Combat is a purposeful violent conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed or unarmed. Combat is resorted to either as a method of self-defense or to impose one's will upon others. An instance of combat can be a standalone confrontation or part of a wider conflict, and its scale can range from a fight between individuals to a war between organized groups. Combat may also be benign and recreational, as in the cases of combat sports and mock combat.
Ground combat: The Battle of Gettysburg by Thure de Thulstrup, depicting the Union Army and Confederate Army clashing during the American Civil War, 1863
Naval combat: Sinking of the Esmeralda during the Battle of Iquique by Thomas Somerscales, depicting the Peruvian Navy ironclad Huáscar sinking the Chilean Navy corvette Esmeralda during the War of the Pacific, 1879
Aerial combat: An Imperial Japanese Navy Mitsubishi G4M on fire after being shot down by a United States Navy Consolidated PB2Y Coronado during World War II, 1944
Combat sports: Two Irish Defence Forces members hitting each other during a military-sanctioned boxing championship, 2014
Hand-to-hand combat is a physical confrontation between two or more persons at short range that does not involve the use of ranged weapons. The phrase "hand-to-hand" sometimes include use of melee weapons such as knives, swords, clubs, spears, axes, or improvised weapons such as entrenching tools. While the term "hand-to-hand combat" originally referred principally to engagements by combatants on the battlefield, it can also refer to any personal physical engagement by two or more people, including law enforcement officers, civilians, and criminals.
Pankratiasts portrayed on a Roman relief. 2nd or 3rd century A.D.
Corporal Alvin "Tony" Ghazlo, the senior bayonet and unarmed combat instructor at Montford Point, demonstrates a disarming technique on his assistant, Private Ernest "Judo" Jones.
Hand-to-hand combat training in the Soviet Army, 1976
Rangers in Action 10-African Land Forces Summit, US Army Africa, 2010
