Combatives and the Inclusion of Force on Force Training

Force on Force, Pressure Testing, call it what you prefer. I was always very skeptical about the concept after reading about it or watching it on Youtube and such. It seemed to be more of a game than anything else, and I still believe that too many times it does degenerate into a game. However after going to an MDTS Seminar in December 2015 where I actually got the opportunity to do some, I now feel that as long as the instructor doesn't allow it to turn into a game it does have value.

The shorter duration type of Force on Force certainly lends itself more towards a realistic confrontation than a multiple round sparring event. The most important thing I took from it was how important a good level of cardio conditioning counts. I did two 30 second bursts with a little less than a minute rest in between and while I got through the first one alright, I only made it about 15 seconds or so through the second. I was huffing so hard the instructor kept asking me if I was ok. I think he was worried about me having a heart attack. Considering I was 61 at the time I can’t say as I blamed him. It also definitely proved the value of gross motor skills, and how your ‘plan’ is always the first casualty.

The Image below was not of me. It was two other participants at the Seminar.



The guy I was matched against was a good 20 years (or more) younger than me, about 3 inches shorter and at least 20 pounds heavier. I'm pretty sure he was a construction worker, and once we went at it I became quite sure he was stronger than me. I was the good guy with the knife and the FIST helmet and he played the bad guy for the first go round. The forward pressure he exerted on me never gave me a chance to try and get fancy or technical, but I managed, even through the panic his constant aggression put on me, to at least try to target my strikes with the training knife I was using. I remembered to go high and low and to try to get a better angle to attack from. It was sloppy as hell and definitely not pretty, but I still managed, even through the adrenaline dump and believe me, there was one, to maintain at least a marginal semblance of a cohesive defense/attack.

It was, to say the least, eye-opening.

At the 2002 Combatives Seminar at Keane Univ, in NJ, Carl Cestari had us do what he called the 'Dogpile'. You stood there surrounded by just about everybody else in the class (at least 15 or 16 guys) and on the signal they all rushed you while holding large sized kick shields in front of them (about 16" x 24" +/-). They weren't allowed to punch or kick you, but they would repeatedly ram into you and try to knock you to the ground (virtually always succeeding). Your job was to get to the other end of the 'Dogpile' and out the other end. Whether you were on the ground or your feet, it didn't matter. The point was to give you an idea of being banged around repeatedly with little or no let up.

As Carl noted at the end of the drill, there was one thing we all had in common after we got out. None of us looked pretty doing it. The point was to persevere, take the abuse and keep on fighting no matter how sloppily you did it. Just as long as you did it.

Let me tell you, having Mika S. or Ron F. Batter and ram you, kick shield or no kick shield, was nobodies idea of a good time. Not entertaining at all (unless you were in the bleachers watching, LOL!) but it certainly gave you an idea of being under constant aggressive pressure from multiple attackers.

Below are photos from the 'Dogpile' drill. The victim in the following photos was a guy we’ll call ‘Les’.

In the first photo he's the guy in the white tee shirt in the middle of the pile who's already been knocked to his knees. In the second photo he's completely surrounded and getting pummeled, and in the third photo he's at the right hand side of the pile and has just gotten clear to make his escape.







Nothing can really duplicate a real attack, but drills like this force you 'turn it on', and as you get a little more accustomed to the pressure (chaos/fear/ panic, call it what you will), your brain becomes a little more functional. That should be what allows you to actually use what you've trained (even if it comes out sloppy) and not just start flailing about.

‘Les’ described his experience at the bottom of the Dogpile this way;

Being the guy at the bottom of the pile, what I recall is luckily having my right arm free, as I was face down getting crushed. I recall starting to get dudes moving off me by using repeated EOH strikes--the first to someone's Achilles tendon area, the rest--as opportunity presented itself. Really, it was just about causing pain, and getting people to change their attitude towards something that served my goals--which in that instance, was getting them the fuck off me! HAHAHA!!!

My escape methodology was different from 'Les'. When my turn finally came around, I wound up literally crawling out of the pile from in-between somebody's legs. A technique I remembered from watching the 3 Stooges during my misspent youth! :-)

There was also another guy we’ll call ‘H.F.’ who gave the best performance of the day. After escaping the Dogpile we were supposed to hit the two BOB dummies before completing our escape.

‘H.F.’ pulled out an airsoft and shot them.

Now that's what I call style!

So to sum things up, while for quite a few years I didn’t think much of Force on Force training, I have now come around to the belief that when done properly, it should be added to Combatives training. When combined with regular drilling, whether with a partner or working on a heavy bag or BOB type training dummy it will be a worthwhile aid in training.