U.S. Army combatives

Fort Benning Fans links to photos for the 2010 Army Championship Combatives Tournament. 1st Infantry Division FB page has this album.

There is this article which is supposed to highlight the effectiveness of Union Army combatives.

Has the Army been too influenced by MMA/reality fighting, like the UFC? (It's been a while since I've looked at the reality-based fighting systems--most have incorporated grappling as a "tool." even if they do not make it the primary tool or the take-down as the goal.) Grappling may be more "flashy," in so far as it provides visible results, but does it help or put soldiers' lives at risk? Wouldn't they be better off learning how to use a knife? They are supposed to learn how to use the bayonet, knife, and other weapons in hand-to-hand combat, but from the promotional materials one would think that it's all about ground-fighting. Does the Army competition (and routine practice sparring as well?) reinforce a false understanding about what actual hand-to-hand combat is like?

See this video: Level 3 Army Combatives.

Day 1 of the competition:


A video about U.S. Army combatives:


Modern Army Combatives
Combatives School
Modern Army Combatives Program
The Field Manual (scribd)
wiki
another article and this
Military Times