ATTN: Jeff C.

[Kage-Ronin]

Jeff,

I just got done, as in 30 minutes ago, with a freindly bout of grappling with an officer on my ship who is an Ensign/O-1 who came from the Army and was certified through Level 2 Combatives.

My own experience is 3 years of judo/jiujitsu in SC from 95-98, and two years starting in 06 of on and off BJJ, Judo/Newaza in TX. (I/ we am/are currently in the middle east on deployment)

We did matches from start to submission, and start again continuously for about 15 minutes. It was quite a bit once sided in my favor, in order from 1st bout through the last;

1st(me) scarf hold from kesa gatame of all things
2nd(me) RNC
3rd(me) Guillotine choke from sprawl
4th(me) Ude Garumi from side control
5th(me) RNC
6th(me) Guillotine from guard
7th(me) RNC

I had a couple of failed triangle attempts, a failed omoplata attempt, and a failed arm bar from mount attempt, all of which he defended against very well.
However he gave his back up quite a bit and didn't have a lot of good defense when I went for chokes, so I was curious as to how much emphasis is given to defense at the different levels in MACP?

Let me say that I am a HUGE supporter of MACP and MCMAP respectively and heartily applaude what y'all are doing in each program. When I went through Army Basic back in 88 in good old Fort Bliss all we learned was a few basic hip throws, take downs and of course pugil sticks, so what is going on today is leaps and bounds from back then.

Thanks in advance.

~Rob

[Brian R. VanCise]

It is a crash course. So obviously they will not be quite at a level of someone training regularly. Still it is a good move forward!

[Jeff C.]

Robert, I went through BCT at Bliss in '88 too!!! Do you remember what dates you were there?

Like Brian said, it is a crash course, but more importantly it is a "train the trainer" course. Being able to teach others does not necessarily equate to being a good fighter. Most of the MACP folks of ANY level of certification were definitely not up to speed as competitors, but they were effective trainers. To become a good fighter you need mat time, as you know.

The good thing is this: the skills they acquired will be more than adequate against the average guy on the street or the average combatant. And the course is only the beginning. One must get one's butt on the mat and train CONSTANTLY. I can teach a Soldier to shoot an M16 in an hour. But he/she needs many hours of range time to become an expert shooter.

Jeff Cook

[Kage-Ronin]

Jeff,

It is a small, small world! I was there for the summer season of fun;
approx May/Jun - Aug.

I remember all of it like it was yesterday. My Drill Sergeants names were Drill Sergeant Frazier, Drill Sergeant Rhyans, and Drill Sergeant Bufkin. (the spellings may be off due to the amount of time that has passed )

He and I had a similar discussion when we were finished. He said that they were told that a person who is trained in combatives would/should be able to defeat the average guy, but he also said that he is thinking that was a bunch of malarky.
I told him, much to his surprise, that I happen to agree that someone who consistently trains their combatives would be able to beat the average guy who wasn't trained in some form of MA, collegiate wrestling, boxing, etc.

~Rob