Indian Army: Soldiers Learning ‘Mixed Martial Arts’ In Training to Fight Enemies  

Indian Army: Soldiers include Mixed Martial Arts’ ‘offensive assaults’ in their training module

This is perhaps one of the best things that is happening to the Indian Army.

Along with fundamental skills such as physical endurance, firing, and battle craft, Indian Army soldiers will now also learn and practice offensive assault training and the ability to counter sharp-edged weapons in their martial arts (MMA) programme.

The Indian Army has launched a ‘unique and standardised’ mixed martial arts (MMA) programme also known as unarmed combat drill or Army Martial Arts Routine (AMAR) for its soldiers.

According to the sources, the first batch of 99 AMAR teachers in Pune has successfully finished five weeks of training at the Army Institute of Physical Training.

“There will be an initial pool of 700 such instructors, who in turn will teach at the officers’ training academies and different regimental centers for jawans,” a senior officer told TOI.

The programme AMAR was introduced by General Manoj Pande on January 15 (in the run-up to Army Day), and said that this will definitely help soldiers both physically and mentally.

Also, according to the sources in the defence establishment, this mixed martial arts training would benefit soldiers deter improvised weapons.

The reason for the Army to bring this routine is that the soldiers would be able to deal with the changing nature of war and prepare the force for all forms of unarmed battle, which also include hand-to-hand.

“Soldiers need to be prepared all the time and across all basic skills of war-fighting. During the war, there can be surprises and challenges and, in such situations, they need to be fully prepared no matter what. So, in such scenarios, these skills will include non-kinetic means like hand-to-hand combat situations in conventional, non-conventional, and military operations other than war,” another senior official said.

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“So, that is the objective of the AMAR programme to train Indian soldiers with basic and advanced techniques and skills along with maneuvers of mixed martial arts. It will be learned and practiced with the same frequency and intensity as physical endurance, firing, and battle craft as it is designed to be a “must-have skill,” the official added.

“The basic curriculum for AMAR has 26 moves, and the advance one includes 64 to empower soldiers and designed to boost self-confidence, small team cohesion, and character while enhancing coordination, mental toughness, discipline, and balance to ensure enhanced offensive, aggressive and proactive warfighting abilities at the tactical level,” the senior official added.

For basic and advanced courses, training pamphlets will form the framework for AMAR and it will then standardise the unarmed combat training that soldiers received, according to the sources associated with the matter.

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