well he did say hand to hand i believe. so entrenching weapons dont count.

Hey

You both mention some good points..

School fights are just that, nothing really all that serious to worry about. What I am on about is more life threatening situations. Such as squaddies might come into contact with while "on the Job" or when down the bar the random guy comes across with a bunch of his mates saying you were talking **** about his bird.

Although I train martial arts, (and personally think the way I train and what I train has a lot of real world applicable stuff i.e. no fancy stances, no jumping spinning twirling fliping kicks. no unrealistic he will puch at you with a reverse punch from the him kind of stuff) I am finding that mind set is more important. I have seen in fights, someone who is although not very skilled in fighting having the full on determination to beat the person/persons attacking him, he will fair much better than if he was worried about defending himself.

I also find that most martial arts classes do not teach this mind set but rather stop its development. putting the student at a serious disadvantage when he or she fights as he or she will hesitate. (and in a fight, be it fists, knives or with guns, hesitation can mean life or death).

Auzzy Nick has a point. one important factor of fighting I feel is violence of action. By this I mean not standing up clearing a space making sure the other person is ready to go, bringing in some mates to moderate the fight etc.. If you are in a position where you are going to have to fight you should do it there and then, bamn.. nutralise their attack before it starts if possible.

Even in hand to hand combat weapons are a very serious issue. everywhere around us are things that can be used as weapons. The pint glass in your hand at the bar.. etc.. all come into consideration..

I guess my point is really what is the important factor. Skills, mind set or a bit of both?

Wing Nut

Speed and agression is what wins hand to hand (warlike) combat. If you jump into a gun pit, face to face with an enemy... hit him before he hits you, simple as that. Whether you punch him, head butt him, hit him with your rifle, put your bayonet through his throat or just tackle him it doens't matter... but you'll get the upper hand.

i think that martial arts and that sort of thing will come in handy to escaping POW's because they don't have any available weapons, but they do have their body, so then knowing at least the basics will help them out tremendously if they try to escape, it could be the difference between freedom and continued imprisonment

Mindset.

You need to KNOW you will win, not think or hope... you need to commit to ending the bastard's life right NOW. Training instills that in some people and some people are born that way. I do think that if you are trained to fight when the time comes you will not hesitate and you will have confidence in your ability. A soldier, who in combat, hesitates rarely gets the chance to learn from the mistake.

That's right. It is he who doesn't hesitate, and lays in with everything at hand that'll win. Strike first and strike hard.

Never, never let hand to hand be the last resort. There are too many good boot knives and OTF switchblades to let yourself have to depend on taking down an oaf twice your size. Put your blade in him as many times as possible until one or the other of you ceases to move.

Put your blade in him as many times as possible until one or the other of you ceases to move.

Right on, just like your baynoet, ET, tent peg, branch, spoon etc etc etc.

I dont know about knives, they tend to be dangerous to both sides. A byonet is good if you are given one, I guss. The Israeli Defence Force uses Krav Maga, naturally, and people who trained with it can and will take on peopletwic their size. I have a friend who is a black belt in Krav Maga. He is about 1.65 meters, probably weighs about 60 kg. I am 1.77 meters and I weigh 70 kg. I would never, never, never pick a fight with him for real. Training counts for a lot, espcially in stressful situations. He knos how and where to place a puch and how to block twis and breake the opponents arm. In violent situations Im a very violent person, and usually in fights i have used anything at hand, and also bit, scratched and spit my way into causing as much damage as possible. So what? one fist by hi mto the right place and im opn the floor crying like a todler.

Kinda like me, 1.89m and 105 kg and shifu is 1.7 and soaking wet he weighs in at maybe 60kg and its no contest... for him.

I have recently discovered another point at which wing chun training would be of use in hand to hand combat. There is a practice of toughening up the arms that renders them able to stop a blow from a solid object without pain or damage. Its no bs, I am a real skeptic about this stuff so I wouldnt have believed it if I hadn't witnessed it. And now going through the undoubtedly painful and bruising process of getting to that level.