Hand-to-hand combat

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Hand-to-hand combat (sometimes abbreviated as HTH or H2H) is a physical confrontation between two or more persons at short range (

Hand-to-hand combat is the most ancient form of fighting known. A majority of cultures have their own particular histories related to close combat, and their own methods of practice. The pankration, which was practiced in Ancient Greece and Rome, is an example of a form which involved nearly all strikes and holds, with biting and gouging being the only exceptions (although allowed in Sparta).^[2] Many modern varieties of martial arts and combat sports, such as some boxing styles, wrestling and MMA, were also practiced historically. For example, Celtic wrestling is mentioned in the Tailteann Games dating back from somewhere between 1839 BC to 632 BC (academics disagree) to the 12th century AD when the Normans invaded. Other historical forms of close combat include the gladiator spectacles of ancient Rome and medieval tournament events such as jousting or medieval martial arts.

Military organizations have always taught some sort of unarmed combat for conditioning and as a supplement to armed combat. Soldiers in China were trained in unarmed combat as early as the Zhou dynasty (1022 BCE to 256 BCE).

Despite major technological changes such as the use of gunpowder, the machine gun in the Russo-Japanese War and the trench warfare of World War I, hand-to-hand fighting methods with the knife and bayonet remain common in modern military training, though the importance of formal training declined after 1918. By 1944 some German rifles were being produced without bayonet lugs.

Modern hand-to-hand combat techniques

After the May Thirtieth Movement, Fairbairn was charged with developing an auxiliary squad for riot control. After absorbing the most appropriate elements from a variety of martial arts experts, from China, Japan and elsewhere, he condensed these arts into a practical combat system he called Defendu. He and his police team went on to field test these skills on the streets of Shanghai; Fairbairn himself used his combat system effectively in over 2,000 documented encounters, including over 600 lethal-force engagements.^[4] The aim of his combat system was simply to be as brutally effective as possible. It was also a system that, unlike traditional Eastern martial-arts that required years of intensive training, could be digested by recruits relatively quickly. The method incorporated training in point shooting and gun combat techniques, as well as the effective use of more ad hoc weapons such as chairs or table legs.

During the

Most combat sports involve hand-to-hand combat.

Modern usage

A 2014 study found that, amongst US soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan between 2004 and 2008, 19% reported the use of hand-to-hand techniques in at least one encounter, in a variety of circumstances and contexts (such as close combat, prisoner handling, crowd control and security checkpoints), supporting prior research that indicated that, despite advances in technology, hand-to-hand combat remained a persistent aspect of modern warfare.^[8]

Hand-to-hand combat is the principal form of combat during skirmishes between

• In the
  MMA fighters
  .
  • ARB (Army Hand-to-Hand Combat) is a Soviet martial art based on sambo that began development for the military in 1979. It has since become a popular combat sport in Russia.

• Krav Maga is an Israeli martial art that was used by Zionist paramilitary groups and subsequently adopted by the Israeli military when it was founded in 1948.
• knife fighting
  principles.
• In 2002, the
  Ft Benning, Georgia.^[12]
  • The
    U.S. Air Force adopted MAC as its hand-to-hand combat system in early 2008.^[13]

• Boxing (disambiguation)
• Ancillary weapon
• Knife fight
• Close-quarters combat

References