Hand-to-hand and Corners

“In all the world’s militaries, who are the best hand to hand fighters?”

The ones backed into the most desperate corners.

We’re strange creatures. We have laws governing everything from soda size to what is justifiable self-defense. We have esoteric debates on ethics and morality… faith and lack of faith… right and wrong. We’d love to believe that we are above the primal ability to inflict gory harm on an opponent…

…Until we are backed into that corner.

I’d love to offer examples; for now, opinion will suffice.

Think of it this way: when placed into such a situation where someone has to defend themselves with whatever is handy, is there a preferred technique/style going through the mind of the victim? Probably not – visceral fear inevitably leads to free-flowing violence.

While on deployments, I would often pose a similar question during the “wait” periods which inevitably punctuated the “hurry up” times: “would you rather fight someone trained or untrained?” This applies here as well, but in terms of discipline: it would seem far worse to deal with someone untrained than someone who knows their own limits, offensively and defensively.

“…Who are the best hand to hand fighters?” could easily be differentiated between conscripts and standing volunteer forces. Some may rout, some may remain to the last man… and history shows that there is never a definite rule which can predict which will do what. However, I stand firm in my statement that, regardless of training or national identity, the best hand to hand fighter will always be the individual with no other recourse and option but to do everything they can to survive…