Airborne hand-to-hand combat. Interview with an airborne veteran

Now it is fashionable to talk about special forces, martial arts, special forces training, but this is often talked about by people who have only superficial knowledge of these things.

I became interested in what a representative of, as it is now fashionable to say, the special forces of the Soviet army would tell (anonymously) about this, about what place martial arts occupied in the training of soldiers and whether the concept of hand-to-hand combat existed.

« Now the pretentious word “special forces” has become fashionable and a common noun, but then there was no such term in wide use».

The military unit in which I began to serve was located in Armenia and, at that time, mountain training took place there. Later, after my dismissal, in the 80s, I learned from letters from colleagues that many who underwent training (these were cadets and officers) left for Afghanistan. In addition, the guys who served in our unit, a later conscription, as part of a consolidated company, also went to Afghanistan.

My military career was not limited to conscript service, and already in the 80s, I entered the school of warrant officers of the Airborne Forces, so I can compare the specifics of conscript and extra-conscript service.

I had to serve in conscript service in a separate reconnaissance platoon of an airborne assault battalion. The guys recruited there were athletic, had ranks, had parachute training, and, as a rule, had an education.

Now the pretentious word “special forces” has become fashionable and a common noun, but then there was no such term in wide use. In addition to the frequent use of the term “special forces,” you can now often find certain “specialists” who are presented as “hand-to-hand combat instructors.” Neither in military service, nor in the school of warrant officers, nor in further service, I have never encountered such a term; I only learned about it in the movies. During conscript service, we were taught physical (with elements of special) training by a major transferred from the GRU for health reasons. He was a man who was sincerely in love with martial arts and, more often than not, he trained with us. The reasons for this were, firstly, the battalion commander’s love for sports and our specific nature of service.

“Today, many people see service in the special forces of the Airborne Forces as a series of fights, training in hand-to-hand combat and nothing more.”

The major explained to us that he was showing combat sambo techniques, which is actually what I heard about in the army. Not about sambo in general, but specifically about the combat section, in which the main task is based on eliminating the enemy. It cannot be said that we were being trained to be some kind of movie heroes, however, those who wanted to did so learned something. And there was a lot to learn; the training included techniques with weapons, removing a sentry, and there were sparrings.

Today, many people imagine service in the special forces of the Airborne Forces as a series of fights, training in hand-to-hand combat and nothing more. But this is a completely wrong idea; the soldier in these units, as well as in all other branches of the military, is engaged in cleaning the territory, sweeping the parade ground, and going to the outfits. Nevertheless, we had the so-called special training, but it did not look like how it is shown in the movies. In my opinion, a big role in our training was played by the battalion commander and major who taught physical training, as well as some young officers who had recently come from the Ryazan Airborne School.

“We didn’t really know anything about karate, just as we didn’t have the term “hand-to-hand combat” in our everyday life.

According to some fans of martial arts, karate techniques were actively introduced into the power structures of the USSR. In fact, we didn’t really know anything about karate, just as we didn’t have the term “hand-to-hand combat” in our everyday life. Elements of karate were more common in the school of warrant officers, although in a very modified version, and then mainly because it was the personal initiative of some people. In fact, all preparation took place with combat elements of sambo.

Sparring took place both during conscript service and at the ensign school, and in the conscript service they were even tougher. At that moment, we needed to go through a kind of initiation - surrender to the beret, to the guards badge. True, this was an unofficial tradition, passing from conscription to conscription, but such an “exam” had to be passed. This consisted of passing standards and sparring with senior soldiers and, if our major was involved in this, then with officers.

It looked like some kind of mixed martial arts, everyone tried to do what they could. Of course, no one killed anyone, but the fight did not stop, even if the opponents fell to the ground. The boxers who came from wrestling backgrounds looked most confident, despite their non-combat arsenal of techniques, sambo wrestlers. Although at that time I myself came from judo, I cannot help but note that despite all the similarities between judo and sambo, sambo wrestlers still looked more confident (but this should not be perceived as some kind of superiority of one type over the other). It helped me personally that I had, in addition to wrestling, boxing skills.

“Coming from ordinary combat sports, they looked quite confident, they were easily trained in combat techniques.”

As I already said, we had not heard anything about karate then and there were no karatekas among us. Now, knowing about many types of martial arts, it seems to me that the officer who taught physical training had elements of jiu-jitsu.

After military service, when Soviet youth actively attended underground karate sections, where I myself went, we heard about kung fu and jiu-jitsu (although I had heard about it earlier from one of my acquaintances who served in the Pacific Fleet).

Later, while studying at the ensign school, I had to deal with people from karate, as well as a representative of kung fu, at least as he spoke about himself.

From personal experience, without claiming to be the ultimate truth, I can say that in a real fight, the traditional version of martial arts will be ineffective. Sport is the basis, competitive practice, endurance, these are the things without which it is impossible to gain combat skill. Those who came from ordinary martial arts looked quite confident and easily learned combat techniques. As for karate and kung fu, from the outside they looked good, but everything ended as soon as sparring began. But it should be taken into account that there was no need to talk about high professionalism in these martial arts in our circle (although in my life I saw an example of how one of the young people on the train managed to resist several attackers with the help of karate skills - - approx. ed.). And here again the guys from boxing, sambo and wrestling looked more confident, since the training in these disciplines, at that time, was much stronger. As for talking about combat moments in martial arts, in my opinion, the talk of some martial arts schools that boxing, wrestling, is just a sport is a manifestation of incompetence.

Now, of course, the picture has changed, more information has appeared, styles such as sanda, kudo, kyokushinkai, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu have appeared in our country, but I’m talking about specific moments involving the variants of martial arts known at that time.

And, in general, you should remember that there are no bad or good martial arts, you should clearly understand why you are doing it, what goals you are pursuing.

Kochergin even surpassed Badyuk. I haven’t heard about him for a long time, but a recent video reminded me once again how saturated martial arts are with all kinds of swindlers.

Documentary!

Only from documentaries there is dubious information and, frankly, shameful archival videos.

If everything that is shown in the video was really taught in this form, then one can only condole hand-to-hand combat in the Airborne Forces.

Firstly, the technique of performing the techniques is terrible, even by the standards of Soviet karate.

Secondly, training in some kind of medical battalion???

And let’s be honest, hand-to-hand combat, of course, is a cool thing, but, often, many trainers either have poor “strikes” or are very bad at wrestling (the latter is the most common). And you won’t see, for example, among the champions and celebrities in MMA, representatives of the Republic of Belarus of any kind, and this says something about martial arts, since mixed types are a litmus test, a kind of test for the reality of one type or another. And just don’t talk about being “imprisoned” for real combat. In a real battle, you need ammunition, military equipment and specialists who could operate it.

As for hand-to-hand combat, there are specific techniques that were not shown at all in this pseudo-documentary film.

I had the opportunity to communicate with veterans of the special forces of the Airborne Forces, special forces of the GRU, who served in those years, there was nothing close to what was shown and said in the film in the Soviet airborne units (maybe with rare exceptions). Yes, and they taught specific techniques, such as removing the sentry, taking the tongue, and not the entire ballet shown.

The most important. Yes, the faces shown may be quite real, yes, perhaps some swindler could teach this incomprehensible mixture of Soviet-style shotokan, but those who are new to the security forces do not understand the main thing.

Army, Ministry of Internal Affairs. The FSB and other structures have always been places of “nepotism” and cronyism. Being there as some kind of instructor is not a reflection of professionalism. All such positions were always filled by “thieves”. You teach yourself physical training, and the service continues, the titles are also not bad.

Well, Kasyanov was an athlete in the army.

Let's be objective and ask ourselves: did he have real combat experience? He trained some doctors, for this they had their hours of their specialized subjects reduced.

That is, there is some kind of terrible profanation here too. And Kasyanov did not develop the ARB, but his own version of the RB, without contact to the head, more reminiscent of karate.

Shturmin. With all due respect, what real combat experience did he have? Soviet intellectual, with a fashionable passion. Was he involved somewhere? Did you fight somewhere?

I remember the fight scenes they filmed in Spotlight. If it were not for Sambo techniques, it would be excruciatingly painful to watch this, especially a fight with repeat offenders.

This whole story with the medical battalions, in which they taught semi-karate, clearly reminds me of the Kadochnikov system, which was taught for, in fact, a construction battalion.

The creators of this film did not even think about how much they disgraced the physical training in the Airborne Forces, athletes from hand-to-hand combat. Having seen such a film, a specialist will think about what kind of professionalism can we even talk about in airborne units?

The worst thing is that all this took place, which means that our hand-to-hand combat is even worse than I thought.

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Preparation for hand-to-hand combat in the Airborne Forces

During combat operations, units and units of the Airborne Forces, as a rule, will carry out combat missions deep behind enemy lines in direct contact with him. The basis for carrying out combat missions of units (groups) behind enemy lines includes: reconnaissance of an object and secretly approaching it, a surprise attack and destruction of an object, and a quick retreat to their main forces. In the event of a surprise attack on the enemy, when defeat by fire is limited, hand-to-hand combat becomes one of the main means of accomplishing a combat mission for paratroopers. Thus, mastery of hand-to-hand combat skills for Airborne Forces personnel acquires one of the paramount importance. Therefore, the main task of physical training is to develop readiness for action in hand-to-hand combat with a numerically superior enemy.

To successfully conduct combat operations behind enemy lines, a paratrooper must master the entire arsenal of hand-to-hand combat:

– actions of attack and defense with and without weapons, improvised means;

– methods of capturing the enemy, searching him, tying him up and escorting him;

– the ability to conduct hand-to-hand combat with several opponents armed with various weapons and improvised means;

– ways of interaction and mutual assistance during actions in hand-to-hand combat.

Based on this, personnel and officers study hand-to-hand combat techniques of the special RB-2 complex, and military personnel of reconnaissance units and cadets of the airborne command school learn hand-to-hand combat techniques of the special RB-3 complex. Additionally, military personnel of all categories study hand-to-hand combat techniques according to a special program developed by physical training specialists of the Airborne Forces. Hand-to-hand combat is an integral part of every complex lesson. First, attack techniques and offensive actions with weapons, improvised means and without weapons are studied, then methods of defense and disarming are studied. Next, special techniques and actions are practiced (tying up, searching, escorting the enemy, throwing knives and infantry shovels). After studying individual techniques and actions, hand-to-hand martial arts and group fights with a numerically superior “enemy” are carried out. If necessary, protective equipment is used in classes to protect students from injury. Improvement of the learned techniques and actions is further carried out in the process of tactical training classes.

When preparing for tactical exercises or combat operations, two to three weeks before them, the content of physical training classes includes forced marches of 10–15 km overcoming an obstacle course, attack techniques with weapons, paired combat exercises in the form of training battles with weapons and using improvised means, boxing. For long periods of preparation for tactical exercises or combat operations (up to two months), physical training classes are conducted in stages. Preparation for hand-to-hand combat begins with the second stage, at which it is combined with overcoming obstacles, at the third it is carried out independently, at the fourth - in combination with forced marches of 10–13 km with overcoming obstacles. At the end of the training period, control exercises are held, in which the paratroopers’ readiness for hand-to-hand combat is tested. They include three or six control bouts.

The physical training program allocates 20 hours of study time for the study of hand-to-hand combat. Experts believe that this is clearly not enough for high-quality mastery of the content of hand-to-hand combat. For this reason, the need arose in the Airborne Forces to master hand-to-hand combat skills while organizing other forms of physical training. Thus, during morning physical exercises carried out in the Airborne Forces for 50 minutes in the form of a complex lesson, in the preparatory part, along with general developmental and special exercises, individual hand-to-hand combat techniques (punches and kicks, defense techniques without weapons) and their complexes are performed . In the warm season, one of the options for carrying out the main part of the exercise is training in hand-to-hand combat techniques and actions.

During hours of mass sports work in units, preparation for hand-to-hand combat is also given great attention. Educational and training sessions are held in sections on military sports combat (hand-to-hand combat without weapons), competitions among unit personnel for the best mastery of hand-to-hand combat techniques, and additional classes for those lagging behind. In recent years, the Airborne Forces have been organizing troop championships in military sports combat, which is an integral part of “Hand-to-Hand Combat.” Competitions are organized in protective equipment using the contact method. They allow the use of all techniques that are included in the content of hand-to-hand combat without weapons. Military sports combat has become widespread in the Airborne Forces; sections have been created in all units and competitions are regularly held among teams of units. This is also one of the forms of training paratroopers for hand-to-hand combat.

In tactical training classes when working on the topic “Capture an enemy object,” one of the mandatory training issues is the use of hand-to-hand combat as a means of silent attack and capture of an object. At educational and methodological gatherings of physical training and sports specialists, great importance is attached to the further development of hand-to-hand combat. With the participants of the training camp, the methods of teaching hand-to-hand combat techniques and personal training are being improved, and new techniques are being tested. Training of training leaders (unit commanders) is carried out: at training camps before the start of training periods; at instructor-methodological and demonstration classes every month during the academic year; at instructor classes before studying a new topic of hand-to-hand combat; in commander training classes. Classes with leaders are conducted by the head of physical training and sports of the unit. The duties of freelance instructors in hand-to-hand combat in airborne units are performed by medical instructors of companies (batteries). Most of them are trained in the training unit according to a special program in which a significant amount of training time is devoted to hand-to-hand combat. On a unit scale, 3-day training camps are held monthly with hand-to-hand combat instructors, where the unified methodology for teaching hand-to-hand combat, techniques and actions that should be practiced in the next month are clarified, the personal training of hand-to-hand combat instructors is improved, and the rules of competitions in military combat sports are studied. .

The currently available training and material base for hand-to-hand combat does not yet fully allow training personnel in hand-to-hand combat in a high-quality manner and in a short time. Physical training specialists see its improvement and compliance with modern requirements in the creation of special hand-to-hand combat camps, equipped and equipped with everything necessary to prepare paratroopers for hand-to-hand combat. For the further development of training for hand-to-hand combat in the Airborne Forces, it is planned to: improve the methodology for training personnel in hand-to-hand combat in standard and non-standard situations characteristic of combat activities; development of the fundamentals of hand-to-hand combat tactics, both single and group; replacing complex techniques with simpler ones; bringing to the fore offensive actions, and primarily with weapons; further improvement of protective equipment for military combat sports competitions; inclusion of fights with weapon models into the content of military sports combat; improving the educational and material base for hand-to-hand combat training.

Removing the sentry

To successfully remove a sentry, it is extremely important to get close to him in such a way that he does not see or hear anything until the very last moment. And, accordingly, so that you don’t have time to scream, because a loud scream in silence can be heard at a distance of up to one kilometer! Therefore, it is best to attack a sentry from behind (in some cases from the side), but not from the front. It must be remembered that many people can distinguish the sound of even quiet steps at a distance of 30–40 m. Therefore, you need to sneak up on the sentry from the leeward side or choose the place to which he will approach himself. To distract his attention, it is advisable to throw some small object to the side, forcing the sentry to turn towards the noise. The resulting pause should be immediately used to attack. The attack requires a combination of two actions: with one hand to close the sentry’s mouth, with the other to strike with a knife. In some cases, a knife blow can be replaced by a blow with a heavy object, twisting the neck or strangulation. Of course, it is most convenient to shoot sentries with shots from silent weapons. However, it does not provide a 100% guarantee of destruction (especially at night), since there is always the possibility of a miss or injury. This can lead to noise and ultimately failure of the operation. Consequently, although contact methods of action are difficult, they cannot be completely excluded from the paratrooper’s arsenal.

Destruction of a sentry with a knife. When removing a sentry, stabs with a knife are performed in the neck (throat), in the heart (under the left shoulder blade), in the kidneys, in the liver (right hypochondrium) or in the spleen (left hypochondrium). The enemy's neck can be hit with either a piercing or a slashing blow. A stabbing blow is most effective when it hits the base of the neck in front, just below the Adam's apple (or on the side, above the collarbone). A chopping (cutting) blow is applied to the throat from the front, slightly above the Adam's apple (which requires bending the sentry's head back) or from the side, cutting the carotid artery. In all these cases, instant death occurs. A strong stabbing blow is applied to the heart (under the left shoulder blade), to the left or right kidney, to the liver, to the spleen and they try to turn the knife in the wound. As a result, the enemy instantly loses consciousness, as there is a powerful release of blood inside the body, and after a short period of time, death occurs. If it is not possible to cover the last section of space separating the scout from the sentry unnoticed, then other attack options are used. The first is knocking down a sentry by jumping on him from behind from a running start, while simultaneously stabbing him in the throat with a knife. The second is to throw a knife (sweeper blade, hatchet, cobblestone) at him from behind. Then jump through the “dead space” and finish off the enemy with the second knife.

Of course, there are other ways to destroy an enemy with a knife. For example, sometimes it is possible to attack a sentry from the front if the scout managed to deceive the enemy (dressed in someone else's uniform or civilian clothes, portrayed a drunk local resident, an unarmed soldier surrendering, etc.). But all of them are unreliable, since the sentry, when any stranger appears, is obliged to immediately stop him with a loud exclamation and point a weapon at him.

Destruction of a sentry by strangulation. To destroy an enemy by strangulation, scouts usually use a specially prepared noose made from a guitar string (less often, from a nylon fishing line) with handles attached to its ends. (The length of any noose ranges from 30 to 50 cm.) The good thing about the string is that it not only strangles, but also cuts into the skin. If there is no string, it can be replaced with steel wire, electrical cord, rope, towel, or a narrow strong belt. However, all these “nooses” are much less effective than a string. They don’t fit as tightly to the enemy’s neck, they don’t tighten as well, they can tear, and finally, they are not so convenient to use. There is another type of string, which, however, does not strangle, but simply cuts off the head. This is a string with diamond chips sprayed onto it and T-shaped handles at the ends, which doctors use as a surgical saw. It is called the “Jigli saw”. In 10 seconds you can saw through your leg at the thigh along with the bone, and it cuts your throat instantly! There are two main ways to remove a sentry using a noose.

First: sneak up from behind, throw a string around his throat, quickly turn your back to him to ensure that the ends of the string, which are in the hands of the paratrooper, cross, and forcefully pull the enemy towards you, rotating in place in a circle. Death will occur in 10–30 seconds, the faster the deeper the string cuts into the throat and the stronger the pulling force.

Second: throwing a string (or cord) over your head onto your throat, make a sharp jerk with your hands back towards you and at the same time slightly towards each other. At the same time, tilt your body back and hit the sentry hard in the lower back with your knee or heel. As a result, he will fall backwards. At the moment of his fall, the scout must take a step to the side (without releasing the noose from his hands) and complete the strangulation already on the ground.

There are many known methods of manual strangulation, but all of them are much less reliable than using a noose, so they are not considered here. By the way, a noose (especially one made from string) is also good because it completely eliminates the possibility of screaming. When strangling with hands, if the grip is unsuccessful, the opponent either screams or makes loud, inarticulate sounds. It is better to strangle with your hands when you want to capture your enemy rather than kill him.

Destruction of a sentry by fracture of the cervical vertebrae. To break the cervical vertebrae, which almost always entails instant death, you need to twist the enemy's head to the side with a sharp, strong movement. This method is not as effective as using a knife or a noose. However, anything can happen in war; it may happen that there is neither a knife nor a noose at hand. It is very difficult for a healthy man to twist his head when he is standing. To do this, the attacker must have very strong hands and, moreover, be taller than his victim. Therefore, they first knock the enemy to the ground and, straddling his back, sharply twist his head with a counter movement of his hands. The left hand pushes the back of the head away from you, the right hand pulls the chin towards you and up. Another option: grab the chin of the fallen opponent with both hands (sitting on his back), and then combine the two movements. With your hands, sharply tilt his head back - to the right and up, and with your right knee, press firmly to the left and forward on the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe cervical vertebrae. A fracture occurs. The third version of twisting the neck is associated with tipping the sentry not forward, but back, striking his foot in the popliteal fold. At the same time, they sharply twist the opponent’s head with their hands. The main disadvantage of these methods should be clearly recognized: they do not guarantee the absence of noise. The sentry may have a muscular neck, the grip with his hands may not be entirely reliable, and as a result the enemy will have time to let out a scream.

Capture

The experience of the Great Patriotic War, armed conflicts in Afghanistan and Chechnya showed that there are a large number of methods of capture. However, they all have some similar aspects. Firstly, the capture of a prisoner must be carried out by several scouts (at least two). Secondly, all actions of the members of the capture group should be rehearsed to the point of complete automatism, literally to the level of a circus trick. Thirdly, the capture of a prisoner, as well as the removal of a sentry, is carried out suddenly by the scouts, after they have managed to secretly get to the required distance to the intended object. Fourthly, the capture must be carried out silently and unnoticed: after all, the prisoner must still be interrogated, and if he is valuable to the command, then not destroyed after interrogation, but transported to the base. With a noisy capture, this is unlikely to succeed.

There are three main ways to silently capture a tongue. The first is to sneak up to the enemy and stun him with a blow to the head with a heavy, blunt object. If the enemy is wearing a metal helmet, then the striking object must be wrapped in a rag to avoid unnecessary noise. If the helmet is made of Kevlar, then it is not necessary to wrap it. The second comes down to throwing a cape, jacket, or blanket over the enemy’s head. It’s also a good idea to throw a cover, bag or deep basket over it in a big way. The third method is to use choke techniques from behind. Using any of these methods, you must be careful not to kill the enemy, and also to ensure that he cannot shout or shoot. That is why two or three of them capture a prisoner. One shuts his mouth and grabs the enemy’s weapon, the other performs a technique or throws a cape over his head. A blow with a fist (the edge of the palm) to his Adam's apple (thyroid cartilage on the throat) completely ensures the prisoner's silence, but it is not always possible to perform this technique. The sequence of actions when captured is as follows: stun or strangle the enemy, tie his hands and insert a gag into his mouth, and then transport him to his destination. If he can go on his own, let him go; if he can’t, the scouts will have to drag him.

There are options for capturing the enemy using two choking techniques: strangulation with the elbow and strangulation with the collar of clothing from behind. In the first case, you need to approach the enemy from behind, cover his mouth and nose with your left hand, and, throwing his head back, push him into the popliteal fold with your right foot (preferably the left leg, not the right). At the same time, grab the opponent’s throat with your right hand so that your elbow is under the chin, and choke with your elbow. To strengthen the technique, you need to place your left hand on the wrist of your right hand, and put the opponent on your back or sit him on the ground. When he loses consciousness, which takes no more than 15 seconds, you and your partner take him to cover. Strangulation with a clothing loop is performed in the following way. Having crept up to the enemy from behind, insert your left hand under his left hand and place your palm on the back of his head. With your right hand over his right shoulder, grab the lapel of the garment to the left of his throat. Pressing firmly on the back of the opponent’s head with your left palm, pull the lapel of the clothing towards you over your right shoulder with your right hand. At the same time, pressing the opponent to you and pushing him into the popliteal crease with your foot, sit on the ground. Then wrap your legs around his body and connect both feet, hooking them together, on his stomach. Continuing to pull the left lapel of the opponent’s clothing towards you with your right hand, you need to push his torso away from you with your feet.

If, during an attempt to capture the enemy, he managed to dodge, you should immediately proceed to perform some practiced hand-to-hand combat technique in order to reliably neutralize him. For example, you can hit your opponent with your head in the face (if he is not wearing a helmet, on the edge of which you can cut your own head), then immediately squat down and throw him with his back to the ground through a grab with his hands under his knees. When throwing, you should lift the opponent’s legs higher so that he hits the ground with the back of his head, and then finish him off with a kick to the throat. Or don’t finish him off, but put a gag in his mouth, tie him up and take him away. In cases where a prisoner is captured on a narrow road along which the enemy is riding a motorcycle or bicycle, a whole group of four people comes into action. Two people stretch a rope across the road, check its tension, then lay it on the ground and, camouflaged behind roadside vegetation, wait for the rider to approach, holding the ends of the rope in their hands. Two more scouts lie nearby: one with a rope for tying the prisoner, the second with a gag for gagging. When the enemy approaches the designated conditional line, the scouts with the rope jump up sharply and pull the rope at the level of the chest or face of the moving enemy. He falls onto the road, the third and fourth scouts grab him and carry him away, and the first and second quickly remove all traces from the road. If this method is well practiced in training, it will take no more than 20 seconds in real execution.

Interrogation of a prisoner

The paratrooper operates on enemy territory. One of his main tasks is to search for particularly important objects, for which he needs to capture people and forcefully extract the necessary information from them. That the soldier knows how to squeeze out this information is beyond doubt. But how can he understand what the prisoner is telling him? Officers undergo special language training, and each battalion has an interpreter officer fluent in at least two foreign languages. But in a small group there is not always an officer on hand, so every soldier and sergeant interrogating a prisoner must have some knowledge of a foreign language. But paratroopers only serve for a year, and their military training is so intense that it is simply impossible to find even a few hours for this.

Can a soldier understand a prisoner who, under torture, nods and shows his willingness to speak? Yes maybe. Each paratrooper has a small pocket phrasebook with a set of various questions and answers. The first sentence in Russian: “Be silent, or I will kill you.” The sergeant points to this proposal. This is then followed by its translation into English, German, French and other languages. He finds the right answer in his native language and nods. Very good. You understood each other. His mouth is freed. Next sentence: “If you don’t tell the truth, you will regret it.” He again quickly finds the desired equivalent in his native language. Okay, everything is clear. Then things went faster because of simple sentences, each of which was translated into fifteen languages: “Rank”, “First Name”, “Last Name”, “Military Rank”, “Where?”, “Rocket”, “Headquarters”, “Airfield” ", "Warehouse" and so on. The last sentence is a repetition of the second: “If you lie, you will regret it.” Teaching the most ordinary soldier to communicate using this phrasebook will take only ten minutes. In addition, the soldier is taught to pronounce and understand the simplest and most common words. If a soldier is not able to learn it, it’s not a problem, since they are all written in a phrase book that every person in the group has.

It is not possible to replace a real translator. One Soviet soldier who escaped from captivity in Afghanistan told how he was included in the reconnaissance company of the airborne brigade. Someone found out that he spoke one of the local dialects, and he was immediately sent to the commander. The officer asked him two traditional questions:

- Do you drink vodka? Do you like sports?

– Vodka – yes, sports – no.

He gave completely wrong answers. But in combat conditions, a person who speaks the enemy’s language is especially valuable. They took him in spite of everything, took care of him, since the life of the entire group depended on his ability to speak and understand what the enemy was saying. And the lives of thousands of soldiers depend on how these groups complete their tasks. The only disadvantage of being a translator is that he is never forgiven for making a mistake. But this shortcoming is the same both for himself and for everyone in this unit.

Knocked down - fight on your knees, if you can’t get up - attack while lying down!

Margelov V.F.

As in general in the special units of the Russian Federation, in the Airborne Forces (Airborne Forces) there is a complete lack of unified and graded training for hand-to-hand combat. (see article)

The official system of hand-to-hand combat in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation simply does not exist and never has existed. (This may be due to one of the following two reasons:

2. Bet on the traditional “Russian maybe” - traditionally our young people fought well, they will cope somehow, if anything, as they say, “We’ll throw hats at anyone again”

Meanwhile, in the armed forces of foreign states such systems exist and are constantly developing, for example:

The special units ("Navy Seals") of the US Army use a fairly developed hand-to-hand combat system (see section -)

In the Israel Defense Forces - Krav Maga (more details in the section -)

At the same time, for some reason, since Soviet times, it is the Airborne Forces fighters who have traditionally been considered quite serious “hand-to-hand fighters.” And it is possible that the army leadership believes that the paratroopers themselves already know everything, and therefore do not particularly interfere with training in hand-to-hand combat, and the paratroopers - if this is not required by the regulations, practice it - whatever they want. (And apparently the main calculation in the Airborne Forces ultimately rests on recruits who are selected from conscripts who are interested in martial arts and combat sports.)

And you can find a rather meager amount of training materials on the Internet on hand-to-hand combat of the Airborne Forces, of which only two films released in the Soviet Union can be considered “official”. The rest of the films were made simply by hand-to-hand combat enthusiasts who served or are serving in the Airborne Forces.

Soviet films about hand-to-hand combat in the Airborne Forces.

Hand-to-hand combat training in the Airborne Forces

(excerpt from the film of the USSR Ministry of Defense “Physical training of a paratrooper”

As you can see, paratroopers use karate techniques and methods during training. But the karate technique being shown looks extremely “dirty”. It is clear that people have seen something somewhere but do not understand at all why it is necessary to do it this way and not some other way. Moreover, such “karate” looks funny in sports shorts - but at that time this apparently did not bother anyone - it is convenient for people and this is actually the most important thing. (Back then, apparently, they didn’t know that at least a kimono was needed for classes.) And the teacher, too, is a match - he shows such techniques as if he taught them from a book - it is clear that these techniques are almost completely divorced from reality. This was, in fact, the beginning of karate in the Airborne Forces.

Although, as you can see, the gym for hand-to-hand combat is very well and variedly equipped, one might say “with soul.” Apparently the coach is a very big fan of karate.

This video, by the way, is part of the video presented below:

Paratrooper physical training

The “oldest” film in which you can see training in hand-to-hand combat in the Airborne Forces is from 1973. The film studio of the USSR Ministry of Defense - these are the kind of educational films they made back in the day.

1:52 - pay attention, the paratroopers are obviously performing some kind of complex based on karate techniques (also in an exclusively “dirty style” - but these are clearly karate techniques, although very distorted. With some simply incredible swings and turns. From a modern point of view sight, just something incredibly collective farm. Also, apparently the study was clearly going on from books, and books without translation, from drawings, apparently - which were also studied inattentively. But we should take into account that it was 1973 and the paratroopers had already begun to study karate techniques from books.

(It’s also interesting, in the USSR there was a very powerful foreign intelligence service, well, they should have brought books on karate to the paratroopers, since they like to do karate so much, and the translators would translate. At that time, Bruce Lee was already shining - the best films with his participation, were filmed just in these years. Well, if they bought it or stole it, they would bring it and show it to the paratroopers en masse. But the paratroopers, in fact, study from some books that were brought, from the West or East, by the first karate enthusiasts .

This, it turns out, was the level of karate in the Airborne Forces - it was just that enthusiasts apparently tried to implement it, without any support from the army or the state.

Well, if they would introduce boxing or sambo on a massive scale, but for some reason they teach karate techniques that they themselves don’t even know - it’s fashionable, because it’s probably. And this is filmed by the USSR Ministry of Defense in 1973.

Interestingly, the first airborne unit was formed in 1930, the Airborne Troops were created in 1954, that is, at the time the film was made, 20 years had already passed, and now we see that the paratroopers are trying to study some obvious crap for hand-to-hand combat. (It should be taken into account that these are elite special units - and this is the kind of crap that is studied and shown in the film of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Is it really impossible to create something of our own, original, in 20 years? Something one could really be proud of. But apparently in the USSR it was no one needs it. Some kind of Airborne Hand-to-Hand Combat (RBD) - and ranks would be assigned, and competitions would be organized - people would like it. But no, and so far nothing serious has been done towards the mass development of hand-to-hand combat in the Airborne Forces, somehow official. And the Airborne Forces’ own system, as they say, somehow “didn’t work”, from the word “at all.”)

That is, the level of preparation for hand-to-hand combat shown in the film “Physical Training” is obviously unsuitable for use in real conditions. (I note that it is obviously unusable, it can be seen simply with the naked eye.)

And accordingly, 65 years after the official creation of the Airborne Forces and after 26 years of the existence of the Russian Federation, no own hand-to-hand combat system has appeared in the Airborne Forces.

Apparently, this is still dictated by some practical considerations - perhaps just real experience has shown that for a paratrooper, hand-to-hand combat does not have any special or key significance, since in terms of effectiveness it is significantly inferior in terms of destruction capabilities to firearms.

Maybe all hand-to-hand combat in special units and special and special forces ultimately comes down to a situation from:

“Hand-to-hand combat instructor to cadets: “To engage in hand-to-hand combat, a fighter must use on the battlefield: a machine gun, a pistol, a knife, a waist belt, a shoulder blade, a bulletproof vest, a helmet. Find a flat area on which there is not a single stone or stick lying around. Find the same slob on it. And even then, engage him in hand-to-hand combat!..”

And for such a simple reason - the unlikelihood of such a situation occurring, hand-to-hand combat in special units is not particularly developed. Just because it's unnecessary. And to develop the fighting spirit of fighters of special units of the Russian army, completely different methods and exercises are used.

Although, in fact, as a means of personal development of a fighter, hand-to-hand combat is still unrivaled in this area, hand-to-hand combat is still practiced on an ongoing basis in all special units. But a unified and structured system of hand-to-hand combat has not yet been created in any of the special units of Russia.

Russian training videos on hand-to-hand combat for the Airborne Forces

Unfortunately, no “official” manuals on hand-to-hand combat have yet been created by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation - all training materials on hand-to-hand combat for the Airborne Forces have been produced exclusively by airborne and hand-to-hand combat enthusiasts.

Film Hand-to-Hand Combat of the Airborne Forces (in two parts)

From the series “Martial Arts of the World.”

Hand-to-hand combat of the Airborne Forces (Part one) - duration 1 hour 20 minutes.

The following technical arsenal of hand-to-hand combat is shown:

1. Insurance and self-insurance for falls
2. Ways to unbalance
3. Liberation from seizures
4. Basic throws
5. Combat use of basic throws
6. Protection from knife attacks
7. Defense against knife threats using a stick or baton
8. Pistol protection
9. Leaving the attack line
10. Punches
11. Protection from punches
12. Protection from blows with a stick
13. Defense against knife threats

After the section “Combat use of basic throws”, the technique is shown quite chaotically, and at random - as if the authors at some point got tired of making this film, and they began to make it somehow - just to finish it.

Hand-to-hand combat of the Airborne Forces (Part two)

Duration more than 2 hours. The second part is entirely devoted to physical training:

1. Warm-up
2. Stretching
3. Physical exercise
4. Practicing technique (practicing punches and kicks, practicing throws)
5. And in conclusion, for some reason, protection from a Kalashnikov assault rifle is suddenly shown.

Hand-to-hand combat lessons - experience of the Airborne Forces

A short TV report about senior lieutenant Maxim Rodionov, serving in the separate 215th reconnaissance company of the Airborne Forces. And about his method of preparing for hand-to-hand combat. (That is, the senior lieutenant of the reconnaissance company of the Airborne Forces, came up with his own method of preparing for hand-to-hand combat, that they even made a short report about him for a television program. Such is the actual level of development of hand-to-hand combat in the Airborne Forces that an ordinary officer came up with his own method and teaches it to paratroopers, and they are so inexperienced in this matter that everyone from the boss to the private likes it. But even at the same time, no one is in a hurry to somehow promote Maxim Rodionov - to develop a hand-to-hand combat system for the Airborne Forces. He teaches in the company and this is quite enough for him. And how many of them are there? There were Maximov Rodionovs in the same Airborne Forces, probably quite a significant number, they also probably showed recruits hand-to-hand combat techniques in the field, and then with all their experience they simply “sank into oblivion” and that’s it. Apparently, after all, it’s just that no one tried to develop hand-to-hand combat, into some unified system of close combat of paratroopers. And most likely because of the official army approach to human creativity. He teaches, okay, and then it’s none of our business.)

A very original master and teacher of applied hand-to-hand combat, Valery Kryuchkov (see article -) teaches hand-to-hand combat to military personnel of the Reconnaissance Unit 331 VDP. And in this case, Valery Kryuchkov still managed to create his own hand-to-hand combat system (or as he calls it the Active Defense System), and popularize it very well. But again, in the Airborne Forces, where Valery Kryuchkov taught it, it did not take root, as you can see. I taught, people liked it, I stopped teaching, and God bless him. He couldn’t advance her anywhere beyond the gym of a separate reconnaissance company of the Airborne Forces. This is also a characteristic for the leadership of the Airborne Forces, for combat talents. Nobody needs it easy. The man worked for many years, apparently out of sheer enthusiasm, simply to protect the Motherland, so to speak.)

And a short video about a report by a Zvezda correspondent in which he took a lesson in hand-to-hand combat from an Airborne Forces fighter. Unfortunately it's only 2 minutes long. And about hand-to-hand combat - very little. It is simply said that paratroopers are great masters of hand-to-hand combat. But as it turns out, these are such enthusiastic people who serve in the Airborne Forces, who really like martial arts, and who are constantly trying to promote these same martial arts in the Airborne Forces - but for now these people are simply praised for what great fellow paratroopers they are, which they are trying to master on their own martial arts.

That is, such a paradox turns out that no unified system of hand-to-hand combat in the Airborne Forces has been created over the many years of their existence. But paratroopers from somewhere master hand-to-hand combat techniques, for which their superiors praise and are proud of them. But due to official nature, this idea is not developed in any way, although it is obvious that the paratroopers would like such an idea - to create their own “airborne” hand-to-hand combat system, and somehow develop and develop it. And it seems that paratroopers know hand-to-hand combat, but it seems that in the Airborne Forces it doesn’t exist at all.

For comparison, the article - people who develop clothing for the military for advertising purposes shoot videos on hand-to-hand combat - and compared to all these videos “for paratroopers”, these techniques look pretty cool.

articles:

"Remember, the main technique of hand-to-hand combat: First, throw a grenade at the enemy..." Hand-to-hand instructor, head of physical training RDP

Perhaps the main secret of the Airborne Forces hand-to-hand combat style is that... there were no “secrets”! There are no and never have been any terrible special strikes at super-secret points, no “Touches of Deferred Death” or other super-exotics... So, are the paratroopers and special forces lying when they claim that the “Beret” can cope in a fight with several opponents? -No! They don't lie! It will do it and it will be very EFFECTIVE! But, if you film this fight and then show it at normal speed, then 9/10 of the audience will simply not understand anything about what is happening, and half will be disappointed and perplexed: why do they fall so easily? What's the matter?

I want to clarify right away that I’m not talking about the hand-to-hand combat of the “Spetsura”, especially officer units such as “Vympel”, “Alpha” and “Cascade”, especially those designed for the forceful detention of living languages ​​or criminals! - it has its own specifics and without knowing I won’t even say! And about the hand-to-hand combat training of ordinary airborne forces (Uncle Vasya’s troops). Once in one book I came across the following reasoning, I quote in a free paraphrase: “No matter how cynical it sounds, everything has its price, and a soldier’s life, especially.” This price is the price of training a new soldier to replace one who is out of action. After all, no matter how skillful a fighter may be, this will not save him from either a crossbow bolt or, what is more offensive, from bloody diarrhea." Rough, but fair...

I don’t want to say anything bad about eastern martial arts schools, but... It is impossible to prepare a real person in six months or a year using training methods of Karate, Taekwondo, Taijiquan and so on! In six months, at best, he will learn two or three basic stances, and the ability to breathe more or less correctly in a stance, and not in battle! In real hand-to-hand combat, such a fighter poses a danger to only one person - himself! Only after five to seven years of daily painstaking hours of training will he begin to understand that he has only just gotten closer to mastering the basics! You understand, preparing SOLDIERS in this way is pointless! There simply aren’t these five to seven years to train even a semi-finished fighter!

As a person who participated (and SURVIVED!) after three real hand-to-hand combat battles, let me note! that the Airborne Forces hand-to-hand combat school and training system still exist! AND IT IS EFFECTIVE! What are the basic principles of fighter training? We must also take into account that in addition to Fizukha, there is also daily service! Shooting training, combat specialty training, combat training (for that matter), outfits and guard duty, and so on and so forth! But the system has proven its effectiveness, so what does it consist of, this system of training a hand-to-hand paratrooper? I'll try to answer...

The entire system of hand-to-hand combat training of the Airborne Forces is based on three pillars, each component is important; and the question makes no sense - which! These are Psychological training, Physical training and a set of basic hand-to-hand combat techniques. Let's look at them one by one. So, psychological preparation. It includes bringing it to the level of the subconscious, to the conditioned reflex: battle is NOT a competition! It is impossible to WIN OR LOSE! In battle you can either WIN or die! there is no third option, as they say... No one will shake your hand before a fight or make a ritual bow. They will try to kill you right away, and by all means available at the moment! The preparation was carried out quite simply, but effectively, no one conducted conversations or psychological tests with us - they simply beat us! Not to defeat, but in such a way that it didn’t seem like enough! Let me emphasize! They didn't BEAT, they beat! Feel the difference! You could get a slap or be caught in a chokehold at any moment: while talking with an officer, standing on the orderly’s nightstand, just passing through the unit. Avoiding a blow or grab has been improved! The answer is even more so! Although, to be fair, it’s worth saying that rarely anyone has succeeded! They say that such a system was introduced into the practice of the Airborne Forces by their commander, the legendary V.F. Margelov - I don’t know, but if this is so, then I bow to him for it! SUCH a training system saved the lives of many in real wars, and me too... I still, although more than thirty years have passed, simply physically cannot go around the corner of the building close to it, I walk around in three or four steps... Constant pressure , in which, by the way, there was nothing personal, because the grandfather received the same as the young man, he developed the skill of constant vigilance, the ability to not relax even in sleep, some kind of sixth sense of danger...

Physical training in the Airborne Forces does not require any special comments. Endurance training - running in different conditions, goose-stepping, alternating accelerations, ragged rhythm... strength training - pull-ups, push-ups of various types, squats, jumping... pumping the press again in different ways. All this - “I can’t help it” until it’s completely dark in my eyes... There’s still enough groundwork, although the DMB-77... As for the basic hand-to-hand techniques, here we need to decipher... Not for airborne forces and special forces - they’re all they know it too! For fans of films like Rimbaud... This is training in BASIC techniques, not "MOVEMENTS", and quite individual... Some people prefer throwing, some prefer striking, some chokeholds or techniques for breaking ligaments and fractures joints - closer. The basics were given to everyone, then the development of stereotypes, bringing the movement to the level of a knee-jerk reflex - in battle there is no time to think, the body reacts on its own, the thought does not have time! The blows were practiced on various kinds of simulators such as makiwara and punching bag, throws were done with each other, VERY CAREFULLY AND NOT AT FULL POWER, also applied to various types of painful and suffocating techniques. Moreover, after mastering the basic movements, everyone trained themselves! No combat sparring in real life, with one exception, about which below... After all, an attempt to carry out, for example, in sparring conditions, an elbow strike to the Adam's apple for one of the fighters may well be the last... And I would also note, no BALLET in the spirit of Van -Lady and Chuck Norris! Legs work up to the knee, not higher! The front part of the lower leg and ankle, the inner surface of the lower leg. Knee strike to the crotch and inner thigh. The elbow is mainly used to finish off an opponent who has already lost his orientation. Everything is simple and ineffective, ugly... BUT EFFECTIVE!

Now about the exception: About once every two weeks they put a boxing helmet on you, and they let you out to kill four or five people, old-timers or officers. Not right away, one by one. I had to hold out for five minutes... The first time, as far as I remember, no one succeeded... The first time I went to rest at the tenth second, having missed a powerful straight shot to the head... In a real fight, the result would have been my death, because I stood up I only ten minutes later... On the third attempt I received gratitude in the order for the unit, because I managed to “put in the ring” the deputy commander of the regiment. The captain, by the way, was not offended by me, and was the first to come to his senses and shook my hand. At the same time, he said: “I stopped classes... I need to work”... We didn’t kill rats with our bare hands... but everything is the same, the readiness to fight, at any second of the day or night, not for life or death, was absorbed into the flesh and blood, into the bone marrow... That, in general, is all the “Terrible Military Secrets” that I am about to tell you...