Modern Army Combatives (MACP)
The US Army close-combat system from 1995. Its author staked everything on the manner of training mattering more than the number of techniques.
Quick Facts
United StatesCharacter & Origin
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Catalogs & Databases for Modern Army Combatives (MACP)
About Modern Army Combatives (MACP)
The Modern Army Combatives Program is the close-combat system of the United States Army, assembled from 1995 by Matt Larsen, then a non-commissioned officer of the 2nd Ranger Battalion. It arose from a concrete problem rather than from a martial art. The Army had close-combat training on paper, but in practice nobody repeated it: it was a collection of techniques drilled against a motionless partner that a soldier never used again after basic training. Larsen's idea was that the manner of training matters more than the list of techniques. The system therefore contains few techniques, but techniques that can be trained safely every day against real resistance; only that, in his view, creates a skill that lasts. The technical basis is Brazilian jiu-jitsu, supplemented by boxing, wrestling, judo and muay thai. Training has four levels. The first is devoted to ground fighting and teaches escaping from underneath, passing the opponent's legs, achieving the top position and finishing with a choke. The second adds the clinch and takedowns; the third and fourth are instructor levels and add strikes, weapons work and weapon retention. The programme was codified in field manual FM 3-25.150 of 2002, and the Army holds its own championship for it. The commonest objection is that the emphasis on ground fighting does not match a battlefield with body armour and several opponents; later revisions therefore strengthened standing and weapons work.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.