Krav Maga and the Royal marines Training Ethos

Commando Spirit/Royal Marines Ethos

Ethos can be defined as what a group does and how it does it.  In the Royal Marines, our ethos sets us apart from other Arms and Services partly because of our history; partly because of our unique and demanding role; partly because of our individual qualities and partly because of our “Commando Spirit.”

“Commando Spirit” consists of four elements:

• Courage
• Determination
• Unselfishness
• Cheerfulness in the face of adversity

Every Royal Marine Recruit, Young Officer or attached rank completing the Commando Course, has these individual qualities drilled into them throughout training and during their operational service, because it is these qualities that make us Commandos.

They are personal qualities that you will find in any trained Commando and they link us to the past generation, the present serving cohort and to future generations to come because they are enduring.

But this isn’t the whole story.  As any Royal Marine will tell you, what gives us a special identity, what shapes us as a team and defines how we carry out our duties is another a set of collective or group values.  These values are:

• Unity
• Adaptability
• Humility
• Professional Standards
• Fortitude
• Commando Humour.

Commando Spirit plus our Collective Group Values creates our Royal Marines Ethos and it is this that defines what we do and how we do it.

Our Ethos is sustained by each generation telling stories, or “spinning dits” in Royal Marines parlance, about their individual and shared experiences.  This is how Royal Marines develop an understanding of themselves and an understanding of what it is and what it means to be a Royal Marine Commando.

Maintaining our Ethos is therefore incredibly important to us.  The way we do this is by guarding against arrogance, of contempt of others and a belief that we are special because of what we are.  Rather, we are special because of what we do and how we do it.  It is this that makes us special and it is this that we must protect at all costs.

Whilst this article is of more general interest than Krav Maga specific, hopefully you can identify where some of the Royal Marines personal qualities and group values have relevance in a Krav Maga context.

Courage, determination, adaptability, humility, fortitude and professional standards will hold any Kravist in good stead equally well when training, or should they find themselves in a situation, where they need to defend themselves in a real life violent confrontation.

This article has been based on information taken from my own experience and the Royal Navy website.  Should you wish to learn more about Royal Marines Ethos please visit:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20101001174721/http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/royalmarines/history-and-ethos/ethos-beliefs/

Shaun – Graduate Instructor, British Krav Maga.

Krav Maga Cambridge