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All the hand to hand I learned was practical, but it was meant to make the mind more aware of the body and vice versa, a discipline tool and the equivalent of a fire extinguisher. Sure you probably don't need one... till you really goddess damn need one.

Our general rule of thumb though was if the enemy's gotten close enough to end up in a tussel you've done fethed up bad.

Thanks for answering.

Yeah and if you do tussle the guy who wins is the dude who's friends show up first.

What do you mean by practical. I know the marines have mcmap.

I am kind of derailing the thread a little so I apologise.

The reason I asked is because people often assume that if someone is ex military they know their stuff when it comes to martial arts, which isn't always the case.

 Grey Templar wrote:
And IIRC from what I've learned a lot of it focuses on increasing distance to allow the use of your firearm.

Yeah that would make sense, if you hit someone with the but of your gun it's to make enough space to shoot them.

Practical martial arts means you can actually use it to fight someone.

 carlos13th wrote:

What do you mean by practical. I know the marines have mcmap..

Ahh good old MCMAP ( Marine Corps Martial Arts Program for those wondering). I spent several years in a Marine Rifle Battalion including several deployments and the running joke was always that MCMAP teaches you just enough martial arts to have the confidence to start a fight and get your ass kicked. And indeed, if you have to karate chop a guy in a gunfight you are doing it wrong.

As per our doctrine "assault" generally referred to closing with the enemy using fire and maneuver in order to shoot him closer, or use grenades to root them out of defilade or dug in positions. Though we were issued bayonets no one ever carried them.

On the other hand, a soviet fighting for Stalin might have had a much different definition of assault than me!

Since my recent conversion into an ordained Batllegroup Preacher I have to say that their rules for assaults got it about right. They can occur within 5 inches (no base to base contact required) allowing the uses of grenades and increased ROF for SMGs.

I will clarify and amend my statement that Mcslap is a practical martial art in the sense that it's used to actual fight people to point out I don't mean you'll fight them well. Semper fu's kinda useless in the grand scheme of things. It might be more helpful if it was used for actual martial arts instruction over glorified hazing, however, as was mentioned, if you're going hand to hand the gak's so utterly hit the fan you're probably already dead.

I'd take Strom's word over mine though. I'm just a winger pog who got to play Opfor a lot. I'll defend my lifestyle choice and wings on the grounds that walking sucks though

Most of the techniques in MCMAP I have seen seem legit enough, it has punches from boxing, takedowns from wrestling.and locks from Bjj. Thing is the amount of time marines will actually spend on it, the amount the instructors care about it and the amount of time spent sparring isn't always a great deal. Time is usually better spent improving a marines shooting skills.

I know enough martial arts to know that outside of the gym never worth fighting if you don't absolutely have to no matter how confident you are in your abilities. Even winning a fight can land you injured or in jail.

McSlap! Haha I haven't heard that one yet. And yeah at the upper levels of the program I've come to understand that there is some pretty legit stuff in it, but at the lower level it really is like taking after school Karate and replacing the "Hi-Yah!" with "Marine Corps!". The absurdity of it all is best reflected as KalashnikovMarine accurately describes "Semper Fu".

I would also like to brag to KalashnikovMarine that I remained a tan belt warrior till the day I EAS'd. Even as a sergeant!

Ok sorry I'm dragging this really off topic. So to answer the OP question:

if you have a Tan belt in MCMAP? No.

That's more than us Army guys get. We learned just enough 'martial arts' to get our butts kicked at any bar.
But we had an instructor that boiled assault down to "kicking doors and throwing grenades."
When we were issued bayonets we thought it was a joke. Most stayed in our foot lockers.
(I had a nice recon tanto for a knife. Much nicer than the bayonet.)

 Strombones wrote:


I would also like to brag to KalashnikovMarine that I remained a tan belt warrior till the day I EAS'd. Even as a sergeant!

.

Props. I got dragged kicking and screaming ( ) to grey belt.

I own and play Early War Finns, Mid war, and Late war Finns. These are all armys will large amounts of Vetern Infantry. If I dig them in you wont be able to make them budge without some effort.
I am starting a Early War Japanese army and the way they play is all Assault. You can mulch most other army's in assault to the point where Khorne Berserkers's would look at them with Envy.

So yes, assault matters.