MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. -- When 29-year-old Linda Rodriguez stepped on the yellow footprints 13 weeks ago, she was already a fighter. Today, the private first class marches away as a warfighter.
The Bronx, N.Y., native trained at Musuko’s MMA and Boxing Academy for about two-and-a-half years before enlisting in the Marine Corps.
“I’ve been doing athletic things since I was young, so martial arts came naturally to me,” Rodriguez explained.
Her time at the academy was spent training herself and mentoring her students, Monroig explained.
Prior to her journey to Parris Island, Rodriguez prepared herself for Marine Corps boot camp by doing cardiovascular workouts and endurance training at the academy.
“She did everything the guys did. She did a lot of training to get herself ready,” said Steven Monroig, owner and head sensei of the academy. “She did a lot of tire-pulls, running and things like that.”
“She’ll make a great Marine,” Monroig added. “She was very dedicated and always stayed behind to help clean up and stuff. She’s missed a lot over here.”
At first Rodriguez held no special billet, but during the second phase of training her drill instructors deemed her the knowledge recruit, said Staff Sgt. Diana Bacolod, a drill instructor with Plt. 4028. Her job was to keep her fellow recruits up to standard on Marine Corps academics.
Rodriguez influenced the platoon by keeping her fellow recruits brushed up with Marine Corps knowledge and things like that, Bacolod said.
She scored the highest in the practical application tests, according to Bacolod from Brownsville, Texas.
Having family who served in the Corps, Rodriguez knew a little of what to expect while in training.
“I was fine with the DIs yelling and fine with being tired all the time,” explained Papa Company’s eldest graduate. “I fell asleep with a smile on my face the first night I got to sleep and I woke up with the same smile because this was what I wanted – to be a part of the Corps.”
The new graduate chose to be a motor transportation mechanic in the Marine Corps and hopes to be successful in her military occupational specialty.
She said martial arts taught her discipline and humility, making it easier to transition to life as a recruit.
“If I didn’t have the training I did I would’ve struggled a lot more,” she said. “I have tougher skin now. The way the sensei talked to his students was similar to the way DIs talk to recruits, and it taught me discipline and confidence.”
Coming from a background in mixed martial arts, Rodriguez took to Marine Corps Martial Arts Program training easily.
“Nothing pretty much affected me until we got to MCMAP,” she said. “We started doing the movements and I just started balling because this is what I do – this is what I wanted.”
| Date Taken: |
09.15.2011 |
| Date Posted: |
09.15.2011 11:18 |
| Story ID: |
77080 |
| Location: |
PARRIS ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: |
237 |
| Downloads: |
0 |
PUBLIC DOMAIN
This work, Karate instructor drop kicks recruit training, by LCpl Javarre Glanton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
Subscribe
