Slap!
The sound of bodies slamming against a canvas mat rang through Wells Field House on Fort Belvoir as the Virginia post hosted a combatives tournament open for Soldiers in the Military District of Washington.
More than 20 Soldiers came to the tournament this month, where fighters went head-to-head in matches where grappling, body blows, kicks and slaps to the head were fair game.
The tournament comes as part of a push to spread interest in Army Combatives training to Soldiers at posts across the region, said Capt. Phil Maltz of Fort Belvoir's Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion.
"What we're trying to do is build the program up [and] spread the word," he said.
Soldiers who participated and finished highly in the brackets got a better chance of being among the dozen or so people going to the All-Army Combatives Tournament at Fort Benning, Ga., later this month.
The prospect of competing against some of the Army's best during the All-Army Tournament was exciting, said Ma
Two Soldiers stand ready to duke it out during the Military District of Washington Combatives Tournament hosted at Fort Belvoir on Thursday. The tournament, the first of it's kind, was open to Soldiers from across MDW and was considered training for Soldiers aiming to compete in the All-Army Combatives Tournament scheduled for later this month at Fort Benning, Ga. j. Thomas Greene of the Special Activity Battalion of Fort Belvoir, who fought in the heavyweight division. But the attitude that comes across in military tournaments is what Greene most enjoyed.
"What I like most, is that we're all Soldiers and we all respect each other once we get off the mat," he said.
The matches were in no way the slow-moving training exercises that many un
Spc. Patrick Gaume of Fort Myers' 3rd Infantry Regiment "The Old Guard" struggles to resist the onslaught of Spc. Sean Spurr of the 29th Infantry Division's Special Troops Battalion. This bout represented a rematch for the pair. In the second match, the referee named Gaume the victor after he pinned Spurr. Gaume tapped out in the first bout. dergo in basic training. Matches in both the heavyweight and cruiserweight brackets often devolved into vicious hand slaps to opponents' heads and bouts of grappling on the ground. Most matches ended only after one fighter choked a competitor into submission.
In all the fights, competitors seemed to spend the first part of the bout measuring up their opponents.
"There's always some consternation about what's going to happen," said Greene. "Nobody wants to get knocked out. [And] everybody's got knockout power with a single punch."
Fights could be bloody. In one of the day's tougher bouts, Spc. Patrick Gaume of Fort Myers' 3rd Infantry Regiment "The Old Guard" ended up with a gash across his head after an intense bout that ended with a loss to Spc. Sean Spurr of Fort Belvoir's 29th Infantry Division's Special Troops Battalion.
The 20-year-old from Houston remained stoic about the injury and loss as the tournament's medical support staff bandaged his head.
"The only thing that got hurt was my pride," Gaume said. "This is all superficial."
After his wound was treated, Gaume went on to win a rematch against Spurr and ultimately won top honors in the cruiserweight division.
In the heavyweight division, Greene won first place after quickly crushing Spc. Patrick Nicely of the Old Guard.
In the match, which lasted only a few minutes, Greene managed to swiftly tackle Nicely. Nicely was then forced to tap out after Greene executed a choke hold on the specialist.
After the win, Greene said the victory was an honor, given the caliber of fighters at the tournament.
"These guys are all pretty tough," Greene said.
While matches only lasted 10 minutes at maximum, the bouts could be more tiring than playing other sports, said Spc. Jeremie Ayers of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the Old Guard.
"I'm an aggressive person, I've always been into aggressive sports," he said. "This drains you more because it's constant [action].
"You basically go until one of you gives in or the [referee] calls it."
While combatives may work well as a competition, the martial arts style has real-world applications for Soldiers.
The combatives program represents a dramatic change from past training regimens for service members, said Frank Cramblitt, a former Marine who attended to cheer Greene on. "This is realistic," he said. "The stuff we were doing [when I was in the service] was very limited. ... This is the new era. This is true fighting."
For Soldiers today, the skills combatives instill are certainly needed, said Spc. Justin Wilkins of the Old Guard's Headquarters and Headquarters Company who competed in the tournament.
"Everybody wants to talk about what our guns do or say our missiles do this, but when you kick in a door you got to be able to [fight]," he said.
Military District of Washington Combatives Tournament Results
Heavyweight Division
First:
Maj. Thomas Greene
Second:
Spc. Patrick Nicely
Third:
Spc. Jeremie Ayers
Cruiserweight Division
First:
Spc. Patrick Gaume
Second:
Spc. Sean Spurr
Third:
Sgt. James Howard
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