat coming up through the ranks is very clear in that to take out the enemy or neutralize the enemy in relation to the rules of engagement and standard operating procedures is the primary and correct tradecraft practice and it goes without saying.
However with so many individuals marketing themselves as close combat instructors having never proved themselves on training and qualification courses and with no official required military record of instructing service there has been some very non-military combative principles practices and skills passed off as military close combat that are more ‘take on’ than ‘take out’.
Let me explain to you from an elite military close combat perspective the general facts surrounding the employment of armed and unarmed combat.
Combative primary option
All the martial training in the world won’t help you against deadly armed close quarter combat and the highly trained determined combatant can endure adversity in the employment of overkill deadly force.
Close combat would only be considered a primary option for specialist or very specific roles and situational employments where superior weapons and firepower were not the best option at the operator’s disposal. To maintain a ghost status for silently achieving the objective in roles such as hit-and-run close combat employments or in prisoner snatches is a priority.
To neutralize the enemy without being detected or compromised or for sentry elimination primary combative armed and unarmed combat employment as with the previous roles may well be the best means to go to convert and silently achieve the objective. Primary combative options may include situational specific firearms employment such as role specific fully silenced firearms.
The role can require a combination of unarmed and armed requirements especially where there are multiple objectives and various aspects to achieving the primary objective. This could include sentry neutralisation by means of specialist weapons as well as comrade snatches or detainee releases as well as employing restraint by initial unarmed prisoner control restraint methods or by employing restraint devices.
The previous is a brief military elite role specific combative outline and now we need to look at the description of the primary chosen skills, principles and tactics. For this I will be very generalized and use unarmed combat only as subject description matter. Primary unarmed combat options are role and situational specific and must have been selected by the most qualified military combative Chief /Master instructors with the qualifications experiences and background in military close combat skills tactics and principles evaluation and selection.
The skills will have been selected for being the best of the best for the role and will have been rigorously tested on the training wing before they are adopted and employed operationally. The critical point is the military combative master/chief instructor must be just that – a true master/ chief instructor of military armed and unarmed close combat with a life time’s experience in instructing service to have the professional ability to make judgments on skills that could be the difference between life and death for operators. Skills, tactics, principles, and procedures that have been selected must meet a wide range of required criteria.
- The best and safest means of achieving the operational objective.
- The skills must comprise a complete employment and contingency support package and have system commonality to ensure confidence, cohesion and be the best option humanly possible.
- The skills must meet battle dress weapons and kit equipment considerations as well as the theatre they will be employed in and the terrain and hazards. There is no place for high kicks, back turning throws, skills that required extreme agility, or grappling an enemy that may be armed with a gut gun or dagger and could well be of superior size, skill, and strength. There’s no future in engaging an enemy in time consuming grappling or ground fighting when there are no rules and you could find yourself gut gunned or on the end of a fighting or utility knife not to mention the energy draining nature of take on grappling or ground fighting technique employments over employing deadly force from the outset and preferably armed deadly force.
- Skills must be based on the same system and principles that have commonality from basic through advanced to specialist in unarmed and armed employments to avoid changes in stances guards and foot work principles that can cost valuable life or death time and loss of advantages such as maintaining momentum. Unarmed, knife improvised weapons or firearms should be used from the same basic foundation skills and principles. This will reduce the factor of confusion having to change to accommodate a skill that is not cohesive and a natural extension or addition and that can create stalling the losing momentum. The complete combative battle proven military system has commonality is cohesive and under contingency option requirements through fast mapping on the move provides change without hesitation stalling or losing momentum.
- The primary employment for military unarmed combat is covert. Primary take outs reduce risk make the need for contingency options less likely and enemy resistance also less likely. The general rule under CQC employments is simple dispose of the enemy threat quickly and silently by destroying the enemy targets life-support systems. The take out in specific situations may require the inclusion of one or two of the additional Ds that make up the 3Ds in military unarmed combat, being Disarm, Disable, Dispose.
- Now to the primary unarmed combat options and principles for Primary takeouts. Employing stealth, centimetre by centimetre, inch by inch, when ensuring the correct range point of no return, positioning and full commitment plus controlled aggression, silently and quickly is the difference for an instant take out and having to employ a continued assault. The unarmed skills themselves will destroy normal human life-support functions and systems such as the integrity of the spinal cord, airway, the brain, major arteries, or the heart. In a 3Ds requirement the integrity of the enemy ability to stand by joint and ligament destruction as well as blood circulation interruption, eyesight disruption, cranial trauma to cause unconsciousness, are all disarming and disabling measures applicable to pre-disposable requirements. All kicks will be stamping kicks delivered on or below the knee joint, no sweeping, push, or roundhouse kicks for military unarmed combat. Implement employment such as sticks need to be constructed of materials harder and more robust than human flesh and bone and employed from extreme close range.
Even in unarmed combat sap gloves, brass knuckles for specific roles are preferred options over bare knuckles. Smatchets, hatchets, machetes, star pickets, Billy clubs, black jacks, saps and other specific or improvise weapons are all considered tools that provide armed protection and or extension and safety as well as increased effect. Close range take out employments of the hand are combative close range striking skills deliberate options to destroy exposed or expose and destroy enemy life support systems.
Palm heel and hand edge strikes for primary military combative take out options provide a means to avoid helmets and operational protectors. The reasoning is simple; target specific options to achieve maximum internal damage to major internal organs and life-support systems. Clenched fists for boxing and gloves for martial arts, street fighting, where it’s win or lose, not life or death. Military elite close combat is not concerned with inflicting cuts, bruises, and abrasions, minor fractures over massive internal damage to the brain, destroying the airway, spinal cord often after the destruction of the knee joint. The palm heel provides increased safety over knuckle punching and combines velocity and leverage destroying the integrity of the brain by bouncing it inside the cranial bone damaging the brain and additionally destroying the integrity of the brainstem / spinal cord. Hand strikes are target specific slim-line strikes that can completely destroy delicate human targets such as the thyroid cartilage or spinal cord. The strikes also fit with the requirements of being able to fit under above or between enemy body armour chin straps and helmets. Take out primary military unarmed combat individual skills are usually employed within the specific skill primary application setup however there are employment variations to deal with roles in situational changes and specific required outcome objectives. Every chosen option can be employed in range of variations such as unarmed offensive assault under entry conditions or after seizing and securing the enemy target. Armed options such as improvised weapons as well as secondary weapons such as hatchets can be employed single or double hand gripped under entry employment or the weapon can be employed after the enemy target has been seized and secured. The previous has outlined primary military unarmed combat. For every skill or option employment and individual skill option the operator will be well versed with the full employment delivery as well as contingency support package that has complete commonality with the selected skill. Confidence and competence levels are increased by considerable when the combatants knows the selected primary skill is the best of battle proven and having a complete contingency option support package which will give the committed combatant the best chance of achieving their objective. The closest military close combat gets to take on fighting is when compromised as in Murphy’s Law where contingency options are a required means to victory. This necessity for the contingency options does not change the combatants modus operandi from take out to take on. The fast mapping and skills decision-making and employment are still skills based on the 3Ds over fight techniques that are more knockout, knockdown or grapple orientated. You must never forget that every battle proven option and dirty trick must be primary options. The combatant with a controlled calculated aggressive demeanour and maximum levels of inner resolve armed with battle proven primary military take out combative skills will truly have the best chance humanly possible of objective achievement in real close combat situations. They will also have sound self-confidence as a result of pre-taught practices on toughener and sickener training phases employed if required when compromised before employment of takeout skills. Such practices and confidence boosters are provided as they move up through the ranks on the training courses as part of the toughener and sickener phases. This instils in the trained combatant the means to deal with Murphy’s Law or as it’s known ‘Oh Shit’ situations. Toe to toe, point-blank range, when compromised, when on the front foot employing unarmed offensive assault or unarmed counter offensive assault options evasive or stationary options the highly trained combatant can not only endure dire situations but ensure victory. In a dire stationary compromised status through prior training and conditioning and the ability to employ a sound cover guard and maintain stability even against a highly fight trained enemy the determined combatant can temporarily endure the onslaught and take out his enemy by armed or unarmed enemy destruction.
Being compromised in this situation is not only referred to as a required contingency option but also emergency option.
While the combatant can prior to any encounter with time and distance being available assess, decide and execute primary or secondary options in relation to the threat their role and the required outcome in the emergency options realm it’s very much a case of employing initially pre-learnt means of self-preservation hard targeting risk reduction fast mapping and executing the best means of achieving the objective based on fast mapping assessment decision making and ruthless employments. Immediately post a failed employment there is a necessity to fast map and employ the best decided contingency continuation option to achieve the objective. In part two of this close combat file I will cover disarming over defending against weapons where it’s a case of through situation or change of situation the highly trained combatant is faced with an armed threat under armed entry assault or armed ambush.
The above sequence depicts a failed long range unarmed offensive assault stamping kick, fast mapping and continuation with long range unarmed offensive continuation (a second kick).
This sequence depicts a failed long range unarmed offensive assault (leg stamp) and offensive hand-edge swivel from side on to front on to maintain the momentum and position the combatant for a stationary continued unarmed offensive assault.
Post hand-edge swivel, fast mapping assessment decision making and execution of a stationary unarmed offensive assault combination targeting the vision, airway, and knee joint.
The above two sequences depict post unarmed counter-offensive evasion, assessment, and decision making targeting exposed vitals.
