Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego -- Geared up and ready to spar, Company L recruits prepared to battle each other during Pugil Sticks III, Oct. 8. This event allowed recruits to apply different Marine Corps Martial Arts techniques they have learned in recruit training.
Pugil Sticks III consist of recruits sparing with each other, simulating close-quarters-combat between two people.
Helped by fellow recruits, they donned protective gear while waiting their turn to charge into the fighting hole. Each recruit wore a helmet and padded protective gear on their body while they used a two-sided padded stick as their weapon. When it was their turn to fight, recruits yelled their name and weight to ensure all participants are within 10 pounds of their weight.
An instructor refereed each fight as he looked for a “kill blow” from one of the recruits to declare a match winner.
The recruits used the MCMAP training they have learned. This helped familiarize the recruits with the proper way to execute each move while in a hand-to-hand combat situation. In a combat situation where they run out of ammunition or their weapon jams they can still continue to fight.
“The battlefield isn’t predictable, meaning anything can happen while you’re on a deployment so, we as Marines must train to be ready for the unpredictable,” said Sgt. Brandon J. Cobb, drill instructor, Platoon 3241. “Warfare is more than just having a fire fight; it can be close hand-to-hand combat like the recruits experienced today.”
Exhaustion also comes into play in a battlefield.
“During the (simulated) battle of hand-to-hand combat I experienced a lot of fatigue, which is something you can face on a combat deployment,” said Recruit Tyler J. Evans, an 18-year-old Aransas, Texas native. “When you get tired you have to push through no matter how bad the pain, because even though this is just a simulated fight it can be the real thing on a combat deployment.”
Everything that has been taught throughout recruit training has a purpose which recruits will take on with them throughout their Marine Corps careers.
“We as Marines must train to be ready for anything that can and will occur,” said Cobb, a 25-year-old Charlotte, N.C., native. “All Marines must go through the basics of training during their time in recruit training.”