Empty-Hand Solutions
empty-hand combat in Armed Combat & Tactics
Every violent confrontation carries the potential to become armed. As a tool-using species living in object-rich environments, the transition from empty hand to weapon (improvised or carried) is both natural and frequent. For this reason, ACT treats all combat as armed combat, whether weapons are visible at the start or not (‘Totality of the Threat’ principle).
Still, unarmed engagement is part of that reality. Whether facing an unarmed opponent or responding empty-handed to an armed threat, the capacity to fight without a weapon remains essential.
In ACT, empty-hand training is not a separate style. It is built from the same tactical foundation as weapon work—using identical principles of timing, distance, positioning, and decision-making. This translative process allows practitioners to move seamlessly between armed and unarmed contexts. Movements developed through weapon training become the basis for unarmed responses.
Knife fighting (usually the first thing a new student will prACTice), in particular, plays a central role in building the empty-hand combat skills. It develops the reflexes, judgment, and tactical sensitivity required to deal with speed, precision, and lethal intent. The evasive body movement, framing, and deflections trained with a knife are the same movements applied when facing a knife without one.
ACT’s anti-knife curriculum is not built on generic “defensive” reactions. It is rooted in the logic of the fight itself. To respond effectively to a knife, one must first understand how a knife is used. That understanding only comes from training to fight with it. When a student is trained both in knife fighting and in ACT’s unarmed applications, the foundation exists to approach anti-knife scenarios with high efficiency.