Modern Combatives

Martial_Artist · Pre-Black Belt

This post was originally published as an article in a dedicated KarateForums.com Articles section, which is no longer online. After the section was closed, this article was most to the most appropriate forum in our community.

We live in a new world. We live in a world of chaos and danger. Not that this chaos or danger has changed much, but that these dangers have become more visible in our daily lives.

What is a combative? We have heard throughout the self defense community words like combative, combat art, urban techniques, urban combat tools. But, what exactly is a combative? A combative, in our discussion of self defense, is an element of combat utilized by a combatant, or in our case: a martial artist.

In ancient times, combatives were the use of a sword, knife, stick, horsemanship, empty handed technique, archery, among many other archaic tools and arts that armed a combatant for combat. These skills were necessary for the field soldier to survive. Many lay citizens did not possess these skills.

Today, however, many of those archaic tools are impractical. However, the opportunity for the lay citizen to possess such skills has not only appeared, but has almost become requisite.

I do not intend with this article to delve completely into the complexities of combatives for the modern martial artist, but lay forth a list of combatives that modern martial artists should understand and be proficient in.

We must first understand that the world has changed from its ancient state. We no longer worry about horse riding assailants. Nor about the sword wielding gang of bandits. But dangers do exist. And even though the pieces and in many instances the fields, have changed the fight is still real.

Too often we hear that fighting is futile. I refuse to acknowledge that notion. In fact, I find it defeating mentally, morally and physically. Simply to state that fighting is useless because everyone carries a gun is also an incorrect statement. For it is in opposition the logic of survival. The defense of life will never become obsolete or irrelevant so long as there are those willing to make the decision.

And the martial artist makes that decision. Whether they study for art or for defense each and every martial artist must ask themselves whether consciously or subconsciously, "Will I make that decision?"

Now, I'm not going to go into that subject, because the medium will not allow it. I am simply setting up the environment from which to better understand the place of combatives in the modern martial artist.

I do not wish to argue politics but it is of equal importance to recognize the modern threat of terrorist attacks upon civilians. Upon you and I. We will not focus on combating these elements, primarily because it is not our environment, but the existence of terrorism most certainly affects the combatives of the modern martial artist. And I would like that to linger in the mind of the reader.

Because of the environment we live in and because of the choices we may or may not make concerning how we will deal with a defense situation or event we must understand how these things affect us as martial artists... martial artists in a modern world.

Here is a list of basic combatives I feel that every modern martial artist should have more than a basic comprehension of (in no particular order):

First Aid/CPR – First Responder Level Certification

The majority of events that we may play a part in are reactionary. Just as with fighting. Many of our actions are in response to someone else acting upon us. In an emergency situation the martial artist should know well how to help with the damage. A more than basic understanding of first aid and CPR could save a life and would be more than useful in dealing with the after effects of a violent encounter. Also, from a legal stand point, administering first aid to someone you just defeated in a self defense encounter demonstrates a lack of criminal intent on your part. This area also extends into knowing all the emergency numbers for your area.

You may also have to administer first aid to someone you are helping (particularly a loved one) in a self defense situation.

First aid and CPR are important combatives for the modern martial artist.

Defensive Pistol and Carbine/Shotgun Use

These skills are perhaps among the most important for the modern martial artist. Every modern martial artist should be proficient in at least handgun usage. Every year within the U.S. between 1.3 and 2.5 million lives are saved by effective self defense usage of a handgun. The modern martial artist should be proficient in safety, accuracy, legal use, retention, reclaiming and home/car defense.

I cannot state how many times I am saddened by the report of the home invasion or the car jacking gone wrong with the victim dying or being seriously injured. Resistance is never futile.

It is not my intent to prove such, for the numbers and facts are on the side of armed, aggressive resistance. And anyone prone to research can discover so for themselves. But, then again, I shouldn't have to do so when addressing an audience of modern martial artists.

An old adage states: "If you know you're going to a gunfight, bring a longarm."

The complement to handgun usage is carbine/shotgun proficiency. There is no better home defense.

Defensive pistol, at the very least, is vital to the martial artist.

Knife or Stick Proficiency

It is prudent to possess every tool and the need never arise to use one, than to have the need arise for a certain tool and not possess it. Such is the logic behind knife/stick proficiency. More often than not the majority of skills possessed by martial artists reflect their ancient heritage and many martial artists are trained in the use of the knife or stick. And this is a good thing. Times may arise where a gun is not readily accessible and the quickest option is to use a knife or a stick taken from the ground. Any advantage that can be gained should be gained and exploited. Fighting is not a game. The winner is he who walks away.

Remember: there is no such thing as cheating. Life is not a match in a ring. If your opponent pulls a gun on you in a fight or a knife or attacks you with more than one person there is nothing unfair about that. There is no cheating there. You do what you must to survive and live on. There is nothing more to it. If you do not then you are the one left in the street dying or injured. Then you have lost and if luck is not on your side then you might die as well. Life is not a game to be gambled on such lofty and often life threatening concepts as honor in a fight. Honor in a fight is doing what you must to survive and having the opportunity to take another breath. There is not much more honorable than continuing to live to enjoy life with your loved ones.

This does not mean that you have to kill everyone you fight, but it certainly means doing exactly what is necessary to ensure you are not killed. Honor is in living an honest life daily.

Knowing how to use a knife or a stick is a practical addition to the combatives of the martial artist in the modern world.

Empty Handed Proficiency

I perhaps do not need to speak much on this topic, as I am addressing martial artists. The vast majority of which began their study in the empty hand concept. And, who also, the vast majority of are currently building strong proficiency in such functions. I will therefore simply emphasize that the foundation of proficient weapons fighting is strong empty hand fighting. There are principles built within the mind and the reflexes that only strengthen the armed fighter from the base of empty handed fighting. If all else fails you have your mind, your hands and your feet. Even without the tools of the modern and archaic day you are never unarmed.

I'm not going to try and tell you what art is best or what system works best or what style you should take. That isn't the intent of this article. For now, I'll leave that to the individual martial artists to argue amongst themselves.

No martial artist should be without the knowledge of fighting with just his hands.

Community Awareness Programs/Neighborhood Watch Programs

You want to fight crime in your area? Do you want to live in a safer environment and eventually eliminate the need for the combative martial artist? Though as a world this may never happen, you can affect a change in your neighborhood or your community. Crime fosters where it is least resisted. Crime is not about changing the community. It is about finding the easiest places to ferment. The same for criminals. They hunt for the easy prey. If they wanted the difficult livelihood they would go to school and join the rat race — the legal life is not easy. This is why criminals in prison state that it's not the police they fear, it's not even long prison sentences. It is the armed and strong civilian. More importantly it is the involved and intolerant (of crime) community.

The law abiding citizenry far outnumbers the indolent criminal community. Though the criminal may not recognize this fact verbatim, they certainly feel it. Which is why crime thrives in slums in places where it is tolerated and why crime suffocates in neighborhoods where it is not tolerated.

Crime is almost never effected by the number of police officers in a police force. There have been numerous studies. Response based versus incident based patrol patterns have very little impact on crime in any particular area. This is why police departments have been trying to implement policies of community based policing.

Without going into detail of the various studies the only thing that truly affects crime is the involvement of the community. That is you and I.

Do you know your neighbors? Can you recognize what cars they drive? Would you be able to identify an unusual vehicle on your street? Something as simple as that and the use of a telephone can have drastically effective results. It harms nothing to call in an unusual vehicle in your neighborhood to the police. If there is nothing amiss then it is a mere inconvenience to the driver, but the message sent to the neighborhood and to anyone who might be paying attention is that this neighborhood watches the backs of its neighbors.

An anecdote: Two years ago when I moved into this house there was constant strange activity across the street. I got to know my neighbors and their habits. There was a series of burglaries. I began calling in strange vehicles out of the norm. Some people were caught. Some people involved moved out. Since then there has been no crime on my street.

We fight crime not through vigilantism, but through active participation in our neighborhoods. And if our neighborhoods are too bad. Then we move. The most important asset you have to protect is your life and safety and the lives and safety of your loved ones. Do all that you can to protect them.

The Warrior Spirit

I have not attempted to go into vast detail concerning the combatives listed, nor have I given a comprehensive and exhaustive list of every combative a martial artist in the modern world should possess and be proficient in.

It is enough that each martial artist understand that we live in a volatile world. We should not remain static in our progression as martial artists. There is much the world has to offer us in our development as martial artists. The warrior spirit is a rare thing to find among martial artists. But it is not the spirit that seeks war, but to prepare the soul. And this preparation does more than make us better fighters, it ultimately makes us better people seeking better communities.

Patrick · KF Administrator

Thank you for the submission.

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UseoForce · Pre-Black Belt

Very, very good. I haven't always agreed with you before, but this, I like

.
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Adonis · Black Belt

I like it too, good stuff to know

lordtariel · Black Belt

Good article, there were many good points.
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Ace2021 · Blue Belt

Very well written. I like the emphasis on "life is not a match in the ring."
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bushido_man96 · KF Sensei

Very nice, and very well written. I especially think that firearm usage/defense is too often overlooked today. Considering that it is a more common threat, it makes sense to be prepared for it.

The use of First Aid is important, too. A nice point about using First Aid deters the ability to prove criminal intent.
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