The Realities of Armored and Weapons Grappling

[Dale Seago]

As most here will know, Hatsumi sensei has placed great emphasis on armed and armored combat the last couple of years; and "our" (e.g. the Bujinkan's) Jack Hoban is one of those who is "training the trainers" in the US Marine Corps' own official Corps-wide martial art program. I think that makes this essay by Lieutenant Colonel George Bristol of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP) particularly interesting:

LET'S ROLL???

The Realities of Armored and Weapons Grappling

Lieutenant Colonel G. H. Bristol, USMC

I still speak to a lot of young Marines about the MCMAP. I still see them get excited about their first belt; the first time they spar; and the first time they do a technique and it works. Like them, I remember a lot of firsts, and, most of all, my first combative love: JUDO. I have had a longstanding affair with Judo - I just passed 38 years of training. I still have my competition medals; old judogi; bad knees; and great memories. I would not change a thing.

However, realities of life have brought to light the weakness of sport grappling. When I was 14, I was stabbed "shooting in" to take another guy down in Providence, Rhode Island. Cut badly, I backed up, picked up a piece of wood, and proceeded to beat the guy to a pulp. Why didn't I pick up the board first? Later, as a Marine, I saw combat and realized that - with all the gear that we need to survive on a battlefield - grappling would never be the action of choice. Had I wasted all those years?

The answer is no, but the MCMAP - and in particular its Instructor population - must "come to grips" (to use a Judo term) with its grappling emphasis and method of instruction. More than any other excess, Marines want to learn how to "roll." It is a fact that the oldest form of male bonding is WRESTLING. As young men, sooner of later we begin to grapple with each other; it is sort of a "king of the hill" experience. Male animals - during the competition for mating - engage in rough grappling prior to choosing up a mate. These tendencies - and the tremendous explosion of grappling and mixed martial arts in mainstream media - have brought grappling to a new level of interest.

The MCMAP - to be viable as a Corps culture entity long-term - must first and foremost maintain its applicability on today's - and tomorrow's - battlefield. Grappling - while first among equals as a sport, a conditioning exponent, and a bonding agent - can become an end in itself and more importantly, a bad habit in real close-in fighting. We are not training Marines to be UFC participants; we are training them for functional efficiency and dominance on a battlefield.

The following essay deals with the realities of grappling training, transmission, and application.

THE ENVIRONMENT

Sport grappling is conducted in a controlled environment. While that environment is rough, hard, and demanding, it is constructed to even up the participants. There are weight classes, rules of what can and cannot be executed, time limits, and safety apparatus (mats, referees, etc) to ensure the conduct of a match is executed within established parameters. I have lost count of the different mixed martial arts (UFC/Shooto/Pancrase et al) that are all grappling organizations.

At the other end of the spectrum is a battlefield: an uncontrolled environment. If two Marines were somehow unarmed and placed in a battlefield situation against one opponent, they could charge him - together; fish hook him and eye gouge him; pick him up and smash him head first on the pavement; and them stomp him to death with their boots. The "contest" would be completely fair.


THE EXPONENTS

I wrote a speech once entitled "All Life's Lessons are Learned in a Wrestling Room." It remains one of the toughest environments on earth. Well conditioned, motivated, and dedicated men push, pull, run, lift, and fall - and then cut weight. It provides an iron will and the ability to bear pain and accept victory and defeat on a minute-by-minute basis. Many of them are in a closed social nexus; it remains a cloistered world. One of my closest friends - legendary Iowa wrestler Joel Sharratt - told me once that "wrestling - at any level - is a total commitment where everything comes second. You eat and breathe it..." When I am interviewing Marines for Recon, if they tell me they have wrestled, I will always give them a shot because of this intensity.

Marines - and I am speaking about the Corps at large - are dedicated individuals as well. However, they rarely get the time to practice their PRIMARY discipline: Rifleman. To even suggest that they would have the time to conduct the arduous specificity that grapplers must endure is simply ridiculous. If anything, the combative training piece must be tailored to give them the most application in the least amount of time.

THE "X" FACTOR

Additionally, the "X" factor is the fact that Marines will rarely - if ever - find an unarmed situation on a battlefield in which sport-style grappling techniques will work without modification. There will be a weapon, a piece of terrain, or a conditioning dilemma as well to blur the purity of the single leg takedown, the counter to the guard, or one of the many situational responses (counter/submission, etc.) found in numerous grappling systems today.

Experienced grapplers can probably weather the storm more readily. An elite level wrestler or grappler can "subdue" unarmed opponents because of high-level repetition. Likewise, their major strength - aggression and lack of fear of contact - makes them good candidates for the transition to weapons-based systems. But to think that teaching a Marine hours of grappling - on a mat with wrestling shoes - will make him effective on a battlefield by hitting the ground is a bad habit that will cost lives.

ELIMINATE THE THREAT-PROTECT THE FORCE-ACCOMPLISH THE MISSION

I believe strongly that the answer lies in Weapons-based grappling. In the past, MCMAP training has included some back-to-back, "go for the knife" engagements that place some reality in close-in fighting. The scenario always plays out the same: the Marine who gets the knife goes wild trying to cut and then Marine who doesn't attempts to keep the knife away. The knife-wielder is super-aggressive and the unarmed opponent is super-defensive. It is a great reality trainer.

I would offer to the MCMAP Instructor community to take it further, using these points as a guideline:

1) Begin all grappling at standing from a distance of 20 or more feet apart

2) Use a combination of weapons (rifle/knife/stick) in dissimilar fashion (IE, one Marine armed with a rifle, one unarmed; one Marine with a knife, one with a stick, etc.)

3) Use full combat gear (to include helmet)

4) Do not train this grappling on a mat - always train it outdoors

5) Conduct the engagement after a brief (but intense) physical event (an Obstacle Course run is perfect)

I have conducted this training at 3d Reconnaissance Battalion on several occasions. I have concluded the following from a GRAPPLING perspective:

1) Going to close-in fighting armed with a weapon teaches the Marine distancing, timing, and targeting to end an engagement before it comes to "Let's wrestle"

2) There is much more of a tendency (after going to the ground once or twice) to use techniques such as the leg sweep (or at the very least off-balancing techniques) to get the opponent to fall - hard - and not fall yourself. The Marines realize that if they "tie up" with weapons that they must execute immediately and not spend time "gripping" with each other

3) Fatigue will allow the Marine to be much more eager to end an engagement quickly, thus saving him from harm (of any level)

4) I have allowed multiple Marines to go against a single opponent. I have NEVER seen a ground fight from one of these situations other than the opponent being beaten to his knees

5) Marines understand better the brutal nature of this type of fighting and use their weapons to end an engagement from proper engagement distance

NO MORE GRAPPLING???

I approach my fourth decade as a grappler with that same love for the sport I had as a boy. I still like to get on a mat and go through some takedown drills or mat work (I even like to hit the sauna to "shed a few" on occasion!). I believe that grappling can be a tremendous conditioner; a motivator; and a bonding experience for Marines. I propose the following for "Grappling CONDITIONING for Marines":

1) MAIs/MAITs should view/participate in a wrestling practice run by a high school/college coach (Joel Sharratt is my ideal)

2) Emphasize MOVEMENT, MOBILITY, and BASIC TIE-UP, TAKEDOWN, and GROUND CONTROL - nothing fancy.

3) Stress REPETITION and CHANGING PARTNERS

4) Limit the "Choke Hold Number 74" thing for small groups. Most of the non-grapplers will never do these fancy techniques enough to ever make them work anyway.

5) Place some calisthenics, tumbling, and plyometric movement into the mix.

6) Use college-wrestling videos to motivate Marines to train with enthusiasm. One of the greatest is DAN GABLE - COMPETITOR SUPREME.

7) Use the sauna - a wrestling staple - for a post workout-bonding agent. Due it safely!

8) Don't do it too often. Keep Marines motivated to do it, but stress the realities of weapons. 90% of the "grappling program" should be weapons-based grappling.

I have never heard of a battle being won with a "high crotch" or a submission hold. A rifle and bayonet has carried the day for the Corps "in every clime and place." The reality is that Marines will do what they think is fun before they will do what is hard. Grappling - with all its effort - fun. Killing is not. The MCMAP must remain functional, not strive to be popular nor allow itself to wander from its basic endeavor: AN INTEGRATED FIGHTING SYSTEM FOR ALL MARINES.

The essay can be found online at https://www.tbs.usmc.mil/Pages/MA/media/docs/docs/LET'S%20ROLL.htm

[kouryuu]

Superb article Dale thankyou

[KSprenk]

Yeah great article, good ideas.

[comw]

my head hurts. I think i understood some of that. i'll try again later

[Yama Tombo]

It is a good article, I have a few good ideas for training now.