Fort Belvoir Community Hospital fighters -- representing Headquarters and Headquarters Company, U.S. Army Element Troop Command South, Northern Regional Medical Command; and Company A, U.S. Army Element Troop Command South, Northern Regional Medical Command -- kept focus and intensity at full steam for the duration to edge out the 249th Engineer Battalion for the 2014 intramural Combatives championship title Friday at the Fort Belvoir Warrior Training Center.
Twenty-three servicemembers, representing 10 military units, competed in the standard-rules event across five weight categories, vying for valuable points in the 2014 Commander's Cup title race.
The tournament, hosted by Fort Belvoir's Headquarters Battalion and the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation, was open to male and female active-duty Soldiers, Marines, Airmen, Sailors, Reservists, National Guardsmen and Department of Defense civilians assigned or attached to Fort Belvoir.
Special guests included Matt Larsen, founder of the Modern Army Combatives Program; U.S. Army Garrison Fort Belvoir Command Sgt. Maj. Chester Grelock; Lt. Col. Brian Zarchin, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Belvoir Headquarters Battalion commander; U.S. Army Garrison Fort Belvoir HQ Bn. Command Sgt. Maj. Carolyn Reynolds; and several certified MACP instructors who served as referees during the high energy bouts.
In the welter-weight division Belvoir Hospital's Kimberly Stein, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, U.S. Army Element Troop Command South, Northern Regional Medical Command, claimed the champion title by defeating Christopher Kilby, Intelligence and Security Command.
Belvoir Hospital's Kevin Freeman, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, U.S. Army Element Troop Command South, Northern Regional Medical Command, took the 1st-place distinction in the middle-weight division by besting Keith Quevedo, 249th Engineer Bn.
In the light-heavyweight division Sean Fitzgibbon, U.S. Army Legal Services Agency, won the champion title with his victory over Jason Ashurst, 249th Eng. Bn.
Joshua Chambers, U.S. Army Protective Services Bn., defeated Nasser Althaqeb, Military Intelligence Readiness Command, to claim the heavyweight prize.
For Fitzgibbon, experience and pre-event training played a critical role in his light-heavyweight title win over Ashurst.
"I was a high school wrestler so this translates very well, and there was a lot of wrestling towards the end," he said. "It seems like every single fight I was in a losing position. It just so happens that (my opponents) either ran out of gas or they made a mistake. They were all tough; they weren't average fights."
For all of the competitors the tournament presented challenges in every bout, from the opening showdowns to the title matches.
"This feels pretty good after (my 3rd-place finish) last year," said Stein after clinching the welter-weight division title. "The toughest bout today was the one against Chris Kilby."
Stein added that the greatest asset she took to the mat was one that came with the Army uniform.
"I just kept my aim on esprit de corps and the warrior ethos -- keeping in with the creed of the Army Soldier and the warrior."
Combatives is a form of hand-to-hand combat originally designed in 1995 by Larsen, a former Army Ranger, to provide military personnel with a tactical means of self defense on the battlefield in the absence of traditional weapons. After analyzing several martial arts methods from around the world, Larsen began forming the style which best suited the Army's goals. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fit nearly every aspect of the military's needs perfectly. It was easy to learn, had a competitive form, and was proven effective within the arena of hand-to-hand fighting.
Using actual combat experience as a guide, the Rangers designed a system with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as the technical base that was oriented to the needs of the Army. A systematic approach to training emerged, which detailed the techniques that would be taught, and in what order. Rangers would start with the basics of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ground fighting, and progress into the throws and takedowns of Judo and wrestling, as well as the strikes of boxing and Muay Thai. All of this could combine with marksmanship and weapons training into a totally integrated system of Close Quarters Combat, henceforth, yielding Rangers who could transition smoothly between ranges of combat, with or without weapons, individually or as a group.
As the Rangers who were trained in this new system expanded throughout the Army, the system spread with them. Lt. Gen. Michael Ferriter, commanding general, U.S. Army Installation Management Command, had learned of the system while serving as a colonel commanding the 3rd Ranger Battalion and later the 11th Infantry Regiment, and successfully integrated Combatives into the POIs of Officer Candidate School, the Infantry Officer Basic Course, and the Infantry Captain's Career Course. He, with the help of Larsen, who left the Army as a sergeant first class, laid the foundation for the Army's trainer program.
The program continues to grow. As of January 2002, with the publishing of the new FM3-25.150, written by Larsen, it has become official Army training doctrine.
Larsen pointed out the critical importance of Combatives training in today's Army.
"As we prepare to draw down from (the war in Afghanistan), we have to think about the next one, and it's inevitable that there will be a next one. We have to be an Army of warriors," he said. "I thank everyone who came out for this because they are keeping the flame of the warrior ethos alive."
Geneva Martin, Fort Belvoir intramural sports league coordinator, and Sheila Edwards, Fort Belvoir sports director, hosted an awards ceremony following the tournament during which the top-placing fighters received their championship medals and unit representatives were awarded the champion and runner-up trophies.
For more information regarding Fort Belvoir's intramural sports program, as well as the Commander's Cup race, contact Geneva Martin at (703) 806-5220.
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