Morning coffee and SLLS halt:
Busted out the old RAMA t-shirt today and reflected on the evolution of military and civilian fitness training.
The restorative arts & martial arts (RAMA) program was a joint program with Fort Benning, Troy University, the Ranger Regiment and the Ranger Training Brigade.
I was enrolled in the RAMA program from 1997-2000, during my first tour with the Long Range Surveillance Leaders Course (LRSLC), in the Ranger Training Brigade.
It was an Associate Degree with a concentration in Physical Education and Fitness.
It was a cutting edge program at the time, not for implementing new stuff, but for bringing back old, tried and tested fitness training methods.
At the time when the aerobics classes were all the rage, this program brought back old school training which included body weight calisthenics, plyometrics, kettlebells, dumbbells, medicine balls, Indian clubs, rope climbing, rock climbing, sprinting, yoga, and martial arts.
And because it was an awesome and effective program, the Army naturally cancelled it.
At that time, there weren’t many courses or certifications in these topics.
Later, they would all become fitness trends and fads.
Courses and certifications in all these areas would emerge in vast numbers.
CrossFit would appear and become a dominant force in the fitness industry.
P90X would go on to become a widely popular program, which would usher in the beachbody franchise.
Kettlebell training would also go on to become widely popular.
And programs like the Ranger Athlete Warrior and Army Warrior Fitness would be created, as well as the Army combat fitness test.
18 years of war has caused the military to re-evaluate it’s training methods.
A lot of new, lessons learned based training has emerged, which is good.
But when you look back at history, war and fitness have been around since the dawn of mankind.
A lot of the “new” stuff isn’t new at all. Much of it is simply the old stuff, which has always worked, being dusted off, and given a fresh coat of paint.
On the civilian side of town, terms like prison, convict, Spartan, Warrior, Viking, and Warrior have been slapped on programs that are based on training methods which have been around for thousands of years.
Many of my comrades and I have been students of the physical culture for decades.
Back in the day, we were doing stuff long before it became cool.
It’s funny because many of the trending fitness methods of today, that are all the rage, didn’t have fancy names 30 years ago. We just did it because it worked. And we figured it out through trial and error.
Like all things in hindsight, if I had only known then...
But I am grateful and thankful that I was able to participate in the RAMA program.
It helped me to develop the my ever evolving program in Dempseys Resolution Fitness that I have used for decades to help people improve their health, fitness, and quality of life.
Eric Dempsey
Master Sergeant, US Army Retired,
MS, ISSA Master Trainer
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