Military personnel from all branches of service assigned to Military District of Washington installations are invited to compete in the 2016 MDW Army Combatives Competition, Sept. 23 at the Fort Myer Fitness Center.
"This is about more than a medal and bragging rights," said Billy Cook, Fort Belvoir Headquarters Battalion operations officer and event coordinator for the tournament.
The Modern Army Combatives Program incorporates grappling moves, bars and submission holds drawn from several of the martial arts.
At the beginner or basic level, the resulting system of hand-to-hand fighting is relatively easy to learn. Limiting striking moves, such as kicks or punches, means service members may incur low-risk injury during training. Advanced practitioners are allowed to incorporate more kicks and strikes, though blows to the head or using the elbow are barred for safety reasons when sparring, say organizers.
Organizers say they want the competition to be as inclusive as possible and welcome Soldiers training at all levels of the program. Students of other service-specific combatives programs, such as the Air Force Combatives Program and Marine Corps Martial Arts and service members who study other martial arts, are also eligible to compete.
"By competing in this tournament, service members are displaying warrior ethos, the willingness to engage, close, fight and finish, which is the mentality we want every service member to have," said Sgt. 1st Class Emmanuel Neives-Rodriguez, an Army combatives instructor at the Fort Belvoir Warrior Training Center, who referees during the MDW competition.
The tournament will feature male and female competitors of any skill level in eight weight categories: heavy, light heavy, cruiser, middle, welter, light, fly and bantamweight.
Women and men will compete against each other in each weight class, with slightly different weight requirements.
Service members from all branches of service who are assigned to an installation in the National Capital Region can compete in the local competition, organizers said. However, only the top Army finishers in each weight class will qualify for the MDW Combatives Team, which will represent the organization at the 2016 All-Army Tournament at Fort Benning in December.
In preparation for the competition, Cook said there are several different "fight clubs" throughout the NCR where service members can train for the competition.
At Fort Belvoir, men and women can train at the Warrior Training Center (Bldg. 1139) Monday through Friday from 5:30 a.m. to 8 a.m.
At other installations, Soldiers should contact their unit's training NCO to identify opportunities for unit-level training with a Combatives Level 3- or 4--certified instructor or a Combatives Master Trainer in their unit. More information about the Modern Army Combatives Program is available in U.S. Army Field Manual 3-25.150.
Cook said physical conditioning is as important as learning the specific moves and rules for competition.
"Men and women will go head-to-head for three minutes during a bout, and it takes a lot of energy and a toll on your body" he said.
Neives-Rodriguez emphasized that combatives isn't just a sport, it's military training.
"You never know when you may have a weapon malfunction or just not have enough time to react to use your primary weapons system. This is where combatives comes in. It gives service members the ability to close the distance and finish the fight," he said.
For more information, call 703-806-5651 or email usarmy.belvoir.imcom.mbx.hqbn-combatives@mail.mil.
Pentagram Staff Writer Arthur Mondale can be reached at awright@dcmilitary.com.
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