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emphasis on traditional kicking and punching, because the
practitioner is supposed to be taking out sentries or isolated
enemy troops – not fighting in a stand-up brawl.
Training includes throws, locks, and strikes to vital areas.
It also covers concealing weapons, tying up prisoners, and
fighting with sticks and even chairs! Targeted Attack (Knife
Thrust/Neck) is one of the style’s most important techniques.
It normally follows a grapple and is itself followed
by a cut outward from the throat to ensure that the enemy
bleeds out quickly. These moves can form the basis of a brutal
but effective Combination (see Combinations, p. 80).
In a cinematic game, Fairbairn-trained commandos
might be able to replicate some of the legendary feats of the
ninja, such as silent, invisible movement. Fairbairn was
trained in the Far East . . . perhaps he learned some secrets
that he only passed along to the most elite soldiers.
Skills: Judo; Karate; Knife; Stealth.
Techniques: Choke Hold; Disarming (Judo); Head Butt;
Knee Strike; Neck Snap; Targeted Attack (Knife
Thrust/Neck).
Cinematic Skills: Invisibility Art; Light Walk.
Cinematic Techniques: Backbreaker; Binding.
Perks: Improvised Weapons (Karate).
Optional Traits
Advantages: Combat Reflexes.
Disadvantages: Bloodlust; Overconfidence.
Skills: Garrote; Holdout; Knot-Tying; Shortsword.
Krav Maga
3 points
Imi Sde-Or (born Imrich Lichtenfeld) grew up in
Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. During the 1930s, rising anti-
Semitic violence in the region moved Imi – an experienced
circus wrestler and competitive grappler – to train his fellow
Jews to combat attackers willing to use weapons and “dirty”
tactics. When he immigrated to Palestine in 1942, Imi started
training settlers in his fighting system, which he later
named “Krav Maga” (Hebrew for “contact combat” or “contact
fight”). Today, Krav Maga is the official martial art of
the Israeli Defense Forces.
Krav Maga mixes strikes, takedowns, and both standing
and floor grappling. Kicks are low-line and used to disable
the legs for a quick victory. The style expects the fighter to
be aggressive, eschewing Defensive Attack in favor of Attack
and Committed Attack. The Krav Maga stylist typically
opens with a strike intended to distract or injure the foe, followed
by either a grapple and takedown or a Head Lock and
throw. After downing his opponent, he’ll end the fight with
a pin or a Choke Hold.
The style also teaches disarms against guns and knives.
Once the weapon is out of the opponent’s grasp, the Krav
Maga student learns to kick it away or otherwise ensure that
his original assailant or a third party can’t use it. Stylists
even practice techniques to keep the enemy from detonating
a grenade!
Krav Maga incorporates improvised-weapons training
and stresses using anything available to win. Practitioners
learn to throw objects at opponents to distract as well as to
injure, and to stab with pens and pencils, hit with purses,
reinforce punches with rocks, and so on. Survival is the only
goal and training is done without ceremony. Instructors
expect students to learn to spot dangerous situations and
deal with them – by fighting or fleeing, as appropriate.
By design, Krav Maga is easy to learn, useful for people
of any size or fitness level, and effective in real combat situations.
Krav Maga has no sport version, although there’s a
civilian self-defense version that’s somewhat different from
the combat form presented here. Both versions use a
colored-belt system nearly identical to that of Judo (p. 166).
Krav Maga has no body of legend, but several cinematic
skills and techniques would follow logically from its realistic
ones in a cinematic game.
Skills: Karate; Wrestling.
Techniques: Arm Lock; Breakfall; Choke Hold; Disarming
(Wrestling); Elbow Strike; Eye-Rake; Ground Fighting
(Wrestling); Hammer Fist; Head Lock; Knee Strike; Stamp
Kick.
Cinematic Skills: Mental Strength; Power Blow; Pressure
Points; Pressure Secrets.
Cinematic Techniques: Lethal Strike; Pressure-Point
Strike; Roll with Blow.
Perks: Improvised Weapons (Karate).
Optional Traits
Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Fit; Language (Hebrew).
Disadvantages: Bloodlust; Social Stigma (Minority
Group, Jew).
Skills: Boxing; Brawling; Guns (Pistol, Rifle, or SMG);
Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Knife; Spear.
Techniques: Retain Weapon (Pistol or Rifle).
MCMAP (U.S. Marine Corps
Martial Arts Program)
3 points
MCMAP (pronounced “mihk-map”) is a direct, simple
style taught to all U.S. Marine Corps personnel during Basic
Training. It replaces the Linear Infighting Neural-override
Engagement (LINE) system of the 1990s, which taught set
responses to specific attacks. MCMAP emphasizes quick,
violent attacks to stun or confuse the opponent, followed by
a takedown or throw. It has a few submission techniques for
less-than-lethal situations, but no sport form – its main purposes
are to teach Marines basic self-defense skills and to
encourage aggressiveness.
Training is accordingly direct – recruits pair off and
practice against each other – and includes hands-on drills
that involve multiple opponents, armed attackers, and
“mob engagements.” Students learn a small number of
techniques chosen for their violence, effectiveness, and
(relative) ease of use in fighting gear. Rounding out the
instruction are simple lessons in disarming, weapon
retention, and bayonet fighting, plus enough training in
improvised weapons to inculcate in the Marine the idea
that any item can be a weapon if necessary. Advanced
schooling, typically conducted in the infantry schools or
operating forces, progresses into grappling and groundfighting
tactics.
STYLES 183