Every Marine to be a Kung-Fu Fighter

Military.com ^ | July 22, 2007 | Jeff Schogol

[2ndDivisionVet]

First the Marine Corps made Chuck Norris an honorary Marine. Now the Corps wants all Marines to follow in his footsteps.

All Marines must now qualify for their tan belt in the Corps' version of martial arts by the end of 2007, Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway said in a recent Corps-wide message.

The move mostly affects those who joined before 2001, when the service made the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program part of basic training and the Basic School, said 1st Lt. Brian P. Donnelly, a spokesman for Manpower and Reserve Affairs.

The Corps originally hoped to have all Marines earn their tan belt by the end of fiscal 2003 and then have Marines attain higher belts by the end of fiscal 2004.

Now the higher belts are no longer goals but requirements for Marines, Donnelly said in an e-mail to Stars and Stripes.

"All infantrymen will be trained to green belt by the end of CY [calendar year] 2008," Conway said in the July 16 message. "All other combat arms Marines will be trained to gray belt by the end of CY 2008."

The changes apply to all Marines, including reservists, said retired Lt. Col. Joseph C Shusko, director of the Martial Arts Center of Excellence.

"A Marine is a Marine," he said.

The tan belt shows that Marines have mastered basic skills such as how to fall, move, throw punches, choke an opponent and counter someone coming at you, Shusko said.

The gray belt is the next step up and shows Marines have learned techniques such as lower-body strikes, chokes and how to get out of a headlock, he said.

The green belt is third in the series and shows Marines have learned skills such as how to rip muscle from bone, Shusko said.

The martial-arts training also teaches Marines how to hone their mental skills as warriors, Shusko said. This involves learning about other cultures such as the Spartans, Zulus and Apaches.

Another component of the training is character development, which ties the physical skills Marine learn with what they do as good citizens, he said.

Conway praised the character development aspect of the martial-arts training in the message.

"It has, at its center, the Marine Corps ethos that includes our core values of honor, courage, and commitment, as well as the legacy of selfless and honorable services passed from one generation of Marines to the next," Conway said in the message.

The switch to mandatory martial arts training came after Training and Education Command recommended revamping the program as part of changes to Marine character training, Shusko said. Those changes include moving the climactic "Crucible" exercise — where Marines march about 40 miles over 54 hours with little food or sleep — to the end of basic training.

[skinkinthegrass]

Here come the Marines!... *w/respect*
this is garbage.
an tan belt? ...not even an Shodan (which mean your a 1st Dan Black "you only know the Basic stuff" Belt)....*disgust*

[A.A. Cunningham]

Back then you didn’t have to worry about stopping a coked-up, methed-up Jihadi with a 9MM.

[jokar]

I can still kick his wimp butt.

DUDE I am soooo down for that. Here, let me hold your keyboard.

[BluH2o]

Visited Parris Island May of 2001. This program was well under way at that time ... speaking as a graduate of PI, going all the way back to 1964, I was impressed with the emphasis on hand to hand combat ... it was considerably advanced beyond what we were taught. Over all, I felt the physical requirements were as stringent ... however, I felt the mental challenge had lessened considerably over what we experienced some 35 years earlier.

[Scotswife]

I was at an Educators workshop about 6 years ago at Parris Island. They talked about getting some of this MCMAPS techniques from the ROK Marines. Two Marines did a nearly full contact demo. Pretty impressive. Which brings me to a funny story that occurred on the visit to the crucible. One of the liberal educators decided to put a DI on the spot on gun control. He was an NFL sized man who responded quickly and wittingly to a liberal guidance counselor on the trip. She asked him what he felt about gun control. He resonded unequivically, “Three rounds center mass mam.”It quited her down while getting quite a chuckle out of the few conservative educators in the group.

[quadrant]

Just the Viet Cong and NVA.

[Fire_on_High]

I stand corrected then, as I have indeed studied Korean arts but no Japanese.

[lowbridge]

Here, let me hold your keyboard.

Hey, wait a second there....you're taking away my best weapon.

:-)

[Buffettfan]

Chuck Norris brought Tang Soo Do (the forerunner to Tae Kwan Do) back from Osan Air Force base in Korea in the late 60’s. Chuck is not just a movie star, he is a legitimate martial artist. Chuck is also a regular contributor on Worldnetdaily.com.

Semper Fi’
Jarhead

[lowbridge]

Chuck Norris doesnt mow his lawn. He stares at the grass and dares it to grow.

[fso301]

As far as the Marines receiving hand-to-hand combat training, it's news to me. Why didn't we think of it before?

One reason is because they were trained not to let a live enemy get that close but if by chance a live enemy got that close, the very un-politically correct bayonete and knife training were given for such situations.

[Melas]

Chuck is not just a movie star, he is a legitimate martial artist.

Hell man, I'm a legitimate martial artists. Chuck is a WORLD CHAMPION martial artist. It doesn't get much better than that.

[Lions Gate]

Thanks for an excellent post (# 27). I’m going to try to find a copy of Mr. Fuji’s book.

As a Christian minister (and former martial artist) I’ve been involved for many years in counseling and deliverance ministry. There are spiritual dangers to the martial arts that many practitioners are not aware of. These include doorways to demonic activity, potential embracing of eastern religions, ungodly soulish development, and turning away from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hosea 4:6a My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

[joebuck]

Does this mean they’ll now be able to jump 25 feet high, doing six back flips in the process?

[Beckwith]

Beats the hell out of “PT.”

[Calpernia]

[wtc911]

The Germans never had any sort of a counterpart to the Browning heavy machinegun. Again something basic. The only real German advantage seems to have been in tanks.

_______________________________________________

The German MG42 was so good that evolved models are still in use today. One of its iterations was the US M60 of the VN era and beyond.

[Calpernia]

>>>>Does this mean we’re going to see a recruiting ad that parodies the old Hong Kong martial arts flicks?

Only if the audio timing doesn’t match up with the mouth movement.

:)

[Beckwith]

The Germans never had any sort of a counterpart to the Browning heavy machinegun.

The MG42, precursor to the US M-60, is one of the greatest Wehrmacht weapons. Air cooled, belt fed, the sound was terrifying. The M60 still being used today is a tribute to the design that is over 60 years old.



http://www.eduqna.com/Trivia/2550-1-trivia.html

[John Leland 1789]

You are absolutely correct about the demonic doorways opened up through the martial arts. In China and the Philippines, we have seen martial artists, who accept Christ, immediately give up the martial arts for this very reason, even without being prompted to give it up by preachers.

Other readers of the post probably missed my implication that it was God who was on the side of our dear fighting men when they met the Japanese in combat. At sea, in the air, on the beaches — it was God who helped them. We still had a very large population of devout biblical Christians in the 1940s who were on their knees for our soldiers; and our cause was just. I dare say that that number has been much, much smaller since the 1970s.

If one of our strengths was that American boys all could throw a baseball, and therefore were great hand grenade tossers (as suggested by one other who posted), EVEN THAT was wrought of God! Amen. God had baseball to be the beloved sport of those generations, not soccer.

You will know and agree that we are not as many who try to explain everything naturally (or humanistically) when we know we have a Supernatural God, who holds all things together by the word of His power.