www.military.ie the defence forces magazine
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by CPL ANTHONY SWINBURNE
I
t started off just as a conversation in the form up between
members of the 52 Inf Gp. As the form up progressed myself
and Cpl Colm Meade noticed there was a lot of interest and
went seeking for people within the 52 Inf Gp who had similar
skill sets and interests.
With the word circulating Lt Richard Barber and Cpl Lynn Ryan
came forward. We sat down and discussed areas such as equip-
ment, would the interest be there, the layout of Unarmed Combat (UAC)
training around operational duties and what we hope to achieve at the end
of the trip. We deployed to UNDOF early April and once we got settled into
camp we then started to look at resources to start the club. The equip-
ment was in poor condition and we needed more in order to conduct the
training so we approached the welfare committee who provided funding.
We held our first training session in the third week in Camp Ziouani.
There was huge interest, a lot more than we expected especially from
beginners who had no experience and found it daunting to walk into
a club at home. Between the four of us we have experience in
boxing, jujitsu, MMA, unarmed combat, kickboxing and
taekwondo, so we intertwined
all our skill sets into our
training sessions. We
are averaging out at 10-15 personnel
every session and could see early on
how different sections within the 52 Inf
Gp were interacting and mixing, with
a great team spirit developing. We can
also see the fitness levels and skill sets
improving every session.
Our aim is to provide the students
with knowledge of self-defence,
fitness and teamwork. We
also hope to hold an
exhibition night to
showcase the stu-
dent's commitment
and achievements.
We also hope to get
other contingents
within Camp Ziouani
involved.
