New MA from Scratch

[RenDaHai]

Ok,

Hypothetical

Its a post apocalyptic future.... You need to teach your group of survivors a few fighting moves quickly. They have no Previous experience and not much time to train, but supplies are limited and its necessary that they are ready to fight.

What do you teach them? A new MA from scratch, easy to learn, only for actual combat effectiveness, no rules, desperate situation, fully incapacitate or kill. What strategy? What formula? What techniques?

What are your few moves?

[JamesC]

Basic boxing, perhaps a couple kicks, and lots and lots of basic weapon striking.

In that situation you're gonna have to HTFU(Harden the F*** Up) and drill full-contact all the time too.

Drilling ruthlessness into them would be biggest thing, I'd think. You'd have to kinda brainwash them into making sure they will do whatever is necessary to win.

I'd like to hear Bawang's theory on this because it is kind of a throwback to ancient warfare and tactics.

[RenDaHai]

Sounds cool. I like the ruthlessness.

I might modify the boxing a bit though, I've hurt my knuckles a lot in the past and I'd trained for a long time. If they are amateurs and have to go straight into bare knuckle their hands might get smashed and cut up quickly.

Saying that I'm not sure what I'd teach instead yet...

[SimonM]

Yeah, train them up on weapons.

Post-apocalyptic scenario will dictate what sort of weapons.

If firearms are still plentiful, teach them how to shoot, back-up with machette, spear, axe or some other tool-weapon / easily constructed weapon.

If firearms are not plentiful I'll thank my lucky stars I know how to build a longbow and it's time to train some archers.... again plus training in tool-weapon or simple-to-construct weapon melee training.

Keep the bare-hand stuff simple and basic.

[RenDaHai]

Ok I see that,

The whole post apocalyptic thing was just a scenario to pose the question,

What I'm really interested in is if you had to teach a really cut down MA, just a few moves, a simple strategy, what would it be? what would be those essential few moves?

[Jimbo]

I'd agree with the above, put IMO, more of the emphasis should be on simple weapons training, such as knives, machetes, clubs, projectile weapons, etc. If it's post-apocalyptic, there may or may not be many working firearms available, and if so, they wouldn't last long overall, requiring maintenance, ammo, etc.

In such a case, all thoughts of 'health-oriented' MA are out. Your life expectancy will have dropped considerably, and since there would be no modern medical care, even relatively minor wounds could become life-altering or fatal due to infection, inability to keep up, etc. And you need to be able to keep up and pull your own weight or be left behind. Since you will need to scavenge and hunt game, I'm not sure going balls-out full-contact all the time would be the wisest choice. It needs to be done to a degree, but survival in such a scenario would need to extend far beyond hand-to-hand fighting. But yes, whatever is taught must be very simple and easy to learn.

[SimonM]

Your scenario shapes the question though - immediate survival in a situation with a total civil breakdown requires a concentration on killin' stuff, and that means weapons, with weapon selection predicated on what's available.

[RenDaHai]

Fair enough

But what about the strategy you teach them?

What principles should they apply to combat?

Keep the weapon hidden until you are in range even if it means keeping your guard down? Or keep a safe guard but lose the advantage of surprise? What words of advice on strategy might you give them?

[JamesC]

I'm still going with ruthlessness. Cobra Kai style!

Seriously, though, if we're talking about post-apocalyptic then we're most likely talking about social infrastructure collapse. And that means survival of the fittest.

No law and no moral or ethical gauge equates to constant danger from any person you encounter.

Obviously you're going to have people that are trustworthy and still hold on to their moral compass, but you'll also have people that are no longer hindered by "Big Brother" and, as such, lose all inhibitions.

Strength in numbers and tactics. Basic weapons and battle tactics and the will to do whatever is necessary to win. Very Spartan, really.

[David Jamieson]

weapons would be my focus.

pipes and rebar would be the materials. I am assuming wood would be scarce.

Blades would also be in the mix.

attacks for blunts:
-swing down full force two handed
-baseball swing
-thrust
-low wrapping strikes

attacks for blade:
-thrust
-draw
-parry
-rotate
-flip

Kicks and punches:
-P's
-straight jab
-straight cross
-short hooks
-piston punch
-uppercuts

-K's
-Front push
-shovel
-joint targeting
-cutters
-stomp and crush
-knees
-tail and side kicks
-snap kick (groin shots)


also, gun use would be high on the curriculum.

[SimonM]

Scarcity of wood would depend on the nature of the apocalyptic event again, but, yeah, the rebar-as-post-apocalyptic-resource thing is definitely something I considered...

Ya know, in my post-apocalyptic novels.

As for tactics, I'd probably go for small-unit cohesive tactics.

Chances are you won't have a barbarian horde at your disposal so you want a small group of people, trained to work in concert, and applying techniques to defend multiple ranges of attack.

Throw in a bit of Sunzi for good measure and bob's your uncle.

[YouKnowWho]

What I'm really interested in is if you had to teach a really cut down MA, just a few moves, a simple strategy, what would it be? what would be those essential few moves?

- Hold your hands into a big fist.
- Hide your head behind your both arms,
- Deflect your opponent's punch, and
- Drive your big fist into your opponent's head.

[lkfmdc]

all forms of fighting begin with wrestling and evolve outward

[RenDaHai]

yeah, With a small group strategy and teamwork would be everything...

@ Dave, yeah, thats more what I'm looking for... What are the essentials.....

[RenDaHai]

- Hold your hands into a big fist.
- Hide your head behind your both arms,
- Deflect your opponent's punch, and
- Drive your big fist into your opponent's head.

You make it sound so easy....

This kind of strategy relies on you being more skilled than your opponent. Its worthless if your not. Think David Vs Goliath. I'm looking for something that will let a weak amateur beat a stronger man. Something Simple, something clever.....