And how many hand-to-hand fights to the death have you personally been in?  How many times have you been punched in the face?  How would you respond to being attacked by a guy with a blade while you are unarmed?

 

What an ignorant comment to make.  These programs are exceeding useful because they place the focus on the Marine as weapon, rather than on hardware and equipment.  When we began line training, the first step was having everyone get punched in the face - not a knockout blow, but a closed fist punch - you'd be surprised how many people have never been punched in the face before.  That is not an experience you want for the first time when you are fighting for your life.  The WMs usually started crying right away (most, not all, but most). 

 

Aside from the mental aspects of personal confidence and aggressiveness, the programs, when done routinely, instill the muscle memory that enables reflexive action and eases re-learning the skill after periods of no training.  That is priceless.  Having a reflexive response to personal attack is not something that Americans in general have EVER had.  That comes from practice, practice, practice - and the more that US servicemen are exposed to this type of training, the better.

 

 

 

The importance of combatives training is demonstrated on a pretty daily basis over in the big cat box, so I think the Marines have a good idea.

 

Adding their own in-house belt system, however, is about the gayest thing any military organization has done since some ancient Greek units actually required you to be gay to join.  Even those guys may think the USMC belts are gayer, hard to say.

 

would that be a bayonet?

  I'm just not sure Martial Arts is practical vs. "street" fighting techniques, which are more realistic and deadly.  The environment certainly won't be like training on a blue mat under bright lights.  But it's better than nothing I suppose.