In Military CQB we have definite practises when it comes to combating unarmed enemy assault. The instructed practises as previously covered are based on primary, secondary and emergency options when it comes to unarmed counter offense. The primary and secondary options are evasion based and used prior to employing counteroffensive options.
It is the emergency options that I will cover in this edition of the close combat files. The emergency options are employed in a situation where you cannot move off the confrontation line and are a static target.
Many individuals practise blocking with blocks that are so specific to situation and an individual type of strike or kick that the risk of failure is considerable.
The rising block or X blocks drop guard sweeping blocks are tactically flawed in many aspects in real combat. They leave quadrants of your body exposed and are often very rigid and telegraphed. They can easily be drawn to expose vitals or entire quadrants by employing dirty tricks or fake skills or feints.
They are often employed as an end all and be all against even armed attacks and are very dangerous options. I have not seen anyone willing to employ the old X block against anyone that knows how to knife fight but they still teach it – what a travesty.
Tactically flawed X-Block versus knife.
Military emergency optioned CQB is based on natural human responses to action under surprise and stress conditions and not on attempts to change natural reactions to sudden actions that can only be achieved under controlled conditions.
The reality is if you are compromised and have to react to a flash of movement or colour in the form of an immediate aggressive action you will react in the following manner.
You will either flinch making yourself a lesser target or you will simultaneously flinch and/or leap away from the point of fright. This may include a combination of both of the previous responses and depending on the extent and nature of the fright and threat dropping away and to the ground are a reality.
An explosion is a good example of flinching, moving away and falling to the ground.
To the contrary many traditional styles promote straight back, upright stances and rigid set blocking skills. The reality is the best option for combat is to build on your natural response to surprise aggressive action and enhance it, not spend time on techniques that are tactically flawed contrary to human reaction to sudden action and that you are unlikely to be able to use ever in real combat with favourable results.
We never block and always use a cover guard or a cover guard and deflection when combating a surprise unarmed offensive from stationary.
You will naturally flinch, dropping your centre of gravity either from stationary or after leaping away from the initial point of fright. You will immediately then focus on the immediate threat and the direction and type of threat. The type of threat will determine your response to the specific threat on recognition.
It is the unarmed threat that I will concentrate on in this edition.
You must guard your vitals from the crouched flinch position by bringing both your arms up against your sides and locking both your palms on the highest position on your skull above your ears. Your forearms must brush your sides all the way up as we only guard our body and not air space. Your arms will be rigid acting as shock absorbers against any round house blows.
Ensure you secure your palms above your ears and not over your ears to avoid unnecessary injury.
Your flinch should continue until you are in a position where your elbows are at waist height and you are in a squat like position. This will enable you to guard and cover the two upper quadrants of your body with your arms.
This guarding method is referred to by old time pugilists as the peek-a-boo method because you peek through your guard. It is good for combat where you have more options available than just the punches of boxing.
It gives you the ability to cover you vitals and have clear line of sight of your enemies lower legs that can be leg stamped or axed kicked in an instant while you cover and/or deflect and shut down your enemies power by being at extreme close quarters.
Do not flare your forearms to endeavour to block strikes or pull them in to cover your face against straight strikes, simply keep both arms against your sides and lock your opened hands palms on your head as previously explained.
Ensure when you are in your crouched flinch position that your eyes are looking upward at you enemy and your feet are firm on the ground and your position is stable but easily changed onto the balls of the feet should you need to escape, evade or go on the offensive.
From the flinch crouched position when a roundhouse offensive misses you, its crouched target or is absorbed by the locked rigid forearms acting as shock absorbers, the next priority is immediately going on the offensive, usually with leg stamping kicks to incapacitate your enemy decentralising them for achieving your final objective.
The space between your forearms is referred to as your sights and any straight or upper cut type strike would be deflected from the crouched flinch position.
It is vital that the strike is deflected with the directly opposite inner forearm so as not to turn your back on your enemy’s free arm. The deflection forearm movement must only be approximately 5cm so as not to expose the side or back of your neck.
Post deflection, you would assess as with a failed roundhouse assault and go on the offensive, usually with leg stamps or axe kicks.
From a position where you are attacked unarmed from your side after flinching as with a frontal unarmed assault, you would focus on the direction and type of threat as previous and then guard your side from your waist to the top of your skull.
This is achieved by raising the arm on the side of the threat directly from the seam of your pants up to above your ear and secure it on the highest portion of you skull or back of your neck. Your arm will be rigid and both your eyes focused on your enemy from the inside of your forearm.
If the strike did not miss you when you flinched you can cover against it or deflect it from this cover guard position.
After immediate assessment you will employ your counter offensive, usually a leg stamp to disarm and disable followed by your requirements to achieve your objective.
Combating kicks from either the front or side flinch cover guard position or even from upright in a cover guard position if caught upright is a simple matter of combating a kick with a kick. Either a leg stamp or an axe kick to either the kicking leg or the stability leg, which ever is closest.
The kick point of contact is below the knee joint with the arch of the sole of the boot so as to cup around the shin. The kick is executed fully committed to the ground.
The previous cover guard position provides other advantages as well, including reducing the risk of your enemy seizing your wrists or hands and controling you and makes prevention of grabs simple or grab escapes much more safer and practical.
This includes grab prevention from the side or behind by flinching, covering, assessing and employing preventitive options. These preventitive options prior to attacking your attacker include preventing the grab with hand edge strikes, forearm or elbow deflection, or seizing the deflected grasping hand.
From the side you can prevent the hold by flinching, assessing, and raising your side cover guard prior to attacking your attacker.
From behind after flinching assessing and covering you will step forward away from your enemy to a side on position and attack your attacker. Note: through muscle memory and reaction to surprise you may initially find yourself employing a crouched forward cover guard position. Immediately followed by turning, assessing over your shoulder, and covering prior to stepping away from your enemy to a side on cover guard position.
The only combat correct unarmed combat principle from behind when distance can not be broken will see you cover guard yourself as you turn and assess simply because you do not have eyes in the back of your head and will have difficulty combating threats you can’t see.
Everything about the flinch and cover guard position proves balance, power, natural reaction to shock or surprise action and target reduction provides maximum levels of safety as well as putting you in a position to explode on the offensive, draw a weapon or escape and evade.
The position is very practically orientated for balance or power like in weight lifting, scrummaging, the ready position to start a sprint race or the position of power to push a heavy object.
Simple and proven is best and natural responses will take over under surprise and should be enhanced, not exchanged for unsafe, unnatural practices.
You would not make yourself a bigger target if you were being shot at or facing a knife threat or an attacking dog so why would you expose yourself to an unarmed strike that can produce over 200psi.
Breathing is another important aspect of cover guarding and employing counter offence you must combat breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth and do not hold your breath.
You need to exhale through your mouth with every physical action on your counter offensive to power the skill and ensure maximum performance as well as to reduce the risk of being winded from blows to the abdomen and to ensure the speed and power of your offensive is not reduced by holding your breath.
You must also train your eyes to focus on the threat and supply the information required to decide on the best means of dealing with the threat as quickly as possible.
You also want to remain silent as speech slows your reaction time and although individuals that shout prior to attacking think that it is an advantage to the ready it is an early warning and slows the enemy offensive down by employing sound and action that requires more effort and coordinating.
Every advantage is vital and eliminating every disadvantage is equally as important.
Even when in your flinched cover guard stable footed position have an affinity with the ground surface by maintaining concentrated ground contact with the balls of both feet in the ready position to move.
Risk deduction in relation to sudden changes in threat can be combated or countered easier from a small stable cover guard position by making slight changes to protect against specific threats or breeches in your armour.
Range is also a very important aspect of post cover guard or deflection. On covering or deflecting a strike you need to close in on your enemy shutting down their ability to get off anymore power shots from their optimum striking range of between 30 and 60 cm from their target.
We all know that the best distance is to be in another place or have at least two metres reactionary gap for primary counteroffensive evasive options but at close quarters post being attacked, after cover or deflection the safest and best option is to move in and smother your enemy and from this primary range attack your attacker.
Interested in Close Combat Training?
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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
