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Guard combatives championship begins Saturday

The Army National Guard Warrior Training Center at Fort Benning, Ga., will conduct its Combatives Championship this weekend at the Briant Wells Gym.

The event begins Saturday at 1 p.m. and on Sunday at 9 a.m.

Approximately 75 soldiers assigned to National Guard units in more than 16 states will compete and the winners are expected to compete for the top combatives title at the All Army Combatives Championship at Fort Benning Oct. 4-5.

According to an Army news release, the competition will be single elimination until the semi-finals. Two losers from the semi-finals will fight for third place, and the two winners will fight for first and second places.

Army combatives is a functional mixed martial art form combining Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing, clinch hitting, takedowns and ground fighting techniques. Combatives also employs techniques borrowed from judo, kickboxing and Greco-Roman wrestling, the release said.

The U.S. Army Combatives School at Fort Benning trains approximately 500 soldiers at levels three and four every year. These soldiers return to their units around the world to conduct training.

Warrior Training Center mobile training teams are sent to National Guard units nationwide to teach basic level one combatives.