GeezerVison

This article includes a list of general references but lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (November 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

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

Combat is a purposeful violent conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (not using weapons). 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.

Combat may comply with, or be in violation of, local or international laws regarding conflict. Examples of rules include the Geneva Conventions (covering the treatment of people in war), medieval chivalry, the Marquess of Queensberry Rules (covering boxing), and the individual rulesets of various combat sports.

Hand-to-hand combat (melee) is combat at very close range, attacking the opponent with the body (striking, kicking, strangling, etc.) or with a melee weapon (knives, swords, batons, etc.) as opposed to a ranged weapon.

Hand-to-hand combat can be further divided into three sections depending on the distance and positioning of the combatants:

• Clinch fighting
• Ground fighting
• Stand-up fighting

Military combat involves two or more opposing military forces meeting in warfare. Military combat situations can involve multiple groups, such as guerilla groups, insurgents and domestic or foreign governments.

A military situation may be known as a duel, action, affair, skirmish, engagement, combat, battle, campaign, or war, depending on the size of the fighting and the geographical areas in which it occurs. A combat between two armies that decides the fate of a war or a separate theater- or campaign-sized operation is a pitched battle.^[a] An encounter battle does not affect the outcome that can be caused by the previous case. A combat between two armies that had less definite results than a pitched battle, but led to a more or less significant change in the situation in the theater, is simply called a battle.^[b] Clash of independent parts of two armies, namely corps or divisions, is called a combat or engagement.^[c] Clashes of even smaller formations are called an affair, action, skirmish, or also engagement.^[d] However, all of these terms may be used in different ways depending on the context.^[1][2] In naval warfare there is also a term fleet action.

Combat effectiveness has always demanded that the personnel maintain strategic preparedness by being sufficiently trained, armed, equipped, and funded to carry out combat operations in the unit to which they are assigned.^[3] Warfare falls under the law of war, which govern its purposes and conduct, and protect the rights of combatants and non-combatants.

Look up combat in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Fighting

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fighting and Combat.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for War zone safety.

• Martin van Creveld: The Changing Face of War: Lessons of Combat, from the Marne to Turkey. Maine, New England 2007.

• Wong, Leonard. 2006. "Combat Motivation in Today's Soldiers: U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute."Armed Forces & Society, vol. 32: pp. 659–663.
• Gifford, Brian. 2005. "Combat Casualties and Race: What Can We Learn from the 2003-2004 Iraq Conflict?" Armed Forces & Society, vol. 31: pp. 201–225.
• Herspring, Dale. 2006. "Undermining Combat Readiness in the Russian Military, 1992-2005." Armed Forces & Society, Jul 2006; vol. 32: pp. 513–531.
• Ben-Shalom, Uzi; Lehrer, Zeev; and Ben-Ari, Eyal. 2005. "Cohesion during Military Operations: A Field Study on Combat Units in the Al-Aqsa Intifada." Armed Forces & Society, vol. 32: pp. 63–79.
• Woodruff, Todd; Kelty, Ryan; Segal, Archie Cooper, David R. 2006. "Propensity to Serve and Motivation to Enlist among American Combat Soldiers." Armed Forces & Society, Apr 2006; vol. 32: pp. 353–366.
• Dienstfrey, Stephen. 1988. "Women Veterans' Exposure to Combat." Armed forces & Society, vol. 14: pp. 549–558.