World War II Combatives! (by Carl Cestari)

What does THAT mean?

WWII COMBATIVES. What the hell does that really encompass?

Would anyone be surprised to learn that I think most people have it ALL WRONG?

It HAS very VERY LITTLE to do with “technique”!

New vs. OLD? Well, NO. I have several rare manuals that talk about “martial arts” from Indonesia, SIAM (read THAILAND), Burma and the Philippines, as well as China, and Japan. ALL would be considered OLD stuff from the WWII era and PRIOR!

East vs. West? NOPE. Many, MANY manuals combined Boxing, Wrestling, Savate, La Lutte, Jiujitsu/Judo, Chinese Boxing, etc.

For ALL you “modernists”….There AIN’T NOTHING NEW under the sun!

The ORIGINAL point of contention that was the MAIN STAY of WWII ERA “Unarmed Combat” was SIMPLY THIS:

Self-“DEFENSE” vs. Self-“OFFENSE”! That’s IT. That is ALL there is to it!

Fairbairn and Sykes return to England and SHOCK the powers that be because they advocate VIOLENT OFFENSIVE ATTACK.

Applegate fires this same volley in his original “Infantry Journal” articles….NOT Self-DEFENSE, but aggressive Self-OFFENSE!

So-called “Martial Arts”/ Self-Defense/Unarmed Combat usually meant a set by rote series of REACTIVE maneuvers against the OFFENSIVE attack of the enemy.

He does this………….and you do that.

He grabs you like this………………….and you try this.

And ON and ON……………………………..

Compare the 1942 Unarmed DEFENSE for the American Soldier to the 1946 “Physical Training” manual. THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE and THAT is what WWII “Combatives” is really all about.

The ’42 manual is LONG and almost entirely DEFENSIVE in nature and content. The ’46 manual is SHORT, to the POINT, and almost entirely COMPOSED OF NON-SPECIFIC ATTACKS!

BUT even this is NOTHING NEW!

I have DOZENS of manuals from the FIRST WORLD WAR that show the SAME progression. From REACTIVE to BRUTAL OFFENSIVE ATTACK! From specific by-rote to NON-SPECIFIC generally applicable methods of ATTACK!

Ralph and I have manuals dating back CENTURIES that show the same type of METHOD!

Today everyone wants to “combine” Muay-Thai, western boxing, BJJ, Submission Grappling et al, and Believe THAT THEY HAVE FOUND THE HOLY GRAIL OF COMBATIVES! BULLSHIT! Men have been doing this since the DAWN OF TIME!

There are literally DOZENS of manuals and books JUST from the turn of the century that DO JUST THAT!

An edge of hand blow shown in a CENTURIES old WESTERN manuscript is NO different than that shown in 1900 or 1942 or 1950 or 2003.

So when I hear guys spouting about how they have “modernized” this and that…………..well, I get a good laugh, because ALL it shows me is that they AIN’T DONE their homework.

Even “tactics” have remained the same…………………I have several excellent old turn of century manuals that speak perfectly of distance, posture (blading), non-telegraphing hand positions etc. ALL the “components” of HOW not to be caught with your “guard down”.

Today we find article after article extolling the virtues of the “KIMURA” arm lock (Judo’s ude garami). WELL, boyz and gurlz, HEK KENNY advocated that SAME move as a PRIORITY technique in the early 1940’s. Catch wrestlers have done it for decades, as have Judoka. Only DIFFERENCE……the name. Call it the “double wrist lock” or an “ude garami” or whatever IT’S THE SAME THING!

WWII Combatives lays PRIMARY importance on simple, straight forward, effective and practical skills with an OFFENSIVE aggressive attitude of ATTACK and more ATTACK!

BUT…………..ANYONE who has ever considered the pragmatism of surviving a real LIFE battle of survival will have ARRIVED at the SAME conclusions and the SAME techniques………..MEN HAVE BEEN DOING THIS SINCE THE DAWN OF TIME! A fight is a fight is a FIGHT…………Always has been and ALWAYS WILL BE!

Don’t, as so many DO, miss the forest for the trees!

Using NLP in Combatives Training!

The use of NLP, or Neuro-Linguistic Programming, has become quite popular in the sports psychology world. It has been used to combat performance anxiety in sports ranging from Golf, Baseball, Tennis and combative sports like Boxing.

I also feel however that NLP is great tool that can enhance your combatives training experience, specifically by helping to develop self-confidence, dealing with fear and creating a more aggressive mindset.  

NLP was developed in the 1970’s by Richard Bandler and John Grinder. They were attempting to create a model of language, in particular the language used by therapists. In effect what they were doing was creating a logical way to explain what successful therapists were doing instinctively. In a nutshell, NLP tells us that the words we say have meaning that we often don’t intend and people’s interpretation of those words affect their mindset. 

Neuro: refers to how the mind and body interact

Linguistic: refers to the insights into a person’s thinking that can be obtained by careful attention to their use of language

Programming: refers, not to the activity of programming, but to the study of the thinking and behavioral patterns or ‘programmes’ which people use in their daily lives.

More concisely, NLP is the study of how language (both what we say and what we hear) affects our behavior patterns and Mind-Body interaction. 

NLP can be used to very different degrees in combatives training. For example, Darren Laur has a master’s degree in NLP and it forms the base of his teaching methodology. Jerry Peterson, the creator of SCARS, renamed it Neuro-Offensive Linguistics, copyrighted it and has made millions. I don’t take it that far and you don’t have to either. Here are a few simple ways you can add NLP to your combatives training.

Watching what you say:

We have already explained that language can affect our mindset. Now we have to take that concept and apply it to our training. It can be as simple as noticing the words you use. Here is one example Darren Laur gives in his article ‘Hypnosis, NLP and the Combative Edge’ :

I never use the word “defender” i.e. attacker/defender.  Defending denotes “defensive” mindset.  I want “offensive” mind set in my students, so I always substitute defender with “fighter” i.e. Attacker/Fighter.

Darren believes that the combatives mindset is an offensive one and as such he wants to eliminate all defensive thought. He could teach the most offensive methods known to man but if he kept the terms Defender or Self-Defense his students would always assume a defensive or reactive mindset.

Another example of aggressive terminology is the word block compared to the word strike. By striking you have performed an aggressive move, even if the movements are the same as your block … To illustrate, if you walk into any traditional Karate school you will see students practicing rising blocks in the traditional manner. They will be in strong front stances and the blocks will rise up sharply to intercept the attacks. 

Put these same students in a sparring session or self-preservation scenario against a resisting opponent and the outcome is much different. Each student will lean back, putting his or her weight on the back foot. The arm will be placed up to block the incoming strike. This defensive technique is not conducive to self-preservation. Simply by using an aggressive mindset and telling students to strike the limb (aggressive terminology) one has turned the defensive technique into an offensive one. The students will step into the technique, backs straight, delivering blows to the incoming strikes to defeat their intent.

Try that one out yourself. Have a person with a Karate/Traditional background stand in front of you and tell him to block your punch with that technique. Now, really throw the punch at him fast and hard so you get an honest reaction. Second, tell him to strike your limb using the same technique. Observe the differences …

Affirmations:

Another method in which NLP is very useful is by using affirmations. One of the biggest problems in combatives is what I call the ‘Circle of Fear’

Circle of Fear

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A lack of confidence creates fear, which in turn creates a greater lack of confidence, which in turn creates more fear, ad infinitum. Daily affirmations can create more confidence in oneself thus breaking the Circle of Fear. Here is a wonderfully combative affirmation by Dennis Martin, a noted instructor from the UK who makes use of NLP:  

I WILL DO, WHATEVER IT TAKES, TO WIN THE FIGHT … I WILL FIGHT FAST, I WILL FIGHT HARD, I WILL FIGHT SMART AND I WILL WIN … I MAY BE HIT, I MAY BE CUT, I MAY GO DOWN, I MAY FEEL PAIN, I MAY FEEL FEAR BUT I WILL TURN FEAR INTO FIRE AND I WILL TURN PAIN INTO POWER … I WILL KEEP FIGHTING AS LONG AS I HAVE A BREATH IN MY BODY AND BLOOD IN MY VEINS AND I WILL WIN BECAUSE I WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO WIN THE FIGHT … I WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO WIN THE FIGHT!

Go ahead, say it to yourself. Better yet say it out loud. Pretty empowering isn’t it? Now try repeating it before every training session. It will begin to change your mindset for the better. Make no mistake about it your mindset IS very changeable, you just have to make the conscious choice to do so.

Communication:

The third way NLP can be useful is by improving your communication skills. I would estimate 90% or more of combative situations can be de-escalated verbally if you have the skills. NLP teaches us that what we say sometimes has the exact opposite effect of what we meant but it also teaches us that by choosing our words carefully we can create, in our subject, a mindset conducive to our goals.  

Another thing NLP teaches us that is just important as anything else, is that what the other guy is saying is not always what he means to say. A lot of fights can be averted just by understanding what the individual wants. It could be anything from looking good in front of his ‘boys’ to being upset you are sitting in the seat he proposed to his wife from 5 years ago. Very rarely do you find people who want to fight but you will often find people who are willing to fight if they can’t find any other way out. By recognizing what they want sometimes you can give them that way out while still getting what you want.

These are just three simple ways of using the principles behind Neuro-Linguistic Programming to enhance your combatives training experience. Having the right mindset can mean the difference between success and failure; NLP can help you attain that proper mindset. It can turn your training from fearful, defensive training to confident, aggressive and more effect training. I have only touched on the surface of what NLP can do for your training but if you follow the example above and attack the problem with an active mind, I promise you will be happy with the results. Above all remember, be a fighter not a defender!

The Importance of Structure in Combat!

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This past weekend (18th-20th September) I was fortunate enough to have attended the annual AMOK! Multi-Dimensional Warrior Camp, and over the course the three day camp it became increasingly clear to me the VITAL role that physical (body) structure ‘plays’ in any combative situation, especially when you are up against a bigger, stronger and at times more experienced training partner. We concentrated primarily on edged weapons for Personal Protection over the course of the three days that we trained together, but the concept (with perhaps a little modification) could just as readily be applied to any weapon at hand.

On day two of the camp we worked in constant opposition against various opponents (training partners) with the intention being not only to survive but to actually WIN a confrontation whilst fighting with our backs up against a wall/solid barrier (our rearward movement restricted!). What I noticed was that if I was unable to use my check hand to good effect and/or move effectively (either laterally/diagonally forward) it was highly likely that my physical structure would ‘fold’ and I would quickly become a very easy target! Another great option that was expanded upon by Mark Human was the ability to use fakes to both buy you time and allow you to attack different high priority targets.

Structure was also clearly evident when we worked our Pepper Spray (demo units) and training knife in tandem against single/multiple opponents (training partners). Invariably when sprayed in the face (as pointed out by Clint Oosthuizen), the lead shoulder of the person being sprayed tends to drop and his phycical structure becomes that much weaker and therefore easier to capitalize on.

Correct body alignment and structure also became very clear when both Ian and Kellee worked through various scenario’s with us on the final day of the camp.

Great information was presented by VERY knowledgeable and experienced AMOK! instructors – Another awesome learning opportunity!

Make structure a conscious part of your daily combative experience!

Click Here to view some additional pictures

Principles of Personal Defense!

Just re-read Jeff Coopers’ concise manuscript entitled “Principles of Personal Defense”. The concepts put forward in his book are indeed timeless, and to that end I would like to urge you to get your hands on this classic book. In my opinion, much of the experience, research, and study put forward by this man has led to the current ‘Reality Based’ trend.

 

 

 

 

 

These are the 7 Principles that are expanded upon in Mr Cooper’s book: 7 life saving and dynamic principles that will ensure that you not only survive a violent encounter, but actually PREVAIL!

1) ALERTNESS!   

2) DECISIVENESS! 

3) AGGRESSIVENESS!

4) SPEED! 

5) COOLNESS!

6) RUTHLESSNESS!

7) SURPRISE!

Talent vs Determination!

In my opinion Talent is over-rated!!

Whilst training in a more competitive arena I have seen my share of ‘super-gifted’ natural athletes walk in through the door.  As often as not these winners of the genetic lottery get a few quick results, then get bored and move on to the next best thing.

My experience has been such that it is usually the people without a lot of natural athleticism that stick it out long enough to get good, Really Good!

This blog post has to do with two factors that in essence will influence just how good you’re going to get: Talent and Determination …

(By ‘Talent’ I mean natural athletic talent.  Great balance, strength, flexibility, speed, reaction time, etc.  And by ‘Determination’ I mean how hard someone is willing to work to get better) .

Although my main focus leans towards the capability in defending oneself in a live ‘street’ encounter, with or without weapons, against one or multiple armed or unarmed adversaries, I have found a recent post by Stephan Kesting to be both very valid and in retrospect very enlightening

Combative students of all disciplines can essentially be divided into four categories:

1. Low athleticism, low determination, 2. Low athleticism, high determination, 3. High athleticism, low determination and 4. High athleticism, high determination.

I’m 100% convinced that determination is WAY more important than talent!

In addition, I’m amazed at how often talent and determination DON’T go together (category 3 above).  Maybe it’s just because those guys dripping with raw talent have always had everything so easy that they often quit when the going gets hard.  Once the ‘low-hanging fruit’ is gone, they’re gone too!

But on the other hand, I’ve seen out-of-shape people with two left feet turn themselves into warriors many times.  That’s because they’re category 2 people (low athleticism, high determination): they achieve through sheer determination, coming to practice, showing up, working through the problem at hand and doing the hard stuff!

Now obviously to get to the ultra-elite level in any sport requires both talent AND determination.  Michael Jordan in basketball, David Beckham in Soccer, Marcelo Garcia in BJJ – these people all have talent AND have spent thousands of hours obsessively honing their skills.

So if you’re not very talented you may have to accept that you’re probably never going to win the black belt division of mundials (the BJJ world championships).  But you know what?  That’s true of almost everybody – talent or no talent, determination or no determination.  

Out of 100,000 people who start BJJ, only one of those people is ever going to medal in that event.  So if that’s your only goal then the chances are (very) high that you are going to fail. 

But if your goal is to get really good at grappling, to become confident in your self-defense skills, and to get in shape then your chances of succeeding are very high, if you just stick with it!

But even if you were born with two left feet YOU CAN GET GOOD.  You can get VERY good.  You just have to keep on training, keep on learning, try to improve your weak areas and build a game around your strengths.  

Leave the athletic prodigies to their own world.  If you’ve got stick-to-it-ness though, then just as in the tortoise and the hare parable, you could win in the long run!

BE Safe guys and keep training as though your life depends on it!

Formulating Your Personal Defense ‘Game Plan’!

These past couple of weeks I have been pretty busy re-defining my ever evolving Personal Defense ‘game plan’ and working hard at both outlining (documenting) and simplifying the content thereof. As always continuing my journey to constantly ‘chip away’ at the un-essentials and retain only that which is beneficial to both my current and future combative development and prowess. Considering that there are many other dedicated and proficient like-minded Warriors out there who may benefit from these insights I decided to post this new entry to my blog.

Much of what I will be posting here is by NO means new. To the contrary these concepts have been around for a long time, used to great effect and espoused upon in depth by many proficient Warriors, coaches and Defensive Tactics instructors before me. In Your quest to define a Personal Defense ‘game plan’ (the various elements of which will be expanded upon in subsequent blog entries), it is necessary to begin with the fundamentals, the absolute bare minimum that one must have in place in order to successfully negate an attack on your person. What follows is the beginning of what I hope will prove to be a very beneficial journey for you the security conscious individual, one that will no doubt help ensure that you remain a Hard Target!

When we consider the realities of urban confrontations it is amazing just how constant the dynamics have remained, regardless of whether these events occurred 100 years ago or 100 days ago. These confrontations that I speak of are often unannounced high-intensity, short-duration events characterized by sudden and extreme violence. Add to this the likelihood that these events will occur at very close range and often in poor light, some very valid points arise >>

Aggressive, pro-active fighters tend to Win, whereas defensive, reactive fighters tend to Lose!

There are many instructors out there who make mention that in a potential life or death struggle our primary aim should be to ‘survive’. Well in my opinion that is a ‘no-brainer’ as we all obviously would want to live to see another day! However, I am of the opinion that you should NOT just focus on your ‘survival’ per se, as doing so is a Very short-sighted and limited approach, one which is sure to both set you up for failure and perhaps end tragically in your untimely demise. 

In terms of combat, ‘survival’ should be seen as one of the by products of having cultivated a Winning mind and a Warrior-like spirit. That ‘never-say-die’, aggressive and pre-emptive attitude is what will ensure that you are able to ‘work through’ the situation at hand thereby enabling you to overcome the obstacle/s in your path. In essence we want to focus on WINNING and not just merely ‘surviving’!

Understand the rules of engagement under which you operate!

When faced with a tactical problem requiring a possible deadly force decision, ask yourself >> “will someone be killed or seriously injured if I don’t act against this person/s?”. If the answer is “no”, or there is any doubt then wait.

All your available resources (techniques, tools, tactics etc.) will only come into play if you are Aware of the unfolding situation, and the trick here is to react prior to the adversary launching his attack. In other words you must act first, and cause him to react to you. Get ahead and stay ahead of the unfolding event. Should there be any hesitation you will be truly lost!

Once this important concept is understood and appreciated it will be noted just how critical Situational Awareness really is!

Good situational awareness allows you to analyze the unfolding circumstances allowing you to approach it from a position of advantage, rather than be taken by surprise by it. Avoid uncontrollabe situations and maintain your combative advantage.

Good situational awareness does not only centre around information presented by the adversary, but also personal knowledge of your own abilities, your environmant, and the real time situation that you now find yourself in. With good situational awareness you begin to project your actions into the future. Simply seeing and being aware of the potential problem at hand is not enough. What you actually tend to do when the problem begins to unfoldis also very important, This is the point in the thought process where most problems develop.

The next entries in my blog will present various concepts, that if taken to heart and practiced in earnest, will help re-define and enhance your current and future situational awareness.

BE Safe and keep training as though your life depends on it!

Within the Confines of Your Car!

I started a new thread on the Gunsite forum (www.gunsite.co.za) a couple of days ago entitled ‘Within the Confines of Your Car’, the answers to which have supplied some very pertinent ideas for additional research with regards to fighting both in and around your car … Here is one of my posts:

Hi guys,
Sorry about my delayed response … I had to do quite a bit of travelling yesterday and am currently in Polokwane on business (EISH!)
Thanks to everyone for the VERY pertinent points raised thus far – Man it is a pleasure to belong to such a great Forum! 

Here are a couple of other things that I have picked up along the way which I believe may also prove to be beneficial:
Keeping the window/s open (a fraction) may help alleviate the problem of it ‘crashing in’ on you in an attempted ‘smash and grab’. If you have some additional money I believe that it is a wise thing to have some Protective film installed. This protective film can also be tinted which besides making the window more difficult to break will ensure that it is more difficult to see the contents within the the cabin of the vehicle. An incident that happened recently in Sandton is that one of our ‘friendly’ window-washers (at a busy intersection) took the liberty of squirting acid through an open window directly into the drivers face! He then had a very easy time helping himself to the contents of the car (which were obviously lying around … Laptop bag, mobile phone etc.) … Needless to say this victim is blind and disfigured for life having acid squirted all over his face! 

Although there may be times that would call for the use of pepper spray, the ‘Fog’ version would probably not be the best thing to use whilst in the confines of you car (unless you could guarantee making a speedy exit of the vehicle!). Those that have done active training with pepper fog will know exactly what I mean – The effects are debilitating (to say the least!). I carry a 60 ml version which allows for a substantial portion of the canister to protrude from the base of my hand – Ideal for very powerful impact weapon use in confined spaces.

Being a short guy one advantage that I have found is that it is much easier to fight from within your car as manueverability is quite easy. I do not have much of an issue twisting my body away from the drivers side window and moving with my back towards the passenger seat. Another great idea (especially if the confrontation is unarmed) is to actually grab hold of the attacker (in the event of your driver window being either smashed or open) and pull him into the car … Use the leverage that you now have to deliver all kinds of hurt on the asshole in question – Bury those thumbs deep into the eye sockets, rip the ears, twist his head, pull his hair, use your elbows to smash him … Anything and everything – I am sure you get the idea …

Being an avid user of ‘appendix carry’ I have found it to be relatively easy to draw my handgun from concealment as the weapon tends to sit in the space created by the seatbelt (just to the right of my body). On the other side of my person, also at ‘appendix carry’ position is my trusty K-Bar TDI – Just draw and thrust, nothing fancy!! 

Another element which I have found to be critical is correct body positioning whilst seated in your vehicle. There are numerous advantages to this … One of them being that it will allow you to have greater control over your steering wheel in the event that some ‘tactical driving’ is called for. This should be investigated thoroughly. Also try to make it a habit to keep your thumbs pointing upwards when resting on the steering wheel … Dislocated, broken and bruised thumbs have resulted from motor vehicle airbag deployment (even with minimal frontal/side impact!).

These are just a couple of ideas which I am hoping will prove beneficial to you. All this being said and done there are two things which need to be put into play IMMEDIATELY:
1. ‘Pressure test’ your ability to fight within the confines of your car!!
2. Remain Vigilant, Constantly AWARE of your surroundings (This is Key!!)

Be Safe guys and as always, keep training as though your life depends on it!

All the other posts to this specific thread can be viewed here: http://www.gunsite.co.za/forum/index.php?topic=3383.msg40754#new