Marine Corps Close Combat Martial Arts
Marines’ martial arts training features “a blend of proven disciplines including judo, karate and jujitsu, and bayonet and knife-fighting techniques”.
The Marine Corps and the Army - America’s land combat forces — are the leaders among the services in teaching troops hand-to-hand combat and martial arts skills.
Bristol, who has 35 years of martial arts experience, said the training is necessary because of changing world events.
“Right now, the world environment is more uncertain than it has ever been,” he said. “Within a few days, a situation can escalate from humanitarian missions to full-scale combat.” Bristol said the martial arts program integrates three warrior disciplines:
* Mental discipline: The development of the combat mindset and the study of the art of war.
* Character discipline: The firm integration of ethics, values, integrity and leadership.
* Physical discipline, comprised of fighting techniques with rifle and bayonet, bladed weapons, weapons of opportunity (stick, club, gun), and unarmed combat; combative conditioning — the ability to fight while fatigued in a combat environment; and combat sports — boxing, wrestling, and wooden trainer bayonet fighting.
The Marines’ martial arts training is composed of striking, grappling and weapons fighting skills, Bristol said. All Marines are required to earn a tan belt, representing entry-level training, he said. Subsequent higher awards of gray, green, brown and six degrees of black belts can also be earned.
Today’s Marines operate within a continuum of force where conflict may change from low intensity to high intensity over a matter of hours. Marines are also engaged in many military operations other than war, such as peacekeeping missions or noncombatant evacuation operations, where deadly force may not be authorized. During noncombative engagements, Marines must determine if a situation warrants applying deadly force. Sometimes Marines must decide in a matter of seconds because their lives or the lives of others depend on their actions. To make the right decision,
Marines must understand both the lethal and nonlethal close combat techniques needed to handle the situation responsibly without escalating the violence unnecessarily.
Marine Corps Reference Publication , Close Combat, provides the tactics, techniques, and procedures of Marine Corps close combat. It also provides the doctrinal basis for the Marine Corps Close Combat Training Program (MCCCTP).
This publication guides individual Marines, unit leaders, and close combat instructors in the proper tactics, techniques, and procedures for close combat.