Think of soldiers and the kind of training that they undergo.  It’s safe to assume that their whole training is done to make them effective at what they’re supposed to do – defend our peace.  You’re not going to see them train like a basketball player.  While that can help a little, it’s not really designed to make them better soldiers.

Let’s take the Army for example.  They undergo rigid training just so they can survive whatever they’ll be faced with in the future.  Of course, there are a lot of drills, standing in attention and yelling “Yes, Drill Sergeant!”  But bulk of the training would comprise of things that they can really use in war.  So if you want to be a part of the US Army, you have to know how to survive in the wilderness, operate your rifle, and undergo hand to hand combat training.

The term is pretty generic because it deals with training on how to use your bare hands to fight.  This is more on a military point of view especially since it’s an important part of their 9 week basic army training.  Even with rifles, grenades, tanks and the likes, they’re still trained on weaponless combat.  Now, this is not just for the US Army.  Every military organization in the world has weaponless combat incorporated into their training.

The concept of hand to hand (H2H) combat is not new.  H2H combat is practiced even during Roman and medieval times.  Soldiers from the earlier generations undergo this training mainly as a backup for armed combat.  Heck, Chinese military has been training their soldiers in H2H combat as early as 1022 BC.  But don’t get me wrong.  In wars where everyone is on the same level as far as armories are concerned, unarmed combat can easily become the deal breaker.

Most military organizations also tend to focus more on hand to hand combat training in times of peace.  They believe that they’re much more useful especially since the focus is more on neutralization rather than killing.  This resulted to more popular forms of self-defense like the Krav Maga.  It started off as a street-fighting technique that later became an integral part of training of elite special forces in the whole world.  The IDF Special Forces unit perfected the use of Krav Maga in the military and other military organizations followed suit.

Like Krav Maga, H2H combat focuses on threat neutralization using both self-defense and offensive attacks.  This is why it’s now widely practiced even in the civilian world.  This is why it’s now being offered to private individuals and even companies.  So is it for you?  Ask yourself this question.  Do you want to be able to defend yourself or your family when needed?  First of all, you have to answer yes because that’s the right thing to do unless you have a death wish.  If you do, then don’t include your family.

Contrary to popular belief, almost anyone can undergo hand to hand combat training.  It’s true that you have to be physically and mentally fit if you want to train with the military.  But for everyday practical uses, all you need is the desire to defend yourself and your family and the willingness to train.  Just to give you an idea, here are some of the things that you will learn:

Knowing when to fight or flee

For all you Bruce Lee’s out there, H2H combat is not about fighting all the time.  It’s also about choosing your battles.  If you’re cornered in a dark alley in the middle of the night, then go ahead and fight to neutralize, maim or even kill if needed.  But this training will also teach you on how to neutralize your aggressor so you can flee.  Imagine being a knife fight and well, you don’t have a knife.  If you have a chance to flee, then go ahead and do it.  Now, you may need to disarm him first to neutralize him.  You can maybe a kick him in the groin for good measure.  It’s not a good idea to stick around especially if you’re in a dark alley.  He may be a part of a whole gang of gangbangers and it’s much better to avoid that situation.  So once neutralized, go to a safe place and call the police.  Remember; don’t try to be a hero.  The philosophy of H2H combat is more on neutralizing the threat so you and your family can be safe.

Knowing how to strike

Self-defense should happen quickly.  You need to be able to neutralize the threat quickly and efficiently.  Training will teach you how to strike so you can neutralize the attacker at the quickest possible way.  There’s no need to dance.  He has to be on the ground writhing in pain in a second or two.

Knowing where to strike

Striking him straight in the face will probably knock him back but won’t release his grip on his knife.  However, a strike to the pulse or a wrist lock will drop the knife immediately.  These are some of the things that you’ll learn.

This basic guide is written to open your eyes about the history of hand to hand combat training.  Hopefully, it also opened your eyes on the importance of hand to hand combat.  You don’t have to be part of the US Army in order to defend yourself and your family.  You can do it today.