An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir October 2016 www.dfmagazine.ie 32 | steven carr joined the Defence Forces in January 1990 with 26 Rec Pl, 2 Fd Arty Regt. After two years he transferred to 2 Grn S&T, and became a driver of everything from troops and logistics to VIPs. He served overseas as a peacekeeper in Lebanon with 76 and 83 Inf Bns and in Kosovo with 1 Tpt Coy, KFOR. After stints with 2 LSB and 7 Inf Bn he transferred to McKee Bks Coy, where he has been stationed ever since. Steven took up Brazilian jiu-jitsu at the ripe old age of 44. "There is no age limit for this type of fighting sport," he told us. "I was late to the sport, taking it up for physical fitness training." When Steven joined Andy's Team Ryano Gym a few years ago he weighed 109kg: he now fights at 76kg! The belt system in Brazilian jiu-jitsu is different to other martial art sports and it takes, on average, 10 years to reach a black belt in the sport. Steven says: "After three months I cut my teeth at white belt and went the distance on a 5-minute fight, which I lost, but it made me more determined." He went on to fight in the Irish Open where he took bronze. Ste- ven told us: "As a coach, Andy pushes me hard and I take every fight seriously. Most of my opponents have 10 years on me, but when I go into a competitive fight I've prepared well." In 2013 Steven spent 12 weeks training hard for his first Europe- an Championship, which took place in Lisbon in January 2014. "You have to sacrifice a lot, especially over Christmas, to stay in shape and maximise your weight," Steven says. However, Steven was beaten in his first fight by a submission arm bar. "I was disappointed," he admits, "but I was beaten by a better fighter on the day." Steven spent the rest of 2014 competing in Team Ryano com- petitions and with other local clubs, before he was invited to take part in the Celtic Cup, an Irish competition, where he took the bronze medal. In January 2015 he headed back to Portugal for his second Euro- pean Championship, this time winning a silver medal after fights against three Spanish fighters. Although happy with his silver medal, Steven said "I knew in my heart that I could take the gold at the European Champion- ships", and he set about training much harder in 2015 with the next Euros as his main goal. Back in Lisbon in January 2016, Steven defeated an Italian and two Spaniards before beating a Swedish opponent in the final to be crowned European Light-Weight Champion 2016, in the 76kg blue belt category. He is now a purple belt and is training for his aim of trying for gold again at the 2017 Euros. Steven wants to thank his CO, Comdt Andrew Shinnick, and the senior NCOs in his unit for their continued support and for facili- tating his training schedule. "I would also like to thank my club mates in Team Ryano and my military colleagues who helped me by pushing me to get to this level in such a short time." matthew sheehan joined the Defence Forces in 2012, complet- ing his recruit training with 27 Inf Bn in Gormanston Camp, after having previously served for three years with 65 Inf Bn RDF. He was posted to 1 Cn Cois, Galway, where he carried out general du- ties and completed a number of courses including recce and basic rock climbing. In 2015 on completion of his NCOs course he was promoted to corporal after he transferred to the DFTC, Curragh. In his youth Matthew drifted in and out of many sports like GAA and American football. In 2011 he took up mixed martial arts, with his only experience of contact sports being a white-collar boxing event for charity. His first fight was a middleweight (84kg) bout with three three- minute rounds. "I had trained for six months for the fight," he told us, "and I broke my opponent's nose; but he got the decision!" Before Matthew's next scheduled fight was to take place he was called up for recruit training and he focussed on his military training for the next number of years. After transferring to the Curragh he was back living in Dublin. On the lookout for an elite gym, what he heard about Andy's Team Ryano fit the bill perfectly and Matthew found himself back in the sport after a three-year absence. In August 2015 he started sparring with club mates and says, "I had a lot to catch up on to get back to a competitive level." There had also been a lot of rule changes at both amateur and professional levels since he last fought. Elbows or knees to the head were no longer allowed and fighters had to wear shin pads. "Another big difference was same-day weigh-in," he says. "There weren't many fights to be got and I had to go up a class, to light-heavyweight (93kg)." Team Ryano had six places for the IMAF World Amateur Championships in Las Vegas in July 2016, and six more fighters from two other elite gyms

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