Sgt. Lopez has served in the Marine Corps for five years. Early in his career, he learned about the opportunity to become a Martial Arts Instructor, a challenge he immediately set his sights on. Becoming an MAI is no easy task. Applicants must be noncommissioned officers, hold at least a green belt in MCMAP, maintain a first-class physical fitness test scores, and endure a demanding three-week course. During training students undergo hours of grueling sessions of physical training, ground fighting, martial arts techniques, and Marine Corps history lessons to be a qualified MAI.
Despite the difficulty, Sgt. Lopez embraced the challenge.
“My first NCO was an MAI. I saw that he led Marines and worked with large groups,” Lopez recalled. “But he also told me that [being a MAI] was tough and that I couldn’t do it.”
Lopez took this comment as motivation. It’s what fueled his decision to become a Martial Arts Instructor. He was going to prove to himself and his NCO that he was up for this challenge.
“That motivated me,” Lopez said. “It’s what pushed me to become a Martial Arts Instructor. I wanted to prove to him, and to myself, that I could do it.”
The Marine Corps Martial Arts Program was created in the early 2000s to instill the warrior ethos and develop leadership at every level. Marines train to earn belts, tan, gray, green, brown, and black, each requiring progressively greater physical and mental discipline. MCMAP is not just a fighting system; it’s a mindset. It teaches Marines to endure when their strength fades and their minds must carry them through adversity.
A typical MCMAP training session under Sgt. Lopez begins early and tests the limits of a Marine’s endurance. Marines endure bear crawls, buddy carries, burpees, and buddy-carries. As the group pushes through the exhaustion, Lopez signals the next evolution: ground fighting. The Marines get on the ground, they begin on their knees, and at any second, he yells “FIGHT”. Then ground fighting happens. Already tired, the Marines fight each other in hopes of winning. Adrenaline rushes through their bodies as they grapple. Two minutes pass, and it’s over. The ones who just fought get up, hearts racing, heavy breathing, and worn out, then next up, techniques.
Lopez teaches his students the intricate details of the techniques for each belt. He makes sure that his students fully understand each technique and how to execute it before he moves on to the next. He ensures each Marine understands the techniques, but more importantly, the lessons behind them.
MCMAP isn’t just about fighting, it’s about developing leadership, resilience, and trust within a unit. Marines are expected not only to learn the techniques but also to embody the mental and emotional strength needed to apply them under pressure. This is exactly what Sgt. Lopez wants his Marines to understand, that MCMAP isn’t just about earning promotion points, it’s a very useful skill that is crucial to being a warfighter in the Marine Corps.
“Being in the military means that at some point, possibly, you’re going to have to fight to the end against an adversary,” he said. “You have to give everything you’ve got, because if you don’t, you might be the one who ends up in the grave.”
At 9th Marine Corps District, Sgt. Lopez and two other MAIs are the only instructors eligible to teach MCMAP. Since the district isn’t located on a Marine Corps base, they face unique challenges: limited equipment, fewer resources, and greater logistical hurdles. But Lopez doesn’t see those obstacles as limitations, he sees them as opportunities to build unity and resilience.
“Every day, I try to build camaraderie with everyone,” he said. “I want to bring out the best in people. Creating bonds with your unit is important, and MCMAP is one of the ways I do that.”
| Date Taken: | 07.25.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 07.28.2025 09:28 |
| Story ID: | 543864 |
| Location: | ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 33 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, One mind, any weapon; MCMAP with Sgt. Lopez, by LCpl Kayla Goldman, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
