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any conscious thought to dribbling the basketball provided by the opponent. As skill improves, their
— their minds are occupied with the tactics of the response to their opponent will become automa-
game, not the mechanics. This is the level of ba- tic.
sic fighting skill that we need from our Soldiers.
We need them to think tactically during the fight, MACP Warrior Mindset Development
not be completely preoccupied with survival. This The motor learning process and the MACP
means that our training programs must account drill-based approach show leaders how to ad-
for the thousands of repetitions needed to build dress the skill-set training necessary for deve-
this competency. Learning to fight is a process loping a combatives program. The mindset must
not an event, and our training must take this into be taught through live sparring. Drill-based trai-
consideration if we hope to build long-term com- ning for fighting will never train the warrior mind-
petence. set because it does not induce fear; everything
The MACP address all three stages of mo- is scripted and predictable. Full-speed training
tor learning through instruction, drills, and spar- against a resisting opponent is stressful. The first
ring. Basic instruction in any technique must be time you are trapped beneath an opponent or
taught to address the cognitive stage of learning. caught in a submission, you must fight through
However, this does not need to be a full day of your initial urge to panic, remain calm, and work
training or attending a Basic Combatives Course through the problem. This is exactly the thinking
(BCC — previously known as Level 1 Combatives). process that we must instill in our Soldiers for the
Soldiers can begin participating in drills and po- tactical fight. I do not know of any other training
sitional sparring with a foundation of four or five method that is as effective for training the portion
techniques. These can easily be taught in an hour. of the fight that “happens between the ears.” Aris-
Once the Soldier understands the technique and totle believed that courage is developed by rou-
moves on to the associative stage of learning, tinely performing courageous acts, and research
leaders need a mechanism to accumulate the supports that courage is a learned habit develo-
thousands of repetitions necessary to achieve ped through practice. It is easy to assault through
9
mastery. MACP addresses this problem through a close ambush in training when you know the
a drill-based learning format. The creatively na- enemy is only shooting blanks; when real bullets
med “Drills 1, 2, and 3” provide a framework for are flying, the body’s natural biological response
training. Each drill is cyclical in that it progresses is to run. This response is only overcome through
through a series of dominant body positions until training that forces Soldiers to overcome fear
the training partners’ original positions are rever- and teaches them that the only way to win is to
sed, allowing each to train the same sequence aggressively close with the enemy and gain con-
without ever having to reset positions. This ma- trol. Combatives teaches Soldiers the lesson that
kes for very efficient use of training time, and it you cannot quit in a fight; all that does is make it
subconsciously emphasizes a sense of objective easy for your opponent to dominate you.
while fighting. These drills make it a simple mat- MACP Program Design
ter to accumulate repetitions in a safe and effi-
cient manner and can easily be modified to ac- If we accept that combatives training is
commodate new techniques. Lastly, MACP trains valuable both for developing a useful tactical
the autonomous stage of learning through live skill set and a warrior mindset, the question then
sparring. As Soldiers’ technique improves, they becomes: “How do I fit this into a packed training
must test their learning in a simulated “real” fight schedule?” Commanders evaluate training priori-
against a fully resistant opponent. This is the ties through the rubric of available training time,
phase of learning where a Soldier learns to cons- resources available, and impacts on Soldier rea-
tantly problem solve and recognize opportunities diness. Stated another way, commanders want