Martial Arts and the Military

[shane23ss]

I want to know how many of you are in the military and how much trouble does that cause to your martial arts training. As in moving around and having to leave your school, or deployments.

 

[Adept]

I'm enlisting in about three weeks, and several of my friends are in the military. If you are moving around a lot, then you may find it hard to get civilian training. But you should have a nearly unlimited supply of training partners at 'work'.

 

[Colin_Linz]

I was in the Air Force (Australian) for 14 years. It does cause some problems like committing yourself to national or international events; in the end service commitments come first. On the up side they are usually supportive of physical training. On the whole my experience was pretty good.

 

[shane23ss]

I was in the U.S. Army for 5 1/2 years. I got pretty fortunate to be stationed at the same (Ft. Campbell, KY, 101st Airborne Division, Screaming Eagles), the entire time. It made it a little easier to stay with one school. The main problem was deployments.

Adept, what MOS are you enlisting for, and what is your motivation for enlisting?

 

[Adept]

MOS? We must have different abbreviations here in Australia.

I'm enlisting for a full time Commando position in the Australian special forces. I'm 23 now, and I've been out of high school for five years this year. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with myself or my life, really, but the military has always been an idea in the back of my mind. I come from a military oriented family, and when they opened the SF to direct civilian recruits I thought 'what the hell' and put in an application.

Added to that, I want to be able to feel like I've really done something to earn living in the country that I do, and I want to do everything I can to make sure it stays like it is. I want to do my part to tag the Osamas of the world.

 

[Colin_Linz]

MOS? We must have different abbreviations here in Australia.

I'm enlisting for a full time Commando position in the Australian special forces. I'm 23 now, and I've been out of high school for five years this year. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with myself or my life, really, but the military has always been an idea in the back of my mind. I come from a military oriented family, and when they opened the SF to direct civilian recruits I thought 'what the hell' and put in an application.

Added to that, I want to be able to feel like I've really done something to earn living in the country that I do, and I want to do everything I can to make sure it stays like it is. I want to do my part to tag the Osamas of the world.

You may find that this maybe more intrusive. My brother was in 4 RAR, or 3 RAR I can’t remember which, and was always being deployed on exercise or course. When he married and started a family he found the constant commitments away from home too intrusive and resigned.

 

[Adept]

You may find that this maybe more intrusive. My brother was in 4 RAR, or 3 RAR I can’t remember which, and was always being deployed on exercise or course. When he married and started a family he found the constant commitments away from home too intrusive and resigned.

4RAR is Commando, 3RAR is Airborne. Yeah, the commitments are pretty tight, but frankly the more time I can spend away from the missus the better!

 

[Satt]

Deployments suck!!! I have done 3 in the last 4 years!!! The only way I can train is to do it by video. I am getting out in 4 1/2 months though so that will be nice. I am gonna train with Chris Sanders in Chattanooga, TN. I am really excited about that. Personally, if I had it all to do over again, I would've just stayed in college.

 

[loki09789]

Training while your on active service might suck for the consistency and continuity issues, but it can be great for the 'reality' aspect because you are assessing and considering how any martial skill can/should/will be applied effectively. You also have the advantage of getting a tactical perspective on the h2h skills and where they fit into the larger scope of 'fighting/self defense' because you are exposed to things like 'combined arms' and 'envelopement' maneuvers all the time.

This gives you a 'tactical/strategic' understanding of how one set of skills (h2h for example) fit into the broader topic of application.

Too often, I think, martial arts/artists tend to get the 'one gun/one punch/one way' mentallity because they don't learn to see their art IN application contexts but see it as THE application and try to force it into ALL contexts.

 

[shane23ss]

MOS? We must have different abbreviations here in Australia.

"MOS" is your "Military Occupational Specialty" or your job. you answered the question. thanks.

 

[Rick Wade]

I am in the Navy and have been for 15 years. I have been in Kenpo since 1990. I spent four years in Hawaii without an instructor. So I formed a Kenpo club and taught the guys that didn’t know anything and the guys that did take kenpo we all worked together blending the different organizations philosophies. It made me a better Kenpoist for it. Look at the positive and always get back to the forms and research, develop and apply them to the techniques.

V/R

Rick English
:mp5:
P.S. Interruption to training coming up again I am headed to the middle east for 6 months.

V/R

Rick English
:mp5:

 

[shane23ss]

Well Rick, I know what you mean. Like I said, I spent 5 and 1/2 years in the U.S. Army, and spent a lot of that time in the sands of the middle east. Good luck. Keep your chin up and your head down!

 

[kroh]

Hey there...

There are a lot of good ideas floating around on this thread....

I was in for 5 years and I moved around alot. My first MA experiences were traditional Japanese and trying to find places to train in those systems every time i moved were close to impossible at the time. Ow many years later...This si some of the advice i give to some of my training partners who are going green...

1. Make sure that you keep up your skills. After all the basic training and advanced job training ( you will have enough to think about when doing this stuff) make sure that you make your martial arts training a part of your weekly routine. The longer you let your skills sit un-used, the harder it will be to bring them out again.

2. Use the internet to network and find what you need Since I was in the army (I got out in '95), the internet has come a long way. Hop onto some of the forums and make some connections. Browse the net searches and find schools. Look around... a little leg work goes a long way.

3. You are your BEST resource In the absensce of a direct instructor, form a club. Locate a martial art that works for you within the area (say 50 to 200 miles) and travel there once or twice a month. Bring what you have learned back to the club and work the hell out of it. I did this for my last two years of service as my scheduale changed and didn't allow me to play at the same time as the schedualed classes.

Lots of good info around here ....keep pluggin...
Regards,
Walt