What martial arts does Jack Reacher know?

Jack Reacher is a fictional action hero whose stories were written by British author, Lee Child. Since the books, Jack Reacher has also been featured in various movies with Tom Cruise, as well as a TV series too.

During these films and shows – we get to see Jack Reacher’s fighting style which is also touched upon in the original novels. If you’re wary of the series then you’ll be aware that Jack Reacher is pretty skilled when it comes to combat and knows his stuff. In this article we shall break down the martial arts used by Jack Reacher whilst in combat.

Jack Reacher knows Krav Maga

In the books, Jack Reacher’s style is pretty brutal yet effective. It’s fair to say that the movies are more more stylish when it comes to Jack Reacher’s fighting style and are designed for the big screen. This isn’t the case in the books though, where Reacher’s objective is to win at any cost.

Often, Reacher will try to hit first and strike by surprise. In one scene, he says “I’ll count to three” but hits his opponent before reaching the number three. Sometimes, he will strike using headbutts, eye gouges, and groin strikes. These two styles are taught in Krav Maga and can instantly down an opponent from close range.

Lastly, he also knows self defense against knife attacks. In the TV series where Reacher is played by Alan Ritchson, he is capable of defending against small blades. Often, this involves grip fighting and manipulating the wrist to deflect the direction of the blade.

As Jack Reacher is naturally large and very strong, this would only add to his power and efficiency. Although Krav Maga is never directly mentioned, you should remember that Reacher was in the US military for over ten years. With this in mind, it’s perfectly plausible that he’d have learned a few martial arts during this time as part of his training.

Jack Reacher knows MCMAP

In the books, it’s mentioned that Reacher’s father was in the Marines. One of the main martial arts taught in the Marines is MCMAP which is a hand-to-hand style, incorporating lots of strikes alongside grappling. Overall, it’s a pretty general style and also includes submissions on the ground. You could describe this as the US army’s take on MMA.

It’s also mentioned that Reacher was a brawler during his childhood and teenage years. With this said, it’s safe to assume that his father at least passed down some of his knowledge and helped Reacher to fight. Aside from using your body, MCMAP also features weapons training which would also be useful for Reacher’s profession. In the movies, he often uses a pistol. This doesn’t sound like too much of a stretch although it’s not really spoken about in the books.

Jack Reacher knows Muay Thai

One of the more nuanced parts of Reacher’s fighting is his Muay Thai abilities. Often, it’s mentioned that he favors using his elbows rather than throwing punches. The reason for this is that elbows can easily cut the opponent and also cause damage from the clinch. In the movie, Tom Cruise uses this after the bar scene by ducking under his attacker and following up with an elbow to the face. This indicates that Reacher is happy to fight from close range, as opposed from distance.

At a distance, Reacher doesn’t really use kicks either and is more of a puncher. Nonetheless, this is an example of Reacher’s versatility when it comes to fighting. Combined with his Krav Maga, his Muay Thai elbows make Reacher a very dirty fighter who would be a nightmare to get into a confrontation with.

Jack Reacher knows grappling

Returning to the TV show, Jack Reacher gets himself in a number of problematic situations. One is when he’s surrounded in prison and has to fight his way out of trouble. Here, he manages to take someone down by holding their wrist which almost mimics and Aikido throw.

In a later scene, he also manages to throw a goon off his back who is attempting to strangle him and follows this up with a double leg takedown. Overall, this style mimics the defensive side of Judo and BJJ where Reacher mostly uses grappling to defend, rather than to attack. As Reacher mostly enjoys striking rather than submissions, this makes sense.

Jack Reacher knows tactical shooting

It goes without staying that Jack Reacher has a good aim on him. Serving in the military for over a decade and other antics have meant that being useful with guns is something he needs to do in order to survive. As mentioned, he is often seen with a pistol but is also skilled when brandishing larger, automatic guns and sniper rifles too. In other words, Jack Reacher is pretty versatile when it comes to handling fire arms.

Often, he will use guns as a last resort and prefers to fist fight which may be due to legal reasons. Nonetheless, trying to shoot Jack Reacher is not easy and and if you get in a gun fight with him then you will probably lose.

Conclusion

Jack Reacher is clearly a skilled martial artist and is a very tough fighter to defeat. We should note that all of the martial arts listed above are not formally trained by Jack Reacher. These are what we’ve seen him get up to without being explicitly mentioned.

In summary, Jack Reacher mostly relies on a style that is very similar to Krav Maga. Here, he uses his brains and brawn. As mentioned, Reacher is also well versed in other styles as well which is to be expected considering his lifestyle and profession.

If you’re a fan of Jack Reacher then check out the books here.