USA Today
QUANTICO, Va. — Eastern spiritualism meets Western macho.
This spring, the Marine Corps will begin requiring every Marine to learn Asian martial arts — a first for the U.S. military.
 |
| Second Lt. Sarah Afshar tosses 2nd Lt Sean Hurley in a hip-throwing defense exercise.
USA Today |
The objective is to meld the physical and mental discipline of martial arts with the hand-to-hand combat skills the Corps has long emphasized.
The Corps, recognizing that U.S. ground troops are more likely to be deployed for peacekeeping missions than traditional warfare, expects Marines trained in martial arts to have the skills needed to restrain civilians and the confidence to avoid overreacting in hostile situations.
In addition to learning how to defend themselves with lethal force, students of martial arts are taught to condition "the mind, spirit and body to cope with challenges," Corps officials say.
The introduction of martial arts is also fitting given the Marines’ image of themselves as America’s samurai warriors — as in the recruiting ads that show a sword-wielding young man slaying a dragon and then turning into a Marine.
"When they say the word ‘Marine,’ there’s a certain capability that is advertised," said Lt. Col. George Bristol, who directs the martial arts instructor school at Quantico, a primary base for officer training. Bristol, whose office is adorned with pictures of samurai warriors and medieval knights, added: "We’re giving them the mental character and physical discipline to be what we are advertised to be."
Instructors began learning martial arts in November. Eventually, everyone who wears the Marine uniform will be required to go through a training program. Recruits at the Marines’ boot camps — one in San Diego, the other at Parris Island, S.C., will earn beginner-level tan belts, the Corps’ version of the traditional martial arts belt, or obi. Officials want every Marine to wear at least a tan belt with their camouflage uniforms by next year.
The only other U.S. troops instructed in martial arts are elite forces, such as the Army Rangers and Navy SEALs. But the other services are thinking about following the Marines’ lead in making the training mandatory for everyone, Bristol said.
The Army, for example, has started to teach jujitsu to soldiers who are part of a Fort Lewis, Wash., brigade heading the Army’s effort to convert itself into a more mobile and flexible force. The outfit is one of three infantry brigades that make up the 25th Infantry Division (Light). The other two combat brigades are based at Schofield Barracks in Hawai‘i.
Idea born in Vietnam
 |
| Pushups are far from routine: Except for the Marine in front, each pair of shoulders must bear the weight of the legs of the person in front.
USA Today |
Compared with other new "weapons" the Pentagon orders, this one is cheap: Start-up costs will be $1.3 million in 2001; after that, the training program will cost the Marines $225,000 a year.
Martial arts will be incorporated into physical conditioning throughout the career of a Marine, who can work up from a tan belt to gray, green, brown and black. Black belts will have up to six red stripes that denote degrees of expertise.
But this will be no Kung Fu Corps. "The last thing I want is an army of ninjas who are undisciplined," said Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Jones, the force behind the "culture change."
Jones got the idea 34 years ago when he was a platoon commander in Vietnam. He watched South Korean marines perform tae kwon do and noticed that they intimidated his own men. He also heard rumors that the Viet Cong made sure to avoid areas controlled by the South Koreans.
In 1986, Jones introduced martial arts training in his battalion at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The results, he said, were startling. Alcohol-related incidents plummeted. So did the number of Marines involved in off-base brawls.
Martial arts tamp down "excessive testosterone," said Master Sgt. Shane Franklin, who is learning to be an instructor. "It’s teaching you to control it, when to be less aggressive and when to switch it on and use deadly force."
As a sign in a stairwell here puts it: "One mind, one weapon."
"The best weapon is the mind that controls it," said Bristol, who helped develop the program. "No warrior society has ever won a war with kicks and punches. The aim is to give Marines the capability to kill, balanced with the control and compassion to know when that’s appropriate."
Nonlethal skills vital
Bristol said he is molding "ethical warriors." Dealing with rock-throwing teenagers in Haiti or hysterical grandmothers in Kosovo requires restraint, he said. Marines were taught only two nonlethal wristlocks before 1997; the new program includes nearly a dozen techniques to subdue angry civilians.
"If you lose your cool, you’re an international incident waiting to happen," Bristol said. "An 18-year-old can make a decision that turns a humanitarian mission into a combat zone."
That’s a major worry for the 172,000-member active duty Corps, which has the youngest and least seasoned troops of any service branch; the average age is 23, and two-thirds are on their first enlistment.
Young Marines behaving badly have caused scandals and headlines in Okinawa, where 19,000 Marines make up the largest Corps contingent outside the United States. This year, a 23-year-old Marine was detained in two arson cases, and a 21-year-old was arrested on charges that he molested a 16-year-old girl.
Many Marines stationed on the Japanese island have studied Okinawa’s ancient form of karate during their off-hours. Among those who have mastered Okinawan karate are Bristol and his chief trainer, Master Gunnery Sgt. Cardo Urso, who said he holds several black belts in various martial arts.
Bristol, Urso and a platoon of consultants have developed a system for the Marines that borrows from more than a dozen martial arts. They include karate, judo, jujitsu, aikido and arts that use swords, spears and other weapons.
Marines will go for jugular
Some Asian martial arts that go back thousands of years combine the calm and focus of Zen Buddhism, Taoism and other eastern religions with intricate physical self-defense moves. The Marine hybrid stresses the service’s core values of honor, courage and commitment, and focuses on grappling, punching, striking and restraining techniques. And its very different from typical civilian instruction.
Urso calls that "schoolboy martial arts." To make it safe for children, instructors have taken much of the "martial" out of the arts. In most civilian schools, that means no gouging or hitting below the belt.
But Marines won’t be trained to play by those rules. They will literally go for the jugular, taking anatomy classes that point out choke points for killing an enemy.
"On the battlefield, there is no dirty fighting," Urso said. Real martial arts are "not pretty, not choreographed. But it’s what a Marine needs to survive."
Instructors will teach all Marines martial arts that involve weapons, such as a bayonet, stick or rock, and arts that require only their hands or legs. The program also departs from the Marines’ long emphasis on upper body strength, which can put women at a disadvantage, by adapting the Asian focus on the legs and hips.
But the most radical change in training philosophy is the "holistic" approach, Bristol said. "You can teach very violent physical techniques to people, but if you don’t have the mental and character discipline to regulate and control them, you basically produce a thug," he said.
[back to top] |
