Close Quarters Combat // Tzviel (BK) BlankchteinGround fighting and its tactical applications

Published 8 July 2008

Every grappler, Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, and wrestler thinks that if he can take the fight to the ground, he will win; there are, however, a few inherent problems with this approach

Ground fighting is the latest rage. Every grappler, Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, and wrestler thinks that if he can take the fight to the ground, he will win. There are, however, a few inherent problems with this approach:

  1. The ground is rough, uneven, and has a multitude of environmental obstacles (glass, stones, and curbs, to mention but a few). It is not the nice, clean mat most people are used to training on. The hip escape one performs to get someone off the “mount” position is completely different when tried on asphalt or mud.
  2. A good grappler can maintain control of one opponent on the ground, and can even inflict serious damage on that opponent, but he will still find it hard to deal with multiple opponents, which is often the case in most scenarios (think gang attacks, for instance).
  3. One on one, on the ground, a competent grappler can submit, break limbs, choke out, and perform other defensive moves…all that until a weapon is introduced. Although it is possible to defend against a weapon on the ground, it becomes significantly more challenging than when standing up.
  4. Lastly, grappling is great for the average citizen or the mixed-martial-artist wearing shorts and a T-shirt, but for military personnel wearing plate loaded vests, MOLLE packs, and slung weapons, and even for the LE officers wearing a duty belt with full gear, movement on the ground becomes painful, cumbersome, and almost impossible.

Ground fighting does have its use and applications. It is an accepted idea that most fights go to, or end on, the ground. The truth of the matter is that if an officer employs proper defensive tactics, he should be able to avoid going to the ground until it is time to prone the suspect and place him in handcuffs. Nonetheless, people slip, get tackled by multiple attackers, are taken by surprise, or simply fight someone who wants to take the fight to the ground and is successful in doing so. This force officers to train for those scenarios.

The options available to an officer taken to the ground are many. The obvious one is to get back up and transition to a higher force option or use more personal weapons which are then available. This may not always be possible. Option two is to stay on the ground. Posing two new questions: should you create space so you can perform any kind of grappling maneuver (transitioning to