Deal the First Deadly Blow (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781474539739)

This training volume from 1971 is also known as "FM 21-150 Hand to Hand Combat." This military training guide is designed to give instructing staff the official curriculum for unarmed combat, use of blunt and bladed weapons alongside uses of the firearm (and bayonet) for close range action.

Following in the lineage and methodologies of WW2 volumes such as "All-in Fighting", Deal the first Deadly Blow is clear and easy to follow for all experience levels. The guide is filled with high quality and detailed photographed sequences of the techniques and combinations in action.

The volume was commission by the US Department of the Army and was widely shared across all services during the Vietnam War era. Often referred to as "the Encyclopaedia of Unarmed Combat" it is a truly extensive and detailed guide into the strategies and skills needed to survive in close quarters combat with the enemy.

This Vietnam-era classic showcases in detail how the US Forces trained in close quarter combat. Known as the "encyclopaedia of combat" it helped a generation learn how to become devastating effective with empty hands, knives and bayonets alike.