In China, it refers to any study, learning, or practice that requires patience, energy, and time to complete. In its original meaning, kung fu can refer to any discipline or skill achieved through hard work and practice, not necessarily martial arts. There are five belt levels in MCMAP, beginning with an entry-level tan belt that requires 27.5 hours of training time. Similarly to karate, the MCMAP black belt has multiple degrees– six to be precise. Members of infantry are generally required to earn a grey belt at the very least. Marines that want to become instructors themselves can take courses to become a Martial Arts Instructor , or a more senior Martial Arts Instructors-Trainers .
One of the core concepts of this art involves trapping and disarming using the “live hand” or the extra hand without a weapon. Now, we’ve already mentioned how difficult disarms are, but if the opportunity arises, it’s better to know the skill than to be stabbed in the gut. Dan Inosanto, Bruce Lee’s most famous student, is a master of the self-defense art and still teaches it today. Well, the martial arts system that Christian Bale based his fighting style around in the movies is called The Keysi Fighting Method. The reason I chose Kajukenbo for my list of the deadliest martial arts, is that it was developed for the streets.
As with most martial arts, Krav Maga encourages avoidance of conflicts first and foremost. If that is impossible, however, this form of self-defense hinges on quickly and efficiently disabling opponents. It also encourages pre-emptive striking and a barrage of blows using everything from limbs to items grabbed from one’s surroundings to disarm an opponent.
These techniques eventually developed into the LINE System in the early 1980s, which gave way to the Marine Corps Close Combat Training Program in the late 1990s. A few years later, MCMAP was formalized, and the rest, as they say, is history. Now, when you think of martial arts you’ll probably think of Asia and imagine martial arts legend Bruce Lee doing his miraculous one-inch punch or John Wick performing a clean Ippon Seoi Nage judo throw. However, Italy and Greece actually have the oldest martial arts traditions in the world. Paranza Corta is a method of knife fighting meant for assassins and is still very much alive today.
Today, the British infantry teaches the basics of close-quarters combat, preferring to focus more on weapon training. British special forces such as the SAS do include weaponless fighting in their training, however, but the particular techniques and martial arts that they use are highly classified. Learning to defend yourself with your hands, like learning marine fighting style to drive or shoot, means repetition, analysis, adjustment, and trying again. If you approach the process expecting to become Randy Couture in a matter of weeks, the problem isn’t the program …it’s you. If you need proof of the value that martial arts can provide, consider that the U.S. government has funded the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program since 2002.
Defense forces across Southeast Asia still use Silat as part of their training. Well, Silat is an Indonesian martial art that involves dirty everything from strikes to joint manipulation. Lethwei is a brutal Burmese martial art that is an answer to Muay Thai. It’s known as “The Art of Nine Limbs” and there is quite a bit of crossover between Muay Thai and Lethwei fighters. ‘Inflexibility’ here essentially means that it wasn’t always effective in the context of real combat. So while certain techniques may be able to kill effectively – it’s a little hit-and-miss.