EX STRIKING BADGER
ARTICLE WRITTEN BY MASTER-CORPORAL ALEXANDER LOEVEN
Westmount, Quebec – 02 April 2019: On the weekend of 30-31st of March, the RMR hosted two specialists to teach their members different aspects of unarmed combat; Patrick Cote, former UFC fighter and former member of the R22eR, to teach striking, and Corey Guitard, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt from 10th Planet Montreal, to teach grappling and ground fighting techniques.
Early Saturday, the troops participating in the exercise set up in the officers’ mess for Patrick Cote’s striking seminar. Patrick ran the members through various punches, kicks, knees, elbows and clinch techniques before having the members string the moves into combos, with his supervision and coaching throughout. Patrick also shared some of his experiences of his past time in the forces, he was relieved to find out goulash was no longer in circulation as a ration pack.
On Sunday, Corey Guitard gave a day-long seminar on Jiu Jitsu, being a black belt and top level competitor in the sport, he is an excellent resource and friend of the unit who also coaches the RMR’s grappling team on Wednesday nights in preparation for the army grappling competition in Petawawa in June. Corey taught the members ways to escape from dangerous positions on the ground using various techniques, along with various movements, all in the end goal of positioning our opponents for a submission such as a rear naked choke or arm bar.
The learning curve was steep for the many participants who were not members of the grappling team, but by Corey’s admission, the members learned quickly and began applying the techniques by the end of the seminar with efficiency once they started rolling (a term for sparring in ground fighting). Warrant Officer Anctil, B-Coy Sergeant Major, a blue belt in Jiu Jitsu, was also present to assist in instruction, and along with Corey, proceeded to enhance the members’ learning by decimating them while rolling.
The members of the RMR who participated were extremely lucky to have this level of talent present at the unit this past weekend, and all including myself, learnt new techniques that are instrumental to our professions as infanteers. We hope to continue the relationship with the guest instructors and carry on with unarmed combat training in following training years.
