OKINAWA, Japan -- Marines are known for being elite warriors on the battlefield. Three men known for being elite warriors on a different kind of battlefield commonly known as "the octagon" recently came to Okinawa to show their support for service members and spent a day sweating alongside Marines.
Mixed Martial Arts fighters Rich Franklin, Joe Stevenson and Dustin Hazelett came to Okinawa this past weekend to conduct workshops with service members and to train with Marines from the III Marine Expeditionary Force Special Operations Training Group. The fighters were sponsored by Navy Entertainment and Navy Moral, Welfare and Recreation.
"I do a lot of stuff with the military. I've visited bases from the east to the west coast in the U.S.," Franklin said. "This is my third time overseas, and I love coming over here."
On Aug. 21 the MMA fighters hosted two separate grappling techniques workshops for children and adults at the Camp Shields Fitness Center. The fighters taught participants basic techniques such as posturing up in the guard and reversals. The day's events culminated with participants being offered an opportunity to grapple with the professional fighters.
"I was very excited for this workshop," Franklin said. "A lot of guys in the military like to practice MMA, so I like to come over here and run the clinics and get involved with the guys."
The fighters say they like coming to bases to interact with the troops, sign autographs and take pictures.
"I came out because the military has been a big part of my life ever since I was a little boy. My grandpa was in World War II, my dad fought in Iraq, and my brothers and sisters are all in the military," Stevenson said. "This seems like the least I could do to give back."
This was Dustin Hazelett's first time on tour for the troops.
"I've been wanting to go on a tour for a while, so when I got this chance I was very excited," he said. "(The troops) sacrifice a lot for us, and I'm happy to do this to give back to them."
The following day, the fighters traveled to Camp Hansen to meet with SOTG to train and get a Marine Corps style workout.
The fighters started the day off by testing their mettle against something every Marine faces in the beginning of their career, rappelling down a 60-foot wall. After a couple of minutes of hesitation and with anguished looks on their faces, the fighters conquered their fears and rappelled down the wall. They also performed fast roping drills.
After conquering the tower, the fighters traveled to Kin Blue, a beach in the Central Training Area designed for amphibious raids and other types of waterborne training. There, they performed light physical training with Combat Rubber Reconnaissance Crafts, or Zodiacs and learned how to pilot the boats.
The boat PT consisted of the fighters paddling a Zodiac 1000 meters out to sea. Then they jumped overboard and flipped the Zodiac over and back. The fighters then hauled themselves back into the Zodiac, paddled a couple of meters back toward the shore and repeated the process. After the fighters went through this process three times they paddled the rest of the way back to shore.
"It's great to see some of the finest athletes in the world out here training with Marines and actually breaking a sweat," said Warrant Officer John Jencura, Camp Hansen operations officer. "It says a lot about what the Marines and sailors of III MEF do on a daily basis to maintain their status as the nation's 911 force."
"They are some of the finest warriors in their profession, sweating alongside the nation's finest war fighters," Jencura added.