Tag Archives: CQB

The Glistening Blade

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glistening_blade

How many times have you not seen or heard of someone being attacked and the choice of weapon was a knife? A glistening blade that shimmers in the light.

It is true that many are afraid of any confrontation when faced with a knife. The first thing that hits is a state of panic and next the mind takes over and throws the senses into complete confusion. It is true that it is a menacing implement that can cause death and severe injury. However, when you look at it as a mere extension of the attackers hand it is nothing more than that. The important thing in a knife fight is to always keep an eye on the blade or always be aware of where it is and where it is going. Once you have mastered this the follow up is easy.

By knowing the path of the blade or anticipating its path or more importantly moving it into the path you choose, makes disarming your assailant easier. There are no rules in knife fighting and no strict form either. Many fighting styles have distinct patterns but in reality these are never followed.

A skilled knife fighter would never follow the same line twice and always adapts his/her fight to the situation. Hence the blade never follows the same orbit.

Street knife fighters would often use a t-shirt, jersey, jacket or any material to cover the leading arm. This has two important features.

Firstly it is used as a form of shield to protect the leading arm. This arm is used to deflect the blade, absorb a slash or stab and even latch on to the blade. Secondly it can be used as a decoy to distract the opponent.

When faced with a blade I always say that you should have the unfair advantage over the blade. Rap the leading arm in a shield as above or grab any item close by and use as a weapon. If your attacker comes at you with a blade, you go at him with a spade.

My point is that it does not mean that because you are a skilled fighter, whether in close quarter combat or unarmed combat, that you should stick to those skills. You may be skilled but that should not stop you from using a weapon to defend yourself.

Remember, an unfair advantage in any fight is always better

FIGHT HARD, FIGHT SMART, BUT FIGHT DIRTY

Soke Ben Mangels

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Ben Mangles_Teaching

Soke Ben Mängels is the founder and honorary life member of the South African Institute of Unarmed Combat. He started his career in 1954 as a young police officer in Durban, South Africa. He soon learned that the rough and tough sailors were a force to be reckoned with, so began his training in Kodokwan Jujitsu. He discovered that what was taught in the dojo was not how things happened in real life. Most techniques were just not effective when dealing with street-wise sailors. This prompted Soke Mängels to analyse and modify techniques to suit the reality of the streets and dockyards of Durban. Keeping It Real has always been Soke Mängels’s central philosophy.

Soon after obtaining his black belt in Kodokwan Jujitsu, he obtained a black belt in Judo, and became a South African middleweight Judo champion. Soke Mängels then progressed to Karate, obtaining a black began Shotokan Karate. Here he was frustrated with Karate’s inability to deal with a grappler or competent Jujitsu or Judo fighter (years later kick-boxers would have the same problem when confronted with Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu).

The solution for Soke Mängels was to develop his own system, so taking the best from various Martial Arts (Jujitsu, Karate, Judo, wrestling and boxing), he created what he now calls Atemi-Jujitsu. Soke Mängels used to say that his system was best described as “Street” Karate; a fighting system that could be used in real life situations.

Soke Mängels became an officer in the South African Police and Captain in the South African Air Force. He was at times the chief Close Quarters Combat (CQB) instructor to elite special forces units, including the South African Army Commandos, South African Naval Marines, and British Special Air Service (SAS).

In 1981, Soke Mängels established the South African Institute of Unarmed Combat (SAIUC) in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, establishing several schools (dojos) in South Africa. When Soke Mängels emigrated to the US he handed the SAIUC over to Shihan Thaya Moodaley (7th Dan Atemi-Jujitsu) who had been training with him for almost a quarter of a century.

Soke Ben’s resume is impressive: he was appointed National Director of the International Combat Military Advisors Group (ICMAG) (an international body of ex-specialist servicemen that trains military and police anti-terrorist units), president of the International Association of Close Combat Instructors (IACCI),  senior advisor to the American Martial Arts Association (AMAA) and representative for South African to the Combat Military Advisors Group. The World British Federation of Martial Arts recently promoted Captain Ben Mangels, to 10th Dan in Jiu-Jitsu. Ben has also been inducted into the US Martial Arts Hall of Fame.

Soke Ben teaches that unarmed combat does not make someone unbeatable. He compares it to being thrown overboard, you might not be a strong swimmer capable of swimming to shore, but if you have had some basic swimming training you might be able to hold out until rescued, With some training, your odds of surviving are better than if you had no training at all.

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Marine Corp Martial Arts Program (MCMAP) in Focus

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The Marine Corps Martial Arts Program was developed by the US Marine Corps to combine existing and new hand-to-hand and Close Quarters Combat (CQC) techniques with morale and team-building functions and instruction. MCMAP trains Marines in unarmed combat, edged weapons, weapons of opportunity, and rifle and bayonet techniques. MCMAP also stresses the responsible use of force, leadership, and teamwork. MCMAP differs from previous Marine Corp CQC programs as it also includes non-lethal techniques for use in UN peacekeeping operations.

MCMAP comes from an evolution of hand-to-hand combat training dating back to the creation of the Marine Corps. Captain Samuel Nicholas formed two battalions of Continental Marines on 10 November 1775 in Philadelphia as naval infantry. Bayonet and cutlass techniques were the mainstay of Marine CQC arsenal. During World War I these bayonet techniques were supplemented with unarmed combat techniques. Between WWI and WWII, Colonel Anthony J. Biddle began the creation of standardized bayonet and CQC techniques based on boxing, wrestling, and fencing. Around the same time, Captains W. M. Greene and Samuel B. Griffith began including martial arts techniques from Chinese American Marines and brought this knowledge to other Marines throughout the Marine Corps.

In 1956 Gunnery Sergeant Bill Miller developed a new Marine CQC curriculum. The program from various martial arts styles such as Okinawan karate, judo, and jujutsu. This programme evolved into the LINE System in the early 1980s. The LINE System was found to be lacking in non-lethal techniques necessary for use in in UN peacekeeping operations. The result was MCMAP which was implemented in 2000.

Source Wikipedia

Krav Maga In Focus

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Imi

There are many, many close quarters combat videos on the Internet and most are not worth watching. The closest I have seen to what I was taught was one documentary on the French Legion. Following that one video, the system that consistently comes closest to what we do is Krav Maga, the Israeli military hand-to-hand combat system.

Krav Maga was developed in Hungary and Czechoslovakia in the 1930s by Imi Lichtenfeld who eventually became the Chief Instructor of Physical Fitness and Krav Maga at the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) School of Combat Fitness (visit Wiki for more on Krav Maga).

It is not hard to imagine why Krav Maga and Atemi-Jujitsu are similar. In his book “The Israeli Connection”, Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi notes that there were strong connections between the Israel Defence Force and South Africa Defence Force and especially when it came to military training. It was the IDF that help create the SADF Reconnaissance Commandos and Soke Ben Mängels was QCB instructor to these same Reconnaissance Commandos (Recce’s).

There are times when the techniques from Krav Maga are almost identical to those I was taught (and times when they are not). I am usually ambivalent about seeing them. I am usually torn between thinking “great stuff” and “how come they’re getting airtime and not us”. But envy is not attractive. And I have learnt that the best teachers are not always the most popular. Soke Ben and Shihan Thaya were never interested in the limelight.

In the next couple over posts I am going to look at some Krav Maga techniques aired on “The Human Weapon” and share my thoughts on each.