[i]Guardsmen teach martial arts skills
Monday, February 06, 206
By Sara K. Satullo
The Express-Times
BETHLEHEM | Two area National Guardsmen are on a mission to spread a hand-to-hand combat program known as Modern Army Combatives.
Staff Sgt. Edward Toth and Sgt. 1st Class Jeffery Malloch have been trying to train soldiers in their free time but lack the equipment and funding to safely run the programs, Toth said.
Toth, 29, of Allentown, said he is willing to practically empty out his bank account because of the program’s importance.
“The program basically instills a warrior ethos in our soldiers,” Toth said. “It gives participants courage and confidence not just to be a soldier, but for life in general.”
The course, developed in 1995, is based on Brazilian jujitsu and other forms of martial arts. The physically demanding program has four different levels of proficiency and can be completed in five days.
Participants have to learn the techniques and show they are competent enough instructors to go back and teach their units, Toth said. Throughout the 40-hour course, the soldiers repeatedly fight one another to gain proficiency. On the last day they have to take on the instructors.
The hope is the basic skills of the course can then be passed on to other soldiers.
“These guys are at the cutting edge nationally for the National Guard across the country,” said Capt. Cory Angell, who works at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa. “I’ve seen nothing out there that shows me that other states have other trainers that are at the same level we have.”
Toth wants to spread the program. Five reservists, including Toth and Malloch, ran the Pennsylvania National Guard’s first class in December at Fort Indiantown Gap, graduating 22 Level One instructors.
By 2007, all soldiers will be required to have a first level certification in Modern Army Combatives primarily because of its practicality in all realms of service, Toth said.
The hardest part of training, Malloch said, is the clinch drill, where the student has to close in on the instructor and disable him four times with a special hold. The students may grapple with their hands but the instructor gets to punch the student while wearing 16-ounce gloves.
“It’s just something new and because it’s new it hasn’t gained a lot of funding and recognition,” Angell said. “I think the more soldiers participate, the more commanders will recognize it’s important on the battlefields and important for camaraderie.” [/i]
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