SPETSNAZ KNIFE FIGHTING

"The main mission of a Spetsnaz fighter in a Close Combat is to destroy the enemy with any available means as quickly as possible despite their arms and superior number..."
The fighter himself should not be seriously affected, otherwise he could jeopardize the achievement of a fighting mission by his reconnaissance/sabotage team. That's why the combat training of a fighter from the Spetsnaz is aimed at gaining a flawless proficiency in many types of fire arms and cold steel and traditionally a combat knife is of special importance among them. 

Usually a fighter from the Spetsnaz has several knives: knife-bayonet for a Kalashnikov's submachine-gun (AK-74), combat knife, all-purpose "survival" knife, all-purpose clasp-knife, hidden knife, and (or) fling knife. If necessary, any can become an effective weapon. 

The basic peculiarity of a knife combat is that it is the combat of short duration. After fighters have approached a striking distance, the result of a fight is at stake within fractions of a second; one or two exact lunges and you win or perish. That's why the main requirement to a fighter from the Spetsnaz at the initial training stage in knife-combat technique is flawless acquiring of basic methods up to the automatic level: one has no time to ponder in a fight!

It is necessary to acquire naturalness of method execution through hard training. You must feel the knife as an extension of your hand. Your movements must be light and quick, one movement should smoothly transform into another one.

Peculiar features of a knife combat according to the version of the Spetsnaz GRU are many withdrawals, jumps, turns, sudden changes in levels and attack directions , wide use of feints. And all those are done in continuous motion! It is very difficult to follow even flutter of the knife in expert' hands, but to foresee the place at which a strike will be delivered... it is practically impossible.

It is hard to foresee expert's actions during a knife fight, because his stock of methods is very large. He is in a constant motion, trying to take an advantageous position for an attack, makes feint lunges, inducing you to engage. It is not enough to know the knife basic technique in order to outmatch an experienced enemy. You should be able to unite elements of the basic technique into fighting combinations ("bunches") and spontaneously use them in a fight depending on the situation.

When conducting a combat mission in the enemy rear, a sudden close engagement with the enemy is quite probable. A hand-to-hand combat can break out in the conditions of limited visibility (at night, in smoke conditions an so on), in a forest, destroyed buildings, trenches, underground communications and constructions and etc. As a rule, during such engagements hostile soldiers outnumber a Spetsnaz reconnaissance/sabotage team, therefore the hand-to-hand combat with several enemies is an important element in training a fighter of the Spetsnaz.

The hand-to-hand combat technique from the version of the Spetsnaz GRU is notable for its radicalism. The most of known self-defense systems teach you how to save your life and, if possible, your health in a critical situation; it is not enough for Spetsnaz soldier who operates in the enemy rear. 

He must safely put out of action his attackers in spite of their number and weapons, in addition, it must be done with the least time and force. Exceeding limits of self-defense is of no importance in that case. That's why the arsenal of technical means includes a wide range of strikes at vital centers, joints and other vulnerable spots of a human body, suffocating methods, locks and coercion on joints, neck, spine etc. 

A special aspect of this training is the ability of hand-to-hand combat with "bare hands" against several armed enemies.

To win a fight with bare hands against several enemies, armed and specially trained, is not only a complicated thing, this is on the verge of the possible. The main task of a Spetsnaz fighter in such a situation is to seize the weapon of one of the attackers and use it against the rest. Besides, in this case tactical thinking is on the foreground. 

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