Hand-to-hand combat (sometimes abbreviated as HTH or H2H) is
a lethal or non-lethal physical confrontation between two or more persons at
very short range (grappling distance) that does not involve the use of firearms
or other distance weapons. While the phrase "hand-to-hand" appears to
refer to unarmed combat, the term is generic and may include use of striking
weapons used at grappling distance such as knives, sticks, batons, or improvised
weapons such as entrenching tools.[1] While the term hand-to-hand combat
originally referred principally to engagements by combatants on the
battlefield, it can also refer to any personal physical engagement by two or
more people, including law enforcement officers, civilians, and criminals.
Combat within close quarters (to a range just beyond
grappling distance) is commonly termed close combat or close-quarters combat.
It may include lethal and non-lethal weapons and methods depending upon the
restrictions imposed by civilian law, military rules of engagement, or ethical
codes. Close combat using firearms or other distance weapons by military
combatants at the tactical level is modernly referred to as close quarter
battle. The United States Army uses the term combatives to describe various
military fighting systems used in hand-to-hand combat training, systems which
may incorporate eclectic techniques from several different martial arts and
combat sports.
Close Quarters Combat, or World War II combatives, was
largely codified by William Ewart Fairbairn and Eric Anthony Sykes. Also known
for their eponymous Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife, Fairbairn and Sykes had
worked in the Shanghai Municipal Police of the International Settlement
(1854-1943) of Shanghai in the 1920s, widely acknowledged as the most dangerous
port city in the world due to a heavy opium trade run by organized crime (the Chinese
Triads).
After the May Thirtieth Movement riots, which resulted in a
police massacre, Fairbairn was charged with developing an auxiliary squad for
riot control and aggressive policing. After absorbing the most appropriate
elements from a variety of martial-arts experts, from China, Japan and
elsewhere, he condensed these arts into a practical combat system he called
Defendu. He and his police team went on to field-test these skills on the
streets of Shanghai; Fairbairn himself used his combat system effectively in
over 2000 documented encounters, including over 600 lethal-force
engagements.[2] The aim of his combat system was simply to be as brutally
effective as possible. It was also a system that, unlike traditional Eastern
martial-arts that required years of intensive training, could be digested by
recruits relatively quickly. The method incorporated training in point shooting
and gun combat techniques, as well as the effective use of more ad hoc weapons
such as chairs or table legs.
During the Second World War, Fairbairn was brought back to
Britain, and, after demonstrating the effectiveness of his techniques, was
recruited to train the British commandos in his combat method. During this
period, he expanded his 'Shanghai Method' into the 'Silent Killing Close
Quarters Combat method' for military application. This became standard combat
training for all British Special Operations personnel. He also designed the
pioneering Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife, which was adopted for use by British
and American Special Forces. In 1942, he published a textbook for close
quarters combat training called Get Tough.
U.S. Army officers Rex Applegate and Anthony Biddle were
taught Fairbairn's methods at a training facility in Scotland, and adopted the
program for the training of OSS operatives at a newly opened camp near Lake
Ontario in Canada. Applegate published his work in 1943, called Kill or Get
Killed. During the war, training was provided to British Commandos, the
Devil's Brigade, OSS, U.S. Army Rangers and Marine Raiders.
Other combat systems designed for military combat were
introduced elsewhere, including European Unifight, Soviet/Russian Sambo, Army
hand-to-hand fight and Systema, Chinese military Sanshou/Sanda, Israeli Kapap
and Krav Maga. The prevalence and style of hand-to-hand combat training often
changes based on perceived need. Elite units such as special forces and
commando units tend to place higher emphasis on hand-to-hand combat training.
Although hand-to-hand fighting was accorded less importance
in major militaries after World War II, insurgency conflicts such as the
Vietnam War, low intensity conflict and urban warfare have prompted many armies
to pay more attention to this form of combat. When such fighting includes
firearms designed for close-in fighting, it is often referred to as Close
Quarters Battle (CQB) at the platoon or squad level, or Military Operations on
Urban Terrain (MOUT) at higher tactical levels.
- WIKIPEDIA
No comments:
Post a Comment