By Sergeant Gretchen N. Goodrich
     Arm bars, cross-collar chokes and strikes set the tone for the 35th Air Defense Artillery (ADA) Combatives Tournament held in the gym at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea (ROK), on 4 April 2009.
     A total of 120 competitors from across the peninsula and Japan formed teams to compete in the day-long tournament that tested their combative skills, agility and endurance. For instance, Team Yongsan was a team made up of Soldiers from US Army Garrison (USAG) Yongsan. While competitors came from each branch of service, all fighters followed the rules and regulations of Modern Army Combatives.
     During the starting matches, competitors were restricted to earning points through take downs and submissions. As the matches progressed, regulations gave combatants opportunities to slap, punch, kick and even use their knees to take down their opponent, Specialist (SPC) Patricia Nicholas, the event coordinator said.
     Those who won the preliminaries fought in a middle boxing room, surrounded by cheering fans. Brawlers who braved the ring and won, walked away with a medal and bragging rights for the entire year ahead.
PFC Shelly Najera, 35th ADA Brigade pulls of a cross-collared choke on SGT Francine Carriaga during a semi-finals match.  (Photo by SGT Gretchen Goodrich.)

     Private First Class (PFC) Jennifer J. Schlein with the 94th Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment (HHD), Military Police (MP) Battalion, snatched away the women’s middle weight title from PFC Shelly Najera of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery (HHB), 35th ADA Brigade, who finished in second place.
    Staff Sergeant (SSG) Katherine Atkinson of Charlie Battery 3rd Battalion, 2nd ADA (C/3-2 ADA), bested PFC Catalina Velasquez of HHB 35th ADA Brigade for the women’s heavyweight title.
     “She was a more experienced fighter and had much better skills than I did,” said Velasquez. “I couldn’t do anything but try and defend myself the entire time.”
    Sergeant (SGT) Ruben J. Covarrubias of Alpha Company, 524 Military Intelligence (A/524 MI) Battalion, won the men’s lightweight division title following a match with SSG Chito L. Anicete of the 51st Aerospace Medical Services.
     The welter weight title went to SGT Ian Peters of Team Yongsan after a hearty fist-throwing fight with Corporal (CPL) Christopher Muniz of 3-2 ADA who finished second.
     While the other fights took a mere one to two rounds to complete, the middle weight battle took an entire 15 minutes. After the long engagement, Captain (CPT) Jiwan Chung was victorious as the middle weight champion, leaving SGT William Majestic from 3-2 ADA closely behind in second.
     Although he was fighting for first place, Majestic accepted the second place medal with a smile. “It was my first mixed martial arts competition so I went into the tournament just to have fun,” said Majestic.
     SSG Jeffrey Duncan from the 8th Army Chaplain’s Office pounded SPC Mark Richardson, B/3rd MI Battalion, into a second place finish, leaving Duncan as the cruiserweight champion.
     Duncan had a renowned reputation that Richardson was well aware of before heading into the ring. “I was proud to take second against such a good fighter,” said Richardson.
     Sergeant First Class (SFC) Brandt Vansoolen of 1-1 ADA stationed in Okinawa, Japan, knocked out Second Lieutenant (2LT) Edward Murtagh of A/4-5 ADA, with a jaw-dropping left uppercut, leaving Murtagh in second and claiming the light heavyweight title for himself.
     Airman 1st Class David Gay, 51st Security Forces, slammed SFC Erick Clark of 3-2 ADA to the ground during the heavyweight finals, giving Gay the heavyweight title of the event. While it was Clark’s last time to be competing in a combatives tournament, it was Gay’s first competition.
     Team Yongsan walked away with the team trophy for accumulating the most points throughout the entire event.