Why modern soldiers still train for brutal, ancient hand-to-hand combat encounters
Despite the dominance of high-tech weaponry, physical confrontation remains a persistent reality of modern warfare. From the trenches of the past to contemporary urban skirmishes and disputed borders, military organizations continue to prioritize close-quarters fighting skills, proving that technology has not rendered the human element of combat obsolete.
Hand-to-hand combat is defined as physical engagement at short range, whether through grappling or the use of handheld tools like knives and clubs. While often associated with ancient history—such as the pankration of Greece or the Zhou dynasty in China—it remains a vital component of modern military training. Even as firearms and machine guns transformed the battlefield, the necessity for close-quarters proficiency endured, evolving into specialized systems like the Defendu method developed by William Ewart Fairbairn in 1920s Shanghai.
Fairbairn’s approach, designed for brutal effectiveness, was refined during World War II to train British Commandos and American special units. His techniques, alongside those of Rex Applegate, influenced a lineage of military systems including Krav Maga, Sambo, and the U.S. Army’s Modern Army Combatives. These programs are not merely historical relics; they are dynamic responses to the shifting demands of insurgency and urban warfare. A 2014 study revealed that nearly one-fifth of U.S. troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2004 and 2008 engaged in hand-to-hand encounters, highlighting that such fighting persists across diverse contexts like prisoner handling and security checkpoints.
The nature of these encounters is often misunderstood. While striking is a common focus in martial arts, a 2023 analysis of data from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts indicates that grappling is the predominant form of hand-to-hand combat in modern theaters. Furthermore, the practice serves as a critical diplomatic tool in specific regions. Along the Himalayan border, India and China maintain a long-standing agreement to avoid firearms, leading to skirmishes involving makeshift weapons like iron rods and stones. In 2020, these intense six-hour confrontations resulted in over 50 deaths, underscoring that even in an era of advanced technology, the most primitive form of fighting remains a significant, lethal feature of geopolitical tension.
Modern military organizations continue to institutionalize these skills, with the U.S. Army establishing its Combatives School in 2002 and the Marine Corps implementing the belt-ranked MCMAP system. Whether through the adoption of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or the development of specialized military arts, the focus remains on preparing soldiers for the unpredictable, high-stress reality of close-range survival.
Source: Hand-to-hand combat
