MILITARY CQC: “The Fear State”

Author: Odhinn Kohout

This lesson will provide you with some basic fundamentals on field of fire but I will not be covering specifics to any degree as this is open source material. Contact me to book a course for your group and we will give you an extensive and in depth hostage escape program.

The central position or 12 o’clock (as the Attacker faces you) must be avoided at all costs. This impacts knife defense and the understanding of arch of fire conceptualization. The central position is a “source of comfort” for the armed and untrained I.E. criminal element.

 

 

The Attacker is counting on fear and its psychological ramifications to disrupt your cognitive processes to the point that compliance as an end state is achieved. The “reactive” response to having a firearm pointed at you is in point of fact the ultimate fight/flight mechanism of delivery for utter obedience of your Attacker’s commands.

The civilian mindset or “untrained” mindset must not be allowed to permeate the true survival or “offensive” mindset of a front-line Officer. The Gladiators of old had an excellent way of preparing the mind for battle and it is rarely used as an example when explaining our modern curriculum for combat readiness in today’s CQC.

Here is the secret:

The body and mind must encounter the same stress as that of a worst case scenario in order to be able to access fine and complex motor skills. The Samurai held to this belief and referred to it as the Bushido Code. Proverbs 27:17 tells us that “Iron Sharpens Iron.”

Our Warriors in Special Operations adhere to this and put this this theory into practice similar to the ancient Spartans. 

“If the body is weak, so is the mind.”

In the above scenario transitioning from the field of fire which is at 12 o’clock is intrinsically woven into the fabric of your ability to do so. This is not an existential explanation but rooted in the fact that if you are “frozen with fear” your techniques are without a context. It is therefore imperative that “serious” training mirrors reactions of the sympathetic nervous system to induced stress in order to test comprehension as part of any possible field application.

 Training MUST address worst case scenarios to ensure the highest standards of Officer Safety as opposed to being fixated on possible litigious ramifications. Your students are depending on YOU to have THEIR best interests in mind…

Be safe Gentlemen.

MILITARY CQC:”Underhook Throw-by.”

Author: Odhinn Kohout

The CORE concepts behind this technique are:

NOT to engage the Attacker with the sole intent of a disarm (common in many knife systems of defense) as it increases the chance of you being badly cut and “bleeding out” as the fight is protracted.

For use as a TRANSITION tool to other use of force options especially firearms (carbine, pistol).

To CREATE a reactionary suitable for direct action, escape, cover or concealment.

From the initial block:

 

 

I am blocking/striking the shoulder (Brachial Plexus) and the inner forearm (Median nerve).

Left hand slides down to control the weapon hand at the wrist as you move forward/penetrate into the triangle of balance of the Attacker.

His left arm is under-hooked by my right arm and I turn inwards toward him at the same time pulling his wrist (weapon hand) downward in a 45 deg angle towards the ground.

Use your hips and NOT ARM STRENGTH to snap the under-hook into a throw. Maintain wrist control over the weapon during the duration of the technique.

From the ground release the weapon hand and TRANSITION to another use of force option.

ARMCHAIR QUARTERBACK COMMENTS:

“He still has the knife, so I would use my ground-fighting tactics to disarm him…”

REALITY SUCKS

Really?...so you would wrestle with a  guy on the ground who may still have a knife? I wouldn’t suggest that. If we look at the reality of the situation presented and not a “Hollywood” version, it will suck when you get that knife repeatedly stabbed deep into your face and eye orbits because you’re ground-fighting was not a match for an Attacker with a ferocious mindset, intent or goal of KILLING you and not WRESTLING with you.

This technique lets you get back to your skills as a “gun-fighter” and NOT a “cage-fighter.” 

Train Hard Gentlemen!

MILITARY CQC: “Gross motor skills vs. complex when facing the blade.”

Author: Odhinn Kohout

Many fighting techniques will work on a padded mat when going at 30% with your training partner. But these do not account for many complex variables which affect the efficiency of your tactics. Below are four crucial points for consideration;

Environmental Variables: Temperature and terrain conditions

Amount of Equipment and Physical Conditions: Wounded or exhausted. Weighed down by kit.

Previous Training Readiness, Specifically Stress Inoculation: Lack of interest in prior resulting in limited cognitive reasoning in a crisis vs. a high speed offensive mindset which embraces new CQC/H2H material.

Appropriate Training Syllabus: Is the training based on fooling around on the mats and lacks direction? Does the curriculum present solutions for worst case scenarios which may be encountered during the mission?

 

   

Now that we have set some basic parameters we can look at the technique for this week. From the flinch position the “reflexive response” from the startled flinch is to intercept the attack and strike the inside of the inner forearm at the median nerve. 

My left arm wraps above my Attacker’s right elbow in order to lock out the joint fulcrum and gets his weight moving in back of his hips to relieve the pressure affecting his elbow instead of forward.

I clasp my hands together into a “Gable Grip” and now use my hips and NOT arm strength to put tremendous pressure on his elbow by turning into him.

I can kick out the back of his legs to facilitate the takedown and armbreak (don’t do this in training) and finish the lock on the ground from a tripod position (posting on one leg).

Incorporating this type of tactic into your CQC program is effortless as it is a gross motor skill which can be performed under extreme stress without the need for extensive training and repetition.

It also follows the laws of bio-mechanical responses in that it starts with a “flinch” as the basis from which to build. It will be effective from a surprise attack and can be accomplished while wearing gear.

If you have been wounded, it relies on CORE strength and not how strong your arms are. The conditions of your surroundings do not impact the outcome of the technique.

Using this as a simple checklist for your own techniques, take some time and go over your program prior to teaching your next class and be honest with yourself. Don’t be afraid to scrap parts of the program that fall short and are too complicated or used to impress your class rather than to teach them valuable tools which could save their lives.

Be safe Guys!

MILITARY GROUND-FIGHTING: Facing the Blade-1

Author: Odhinn Kohout

I consistently see a great deal of ground-fighting material that the Military tries to incorporate into a CQC program which in my opinion is too complicated and almost impossible to perform while wearing kit. On the flip side there are Military personnel who are completely closed minded to learning ground-combatives in any format which I also believe is also wrong. To believe that you will never be knocked down in fight or have an attacker try to finish you off from a top position of some kind is orientated purely in wishful thinking.

In this lesson I will address the limited mobility of wearing layers of gear which will make it very difficult for you to have much dexterity off your back.

 

 

 

In picture you see that the Attacker has pulled a blade and attempted to slash in some downward trajectory. From the startled flinch I am NOT using a guard position as having the bad-guy tied down to me makes no sense from a Military perspective. My left foot (although obscured in the picture) is on his right hip and pushing him back. My right leg is controlling his angle of attack from left side of his body.

Do not get too hung up with these leg positions because if someone pulled a knife and was trying to stab your face repeatedly, is it really logical to think that you would be focused on your leg positions at this moment?...The answer is NO.

I overhook his right arm with my left and once the fulcrum of the elbow is locked I break the joint using my hips and NOT my arms. The hips or core strength is used to facilitate the joint break.

Notice I didn’t say; “when he submits or taps-out…”

His mental state of deciding to stop the attack is irrelevant to this training outcome. The technique MUST be performed to fruition in order to stop the attacker from re-engaging you. This is a very important fact which is often overlooked in training for combat.

Good luck with your training Gentlemen.

Takedowns: Using Body Weight vs. Strength

Author: Odhinn Kohout

Locking the Attackers arm from a standing position in order to ground or prone him for arrest control has many variations. The one that I teach involves removing the strength aspect from the equation. 

 

 

 

If you attempt to force his elbow (which is the middle fulcrum of the limb) with pressure, you risk the Attacker bending his arm to relieve the pain which will counter your technique. It is a race using this approach because it will work if you can take him down faster than he can manipulate his elbow.

By starting your technique above the shoulder and forgoing the elbow entirely puts you are little risk of losing control of the takedown. The other benefits are:

·         1.You can use just your weight over the shoulder to facilitate the takedown

·         2.If your wounded or tired you do not need to use much strength

·         3.The impact for the Attacker can 2x as hard

·         4.Your impact is cushioned by landing on the attacker

·         5.He lands face down inside of a random angle

·         6..The prone position makes searching and adding restraints easier

·         7.You have created a reactionary gap for firearm transitioning if he attempts to get up

·         8.The rotator cuff of the shoulder is very weak from this position and susceptible to tearing

Watch your partners safety when you practice this as it is easy to tear each other’s shoulders when performing this tactic but…IT WORKS!

Be safe Guys