Hand to hand combat

“Even though this class was held during the last week in October, we were always hot and sweating. Throughout the group, we had pulled muscles, tendonitis, bruises, black eyes, and overall body soreness. We were sometimes in so much pain from using muscles that hadn't been used in years, or ever, that it hurt to move a certain way and interfered with sleeping. And each day we added to the pain that we caused to ourselves and each other from giving it our all the day before.”

“As a female, this was a completely new experience to me. Prior to this course, during any physical military training I always was paired with another female. In this training, not only was I the only female, but some of the males I was going up against were the size of football defensive linemen. I have never been in a fight and didn't think my strength would even compare to the males', so I went into this experience a little apprehensive. But the professionalism and encouragement of the instructors and other Soldiers eliminated any possible awkwardness that could stem from males and females grappling together and made me more confident to be going up against males.”