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Martial arts on the modern battlefield
From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia
Some traditional martial concepts have seen new use within modern military training. A good example of this is point shooting which relies on muscle memory to more effectively utilize a firearm in a variety of awkward situations, much the way an iaidoka would master movements with his or her sword.
In addition to these new forms, traditional hand-to-hand, knife and spear techniques continue to see use in composite systems. Examples of this include the US Army's Combatives , the Israeli army trains krav maga , the US Marine Corps's Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP), and Chinese San Shou .
The bayonet , too, tracing its origins to the spear , may seem a relic of history to many, but the weapon has seen use by the British Army as recently as the Iraq war [1] .
Unarmed dagger defenses identical to that found in the fechtbuch of Fiore dei Liberi and the Codex Wallerstein were integrated into the U.S. Army's training manuals in 1942. [4] Eskrima knife systems are favored today.
William E. Fairbairn , a Shanghai policeman and a leading Western expert on Asian fighting techniques, was recruited during World War II by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to teach Jujutsu to UK, U.S. and Canadian Special Forces. The book Kill or Get Killed , written by Colonel Rex Applegate, became a classic military treatise on hand-to-hand combat. This fighting method was called "Defendu". [ citation needed ] Modern variations that can still trace an authentic lineage to Applegate are very few. "Combato" (Jen Do Tao) as taught by Bradley Steiner is one popular method, yet has no direct personal links to any legitimate authority on the subject. A prominent instructor of modern close-combat is Carl Cestari, who had a direct relationship with both Colonel Applegate and WWII self-defense pioneer Charlie Nelson. [ citation needed ] In 2006 Carl Cestari was named one of the top 10 "Most Dangerous Men On The Planet" by Black Belt Magazine . |
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