C4 Combatives

               By Matt Larsen :                What does it mean to be a warrior? The word warrior gets thrown around a lot these day, especially in today’s military, but getting a hard and fast definition is difficult. Perhaps, this is because so many people who haven’t a warrior bone in their body, non-the-less want to identify with the image.                                  In the Army of the 1980s and 90s it was common to refer to both units and military occupational specialties (MOS) as either combat or combat support/combat service and support, effectively dividing the Army into those who would do the fighting and those who supported them. This bifurcation came crashing d...

If you have even the slightest involvement in self-protection you’ve probably heard of the infamous Gabrielle Rubin of Women’s Awareness. A self-proclaimed “Self-Defense Expert” given a huge platform to display what we will refer to as ineffective defensive moves designed specifically for women. The issues with her techniques have been broken down by far too many credible instructors to name each individually. Most of these instructors were even kind enough to share effective technical answers to certain types of attacks free of charge on their Facebook or YouTube channel. Blake Hayes , a Gracie Humaita black belt and the Co-Founder of Sheepdog Response with his wife also a black belt; did an incredible job breaking down the many issues with Rubin’s “techniques.” Interestingly enough Royce Gracie Black Belt Eli Knight of Knight Jiu-Jitsu shared many credible defenses on his YouTube Channel days before the release of her video. Eli’s channel is also a great resource for fu...

By Matt Larsen : Kratophobe – A person who claims to be a warrior and yet has an irrational fear of realistic hand-to-hand combat training . Etymology, from the Greek kratos meaning strength, might or power. As in the name of the ancient Olympic sport of pankration which means competition with all powers (No holds barred) and the Greek word phobia meaning irrational fear. In a recent conversation about people who are afraid of Combatives. I was reminded of the word "Hoplophobe" coined by COL Jeff Cooper to refer to people who have an irrational fear of guns. The root word is hoplos, as in hoplite, which means arms in Greek. COL Cooper said it this way: I coined the term "hoplophobia" in 1962 in response to a perceived need for a word to describe a mental aberration consisting of an unreasoning terror of gadgetry, specifically, weapons. The most common manifestation of hoplophobia is the idea that instruments possess a will of their own, apa...