Green Belt Instructor’s Course: Week 1 Recap
Leaving Detroit for San Diego was a needed change. I love Michigan, but waiting has never been my strong suit. I’d much rather jump right into it, ready or not. That being said, the wait was worth it: 25 degrees in Detroit, 65 degrees in San Diego. ‘Nuf said.
The trip West started off well. Big Brother hooked me up with a Ford Focus, but the kind fellow at the Alamo Rent-a-Car counter saw to it that I enjoyed three weeks in San Diego with the top down in a Spyder convertible at no additional cost. Thank you, Mister Alamo Giving Marines The Hookup Guy.
We checked into the Martial Arts Instructor Center, MAIC, that Friday and immediately suited up for a Physical Fitness Test or PFT. Since the weather has been so completely permissive in MI, with snow and ice on the ground for the past couple months, I hadn’t run a single mile outdoors since October. So naturally, I was curious to see how I’d perform on the three mile run after having completed the Insanity program but without additional run training. I had a feeling that I’d do well enough after scoring a 293 of 300 in a surprise Combat Fitness Test (CFT) in the snow two days earlier at my unit in Selfridge, MI.
My 20:44 three mile time wasn’t my best, but it was about two minutes better than where I left off at Logistics Course in September, so I was pleased. It was good enough for fourth place of 20, which sounds good, but as the only officer, I should have finished first. 16 pull-ups and 100 crunches in one minute five seconds. A bit light in the pull up department, but I can fix that by adding the Major Armstrong program to Insanity.
My day starts at 4:15am, arrive at class at 6am and return to the hotel around 6pm. Long day, but fun. In our first week, we reviewed MCMAP, Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, techniques from Tan and Gray belts, of which the practical application included boxing, kick boxing and ground fighting (wrestling). Yes, Paul (my bro), you better watch yourself when I’m home next or you might find yourself in an arm-bar leg lock!
The course is fantastic: martial arts, intense exercise and public speaking practice. After all, we’re going to graduate as Instructors, which means we’ll be teaching other Marines. Pretty exciting stuff, really. The exercise (physical training or PT) has been brutal even for having graduated the Insanity program. Thank God for Insanity because without it, I’d be getting killed. You should see some of the PT events… We did a squad exercise in which the class competed 10 v 10. Exercises included standing buddy situps, squad pushups, buddy squats, bear crawl buddy drag and more. Explanation as follows:
Standing buddy situps: Reverse piggy back or piggy front, if you will. Person standing holds partner by legs and allows partner to extend down to ground and curl body back up like a vertical situp.
Squad Pushups: Imagine 10 people doing pushups head to toe. Now, put your feet on the shoulders of the person behind you. Multiply that by 10 and you have only the legs of the rear-most Marine on the ground with all other feet on the back of the person behind you in line. Then push up and down in unison. Easier said than done.
Buddy Squats: This one isn’t that bad. Sling your partner over your shoulder fireman-carry style and squat in unison with your squad-mates.
Bear crawl buddy drag: Crawl like a baby on all fours, but don’t let your knees touch the ground and you have a bear crawl, kind of like a reverse crab walk. Now add the body weight of a Marine holding onto your belt as you crawl 20 meters. Fun!
More intense exercise is on tap for this week, including squad competitions, O-Course with flak jackets and Green Belt techniques. We’ve already learned some useful counter to punch chokes, throws and submission moves. We even learned how to immobilize an opponent with our pinky finger! (Jay, that one’s for you.)
Til next week,
Semper Fi,
Joe
