See a very nice video published by the French Foreign Legion on their official Youtube channel showing legionnaires from the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) during their C4 close-quarters combat (CQC) course at the regiment’s new training center.

C4 is a newer close combat element of the TIOR (Close Operational Intervention Techniques), the French Army’s close combat training techniques developed by French commandos; they combine boxing and krav maga. Introduced in the early 2000s, the TIOR succeeded the CAC (Hand-to-hand Combat), which was the close combat taught by the British to the French during the Second World War.

As for C4 (High Intensity Combats’ Hand-to-hand Combat), this is an updated, more aggressive and offensive form of the TIOR. It was implemented into commando training in 2009, and adopted by the French Army’s infantry five years later. Following the French experiences gained in the War in Afghanistan from 2001-2011, C4 poses a return to the old, more violent hand-to-hand combat techniques used in close quarters, supplemented by a mix of Thai boxing, krav maga, and jiu-jitsu. Soldiers train in full operational combat gear, with tactical vests and full pockets, and have to fight barehanded, with handguns, long guns, magazines or knives.

The 1er REC’s CIAC (Commando Training and Hardening Center), where the C4 course in the video took place, was opened only a few months ago, in May 2021. It is located south of Marseille, southern France.

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Related posts:
1er REC: Get to know the regiment’s new Commando Training Center
1er REC: 2021 Commando Training Center
1er REC: Legionnaire heading an armored platoon during Operation Barkhane in Mali
1er REC: Complete again after 11 months