HEADQUARTERS U.S. ARMY ALASKA, JOINT BASE-ELMENDORF RICHARDSON, Alaska – Modern Army Combatives trainers here are putting select soldiers from both JBER and Fort Wainwright through their paces this week to select a team to represent U.S. Army Alaska in a Lower 48 tournament next month.

Fourteen fighters, two in each of seven weight classes, will travel to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to participate in the Fort Bragg Open Invitational Combatives Tournament Dec. 9 – 12.

Combatives, or hand-to-hand combat, is much like mixed martial arts fighting and allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, from a variety of combat sports. Proficiency in hand-to-hand combat is one of the fundamental building blocks for training the modern soldier.

There are several reasons the Army teaches combatives to soldiers:

• To educate soldiers how to protect themselves against threats without using their firearms,
• To provide a non-lethal response to situations on the battlefield, and
• To instill the ‘warrior instinct’ to provide the necessary aggression to meet the enemy unflinchingly.

Soldiers must be prepared to use different levels of force in an environment where conflict may change from low intensity to high intensity over a matter of hours. Many military operations, such as peacekeeping missions or noncombatant evacuation, may restrict the use of deadly weapons. Hand-to-hand combatives training can save lives when an unexpected confrontation occurs.

More importantly, combatives training instills courage and self-confidence. With competence comes the understanding of controlled aggression and the ability to remain focused while under duress. Training in combatives includes hard and arduous physical training that is, at the same time, mentally demanding and carries over to other military pursuits.

Underlying all combatives techniques are principles the hand-to-hand fighter must apply to successfully defeat an opponent. The Army’s combatives program has been specifically designed to train the most competent fighters in the shortest possible time in the safest possible manner.[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]

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  Alaska, combat, combative, fort bragg, jber, north carolina, tournament, trainers