Job Corps



Here I am beside Mr. Craig Marks (to my left) and few of the cadets from the Gerald R. Ford Job Corps.

I have had the pleasure of working with these fine young people for almost a year now. They are attending the pre-military / law enforcement academy at the Gerald R. Ford Job Corp Center in Grand Rapids Michigan. This program is headed up by Mr. Craig Marks a former Marine himself (if there is such a thing as a "former Marine!"). He has an un-dieing commitment to the program and more importantly to each of the cadets. He helps each of them to reach out for their dream of having a career in law enforcement, military service or private security. It' s amazing that he has the time because he is also a father of six wonderful children and a wife who (hopefully) keeps him sane...or maybe makes him just that much crazier, it's hard to tell!! Anyway Craig you are doing a fantastic job and definatly making a big difference to not only each of the cadets you come into contact with, but our entire community!

Last year Craig asked me if I was interested in teaching close quarter combatives and warrior ethics at the Academy; I felt very honored to accept the position. Yes, sometimes the scheduling gets a bit crazy and things usually don't go off with out a hitch, but to say it's all worth it would be an understatement. I get a lot of fulfillment sharing in the growth of each of the cadets as well as the entire program. It is my way to contribute to them and the community that I live in. We are all in this together and the more we help one another, the better we all are!!

The cadets and I generally go over hand to hand combatives, restraining tactics and most importantly warrior ethics. I have a lot of respect for these young folks. They are a high energy group filled with many questions and real life experiences. I think I learn more from them than they do me! Tonight we reviewed the material we covered in our last session and introduced some new ground work including side control, mount escapes and reversals from the guard as well as escapes from standing head locks, chokes and a bear hug or two.

It was a smaller group tonight than last time so, unfortunately a few of the cadets weren't able to be in this pic, but hopefully we can get them in the next one.

All in all great job tonight gang. Keep going!!

~Craig

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Uncomfortable Situation

Image
  Funny pic (and movie) about a not so funny situation… In training as in Life, it’s better to treat people with dignity and respect. However… What does that look like in the moment? Being that I’m teaching a Women’s Assault Prevention and Response Workshop this weekend - it’s probably a good time to talk about… Uncomfortable Situations Let’s talk about training at the academy for a minute… We run open co-ed classes at the local academy. What does that mean? Men and women train together, but we don’t stop there. People of different skill levels, backgrounds, ethnicities, sexual orientations, careers, religious beliefs, political affiliations, ages, injuries, pre-existing conditions, life experience, training expectations etc. etc. train together! We ALL work together! Overall, I think it’s better this way. Of course sometimes there’s static, you know, conflicts, and misunderstanding. When something happens, most of the time it’s just that, a misunderstanding… Sometimes people simply do
Read more

The Shot Heard Around the World

Image
Even though many could see where all of this division and hatred in our country was leading to, when we witness the actual violence, realty once again floods in and has a way of shattering the comfort of our complacency, if only until the next headline. Some may find all of this shocking, others may see it simply validating their own fears. Regardless, of your political views, we have to take into account what this level of violence can do not only to the former President and his family, but what does to the state of our entire Nation. Yesterday as news broke of former President Donald Trump being shot, I can’t say that I was entirely surprised. Saddened, but not surprised. Regardless of your political stance, this act of violence is a dark reminder of the dangerous consequences of a society steeped in hate and division. Our collective heartbreak should not be about politics, but about the division and hatred that fuels this erosion of our humanity. We live in a time where traditional
Read more

Cutting Through the Static

Image
  Me and the crew at Venue 3 Two after a PeaceWalker Conflict Communication Workshop Remember in the old days when you used to listen to the radio on a road trip? No, not digital or streaming. I’m talking about old school FM radio. When you’re putting some miles on and crossing state lines. The radio stations you listen to don’t broadcast far enough for your entire trip, so you have to channel surf to find new channels as you move on down the road. You continue to push the search button until you hear a song in the genre that you want so you can lock in a desirable station for a spell. Sometimes you’re listening to a song you really like but the station is fading… The static starts feint, almost imperceptible, than grows in intensity to the degree that you can no longer ignore it. If you really like the song, you try to hang on as long as you can, listening to the tune through the white noise and times it cuts out completely, hoping to hear as much of the song as you can before the sta
Read more