The U.S. military uses a hybrid fighting system called the Modern Army Combatives Program (MACP), which blends techniques from Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling, boxing, and Muay Thai into a single curriculum designed for the battlefield. Other countries have developed their own systems: Israel trains all soldiers in Krav Maga, while Russia relies on Combat Sambo. None of these are pure martial arts styles pulled from a dojo. They’re purpose-built programs shaped by the realities of fighting in body armor, carrying weapons, and operating under extreme stress.
The Modern Army Combatives Program
The MACP is the U.S. Army’s official hand-to-hand combat system, governed by Training Circular 3-25.150 (last updated in 2017). It replaced older, more rigid bayonet-and-boxing approaches with a system heavily influenced by mixed martial arts. The core of the program emphasizes ground fighting and clinch work, drawing from Brazilian jiu-jitsu and wrestling, because real fights between soldiers in gear frequently end up on the ground. Standing techniques from boxing and Muay Thai round out the striking side.
The program is structured into three levels. The Basic Combatives Course (BCC) is a 40-hour course that covers fundamental hand-to-hand techniques and is open to members of all armed forces branches. The Tactical Combatives Course (TCC) builds on those basics with more scenario-driven training. At the top sits the Combatives Master Trainer Course (CMTC), which qualifies soldiers to teach the system across their units.
How Gear Changes Everything
What separates military combatives from civilian martial arts isn’t just the techniques. It’s the context. Advanced-level MACP training happens in full body armor, boots, and combat uniforms. Early versions of the program had soldiers grappling in gym clothes, but the curriculum shifted to be more realistic. Soldiers now train in the same load they’d carry on a mission, which changes how every technique feels and works. A rear choke that flows smoothly in a T-shirt becomes an entirely different problem when your opponent is wearing a plate carrier.
Beyond unarmed fighting, the program covers handcuffing, vehicle extraction (pulling a person out of a car), and weapons retention, the skill of keeping your own firearm from being taken. This makes it far more practical than any single martial art. The goal isn’t to win a sparring match. It’s to control a situation until you can get back to your primary weapon or restrain someone.
Transitioning Between Weapons and Fists
Military doctrine treats hand-to-hand combat as a last resort, not a first option. Small arms and grenades are always preferred. But soldiers train for the moments when those options fail: a rifle jam during room clearing, a close-quarters encounter in a trench, or a situation where civilians are nearby and firearms would cause unacceptable risk.
The Army’s combatives training intentionally connects armed and unarmed fighting into a continuous system. A soldier learns to transition from rifle to bayonet to bare hands instinctively, choosing the right level of force based on the situation. The bayonet, fixed to the end of a rifle, serves as a backup weapon if the rifle malfunctions. As soldiers advance, bayonet techniques merge with hand-to-hand skills so the shift between them feels seamless rather than like switching between two separate playbooks.
Israel’s Krav Maga
Every soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces learns Krav Maga as part of basic training. The system was originally developed for the Israeli military in the 1940s and later adapted for civilian self-defense schools worldwide, but the military version remains distinct. IDF soldiers train specifically to defend against abduction attempts, knife attacks, and violent confrontations with rioters, scenarios that reflect the security threats Israeli forces regularly face.
Krav Maga’s philosophy is built around ending a threat as quickly as possible. It emphasizes aggressive counterattacks, targeting vulnerable areas like the eyes, throat, and groin, and assumes the attacker may be armed. There are no competition rules because the system was never designed for sport. The civilian version taught in gyms around the world is a toned-down adaptation. The military curriculum is more brutal and more narrowly focused on the situations soldiers actually encounter.
Russia’s Combat Sambo
Russian military and special forces units train in Combat Sambo, a fighting system that functions as a self-contained mixed martial art. It includes striking, standing grappling, and ground fighting, making it one of the more complete military systems in the world. Sambo actually exists in three branches: Sport Sambo (pure grappling, similar to judo), Combat Sambo (a full-contact competition format that resembles MMA), and Military Sambo, which is the version designed for actual combat.
You may also hear about Systema, a Russian martial art sometimes associated with Spetsnaz special forces. Systema focuses on breathing, relaxation, and fluid improvised movement rather than structured techniques. In practice, it’s considered far less reliable than Sambo. It rarely involves full-contact sparring, and practitioners generally acknowledge that Systema only becomes useful if you already have a solid foundation in something like Sambo or another combat-tested system. Most credible assessments treat Combat Sambo as Russia’s real military fighting method.
Why Military Systems Look Similar
Despite different names and national origins, military fighting systems around the world have converged on similar principles. They all prioritize techniques that work under stress, in restrictive clothing, against armed opponents. They all favor gross motor movements (big, simple actions) over fine motor skills because adrenaline makes precise movements unreliable. And they all treat hand-to-hand combat as one piece of a larger tactical picture rather than an end in itself.
The biggest misconception is that soldiers spend months mastering a fighting style. In reality, the Basic Combatives Course in the U.S. Army is 40 hours, taught roughly once per quarter. That’s enough to build a foundation, not to create an expert. Soldiers who want deeper skill pursue the advanced courses or train on their own time. The military’s primary investment is in marksmanship and small-unit tactics. Combatives exist for the narrow but critical gap when everything else has failed and you’re close enough to touch the enemy.