Modern Army Combatives (MACP)
US Army close combat program developed from 1995 in the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. It rests on Brazilian jiu-jitsu ground fighting and includes competitions.
Quick Facts
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Training
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
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About Modern Army Combatives (MACP)
Modern Army Combatives (MACP) is the close combat program of the United States Army. According to army.mil news (2008) and theses from the Command and General Staff College (Blanton 2008) and the Naval Postgraduate School (Lorah 2010), it began in 1995 with the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. It was led by then squad leader Staff Sergeant Matt Larsen. According to army.mil the group chose the Brazilian jiu-jitsu of the Gracie family, while Green (2001) reports that the Rangers had adopted Gracie jiu-jitsu as early as 1994. The program was codified by the field manual FM 3-25.150 Combatives of January 18, 2002, which replaced the older manual FM 21-150. According to army.mil, Larsen rewrote it. The manual states that choking is the best way to end a fight, whereas strikes are an ineffective way to put an opponent out of action, although they belong to the overall fighting strategy. Today the training circular TC 3-25.150 of March 31, 2017 applies, which divides fighting into four distances from shooting range to ground fighting. Training under TC 3-25.150 begins in basic training, but most of it is to take place in units, even against a fully resisting partner. Instructors go through three consecutive courses. The program includes competitions from units up to the Army championship, which according to army.mil has been held since 2005.
History
The predecessor of the program was the manual FM 21-150. Blanton (2008) states that it was first published in 1942, changed little over the next fifty years, and its techniques drew on the teaching of William Fairbairn, Eric Sykes, and Rex Applegate during the Second World War. According to him, army close combat in 1995 was a little practiced system of dynamic throws and joint locks.
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In 1995, according to Blanton, the Ranger battalion commander ordered an evaluation of the army system, and the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment set up a committee led by Staff Sergeant Matt Larsen. Lorah (2010), with the reservation that it is a handed-down story, names Lieutenant Colonel Stanley McChrystal as the commander who ordered the development. According to Blanton, the committee examined taekwondo, judo, Thai boxing, and sambo. From sambo it took over the need for a competitive component, and because sambo instructors were lacking, it turned to Brazilian jiu-jitsu. According to army.mil (2008), after his transfer to the Ranger Training Brigade at Fort Benning in 2002, Larsen rewrote the field manual, which was published as FM 3-25.150 Combatives. At the 11th Infantry Regiment in 2005 he created a four-level course for training instructors, from which the United States Army Combatives School emerged. English Wikipedia gives 2000 as the year the school was founded. According to army.mil, the Army championship has been held since 2005, and in 2011 it moved for the first time from Fort Benning to Fort Hood.
How it differs
Blanton (2008) compares the program with the Marine Corps MCMAP. According to him, MCMAP is closer to a traditional martial art and has belts from light brown to black with six degrees. He describes the army program as a ground fighting system with four levels that are not exactly a belt system. Neither the 2002 field manual nor the 2017 training circular names Fairbairn, Sykes or Applegate. Blanton links only the older manual FM 21-150, which the new program replaced, with their teaching.
Technique
The 2002 manual FM 3-25.150 lists eight principles: mental calm, situational awareness, suppleness, base, dominant body position, distance, balance, and leverage. It calls choking the best way to end a fight and strikes an ineffective way to put an opponent out of action. According to it, wrist locks and twisting knee locks are to be taught with great caution and are not permitted in sparring or in competitions. The 2017 training circular TC 3-25.150 teaches fighting within a strategy in which the fighter controls distance, angle, and height. It distinguishes four phases of distance: shooting, strikes, clinch, and ground fighting. The soldier's first goal is to create separation and move to the primary weapon. When that is not possible, the soldier is to maintain separation for the secondary weapon, or close the distance, gain a dominant position, and finish the fight. Among the lessons from battlefield feedback, the circular includes the principles that every fight is a clinch and ground fight in which strikes form only a part, and that every fight is about a weapon. The chapters of the circular progress from basic through intermediate to advanced ground fighting techniques and end with a chapter on contact weapons.
Training
The 2002 manual FM 3-25.150 proposes ten hours in five two-hour lessons for basic training. It begins with ground fighting because it is easier to learn and gives a basis for standing techniques. The first drill combines an escape from the position of sitting on the opponent, passing over his legs, and gaining the same position, the second a transition to the opponent's back and an escape from that position. Units are to progress by the crawl, walk, run method and in the last phase they spar, tapping on the ground instead of striking, practicing takedowns against an opponent in boxing gloves, and adding scenarios with multiple opponents. The 2017 training circular TC 3-25.150 builds training on consistency, fundamentals, continuity, competitions, drills, live training, integration into other training, and battlefield feedback. By live training it means practice against a fully resisting partner. According to the circular, training is to begin in basic and specialist training and continue in courses for noncommissioned officers and officers, but most of it is to take place in units. The circular also criticizes earlier attempts in which a civilian martial art instructor taught soldiers in limited time a few techniques that they quickly forgot.
Ranks and progression
Blanton (2008) describes the program in four levels. Level 1 lasted 40 hours and took place exclusively on the ground, Level 2 lasted two weeks and added advanced ground fighting and takedowns. Level 3 and Level 4 each lasted four weeks. Level 3 taught strikes from boxing, Thai boxing, kali, and other arts and their integration into close quarters battle, while Level 4 served for quality control of programs at the brigade or garrison. Levels 3 and 4 were certified only by the United States Army Combatives School at Fort Benning. The 2017 training circular TC 3-25.150 knows three consecutive instructor courses. The Basic Combatives Course prepares trainers for fire teams, squads, and platoons, the Tactical Combatives Course adds further techniques on the ground, throws, and the clinch, and the Combatives Master Trainer Course covers all distances, including strikes and integration into training in close quarters combat. Certification of the highest course is issued only by the United States Army Combatives Course at Fort Benning.
Competition
The 2002 manual FM 3-25.150 had three sets of rules. In the basic one, the match began on the knees and the fighters grappled until submission or until time ran out. In the standard one, they grappled in field uniform for six to ten minutes, points were awarded for takedowns, passing the opponent's legs, turning the opponent over, a knee on the chest and positions seated on the opponent and on his back, and all strikes were forbidden. The 2017 training circular TC 3-25.150 knows five competition levels: Basic, Standard, Intermediate, Advanced and the team Scenario. Strikes appear only at Intermediate, where open-hand strikes to the face, punches to the body and kicks and knees from the waist down are allowed. Advanced allows punches, kicks and knees below the head, and Scenario adds elbows and headbutts in full tactical gear and with a weapon. Championships are held for small and large units, garrisons and the whole army.
Today
The current manual is TC 3-25.150 of March 31, 2017, which replaced the edition of April 1, 2009. It is the responsibility of the training and doctrine command TRADOC and was prepared by the U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning. Army regulation AR 350-1 of June 1, 2025 mentions close combat only as part of physical readiness in the Army Holistic Health and Fitness system. According to Lorah's thesis (2010), the Air Force based its own program on the army model with the help of Matt Larsen, and the United States Air Force Combatives Program came into being in September 2009.
Did you know
According to army.mil (2008), a group of Rangers also trained from the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program manual. Lorah (2010) states that Larsen and his team traveled the world, studied various styles and found that countries choose their military close combat style by their culture. The sources spell the founder's name differently. Blanton (2008) writes Matt Larson, army.mil and Lorah (2010) Matt Larsen.
Frequently asked questions
Who created Modern Army Combatives?
Staff Sergeant Matt Larsen led the program from 1995 with the 2nd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment. According to army.mil, he rewrote the field manual FM 3-25.150 in 2002 and created an instructor course in 2005, from which the army close combat school grew.
Why does the program begin with ground fighting?
The 2002 field manual FM 3-25.150 says ground fighting is easier to learn and a base for standing techniques. According to it, chokes end a fight best, whereas strikes are an ineffective way to disable an opponent.
Does Modern Army Combatives have belts?
Blanton (2008) describes four levels, which according to him are not exactly a belt system, and the 2017 training circular knows three consecutive instructor courses. The Marine Corps program MCMAP has belts.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.