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LINE is a close quarters
combat system, derived from various martial arts, used by the United States
Marine Corps between 1989 and 1998. It was developed by retired Marine Ron
Donvito after extensive study of human anatomy and various martial
arts.Officially, the name stands for
Linear Infighting
Neural Override
Engagement ,
this is, however, an acronym coined during the project's inception.It is
also known as the "7 Deadly Moves of Combat" philosophy. |
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This system was completely
scrapped and was replaced by the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP)
in 2002.The LINE System was adopted in 1998 by U.S. Army Special Forces at
the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC).
LINE was replaced by the Modern Army Combatives
Program (MACP) in October 2007
There are a couple of basic
tenants of the MACP that are important to understand. The first one is that
the winner of the hand-to-hand fight in combat is the one whose buddy shows
up first with a gun. This is important thing to remember because it puts
combative training in perspective. MACP must be an integral part of the
close quarters fight but does not replace traditional combat training. With
that in mind, the second tenant is that the defining characteristic of a
warrior is the willingness to close with the enemy. The United States Army
does not win wars because they are better at hand-to-hand combat than the
enemy, they do however win wars because of the things it takes to be a good
hand-to-hand fighter. Any hand to hand training plan that does not serve to
build this fundamental aggressiveness is actually counter productive.
Confidence comes from competence.
Fight Tactics/Training Strategy
In order to train soldiers efficiently it is necessary to develop
a systematic approach to both fighting and training.
The three phases of basic fight strategy are:
1. Close the distance
Controlling a standup fight means controlling the range between
fighters. The untrained fighter is primarily dangerous at punching range.
The goal is to avoid that range. Even if you are the superior striker, the
most dangerous thing you can do is to spend time at the range where the
enemy has the highest probability of victory. When training Soldiers, the
primary goal should be instilling the courage to close the distance.
2. Gain dominant position
Before any killing or disabling technique can be applied, the Soldier
must first gain and maintain dominant body position. It is the leverage
gained from dominant body position that allows the fighter to defeat a
stronger opponent. An appreciation for dominant position is fundamental to
becoming a proficient fighter because it ties together what would otherwise
be a long confusing list of unrelated techniques. If a finishing technique
is attempted from dominant position and fails, the fighter can simply try
again. If, on the other hand, a finishing technique is attempted from other
than dominant position and fails, it will usually mean defeat. The dominant
body positions will be introduced in order of precedence.
3. Finish the fight
When dominant body position has been achieved, the fighter can begin
attempts to finish the fight secure in the knowledge that if an attempt
fails, as long as he maintains dominant position, he may simply try again.
Training should start with ground grappling, which is not only easier both
to teach and to learn, but also provides a sound base from which to move to
the more difficult standing techniques. Past programs started with
techniques that took a very long time to master. |
