Strength, Speed, Skill and Bravery: Grenadier Guards Are Now Learning Martial Arts

The Grenadier Guards are now undertaking Kung Fu classes.

Kung Fu Masters have been called in to teach troops hand-hand fighting techniques after officers noticed that the intensity of combat exercise has fallen.

Regimental Sergeant-Major Martin Howlin, of 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, said: "This all came about after the commanding officer and I went to watch an exercise in Albania.

We were chatting about an attack that we felt lacked aggression, and started discussing ways we could help the blokes improve on that and then channel it in the right way. So we looked at martial arts."

A two-week trial took place at Lille Barracks in Aldershot and the reaction was positive so the sessions have become a regular fixture.  

The classes are taught by Neil Webster, a civilian instructor who runs a Kung Fu Tai Chi Academy.

The focus of the classes has been on developing technical skill, troops have progressed from learning basic strikes and holds to preventing a knife attacked while dressed in full combat kit.

Warrant Officer Howlin told Soldier magazine:

"We are not doing this to enhance our capability – it is more of a mental exercise."

An Army spokesman said: ‘The Grenadier Guards demand the very highest standards of their soldiers in all they do.

"Close-quarters combat is an essential skill for the infantry. It requires more than just aggression, it demands strength, speed, skill and bravery"