Ahhh, another exercise to add to the martial arts bunny hops. Think of side straddle hops but take them down to a squat position. Keep that squat position and do as many side straddle hops as possible. The same leg warnings for safety and health apply as the bunny hops in the previous post. This one you may or may not witness in civilian dojo but we used it a lot. My first introduction to it was at Parris Island.
In the first week at the barracks the Drill Instructors wanted to demonstrate the exercises for the entire platoon. Sooooo, they chose those who looked to be fit and strong. Lucky me, I was at 6’ 1” height and weighed in at 205lbs. I was into body building before I enlisted in the Marines. Needless to say I did the demo for the bunny hops, the side straddle hops for little folk and the squat walk holding a full foot locker over my head. Actually, the hardest exercise was the towel fold. Yes, the towel fold where you hold a towel out in front of you with your arms fully extended. You held it by two corners and you simply folded it till your hands met in the middle then unfolded it and folded it and unfolded it and folded it while maintaining your arms at full length held horizontally at should height, etc.
The Marines had this knack of creating some interesting exercises and they would impose them upon the platoon or the individual at the oddest times such as 0200 hours when you were at your deepest sleep laying at attention in the rack (bunk or bed to civilians) with your M-14 held at order arms position at the right side, etc. Ever do the manual of arms while at attention in the rack at 2am?
Before the Spartan Race there was, and possibly still is, the “motivation platoon run.” You get muddy, dirty, sweaty and stressed to the extreme at this one. It is a platoon they send a person to who the Drill Instructors feel need some additional “motivation.” Well, lucky me again, I was the platoon fourth squad leader so I marched behind the platoon guide. One day the DI’s decided to assign the shortest person in the platoon as guide. It just happened this recruit was actually under the minimal height standard for joining the Marines. He and his recruiter managed to get a waiver to get him in the Corps.
Well, when this short recruit took the guide-arm and took up the position in front of me I couldn’t help but smirk. Lo-n-behold the sharp eyes of the DI who was supposedly behind my position came up and into my fact to tell me I lost my job and to report the next morning to the motivation platoon for the entire day, i.e. from reveille to taps.
I can say that we spent the entire day doing PT (Physical Training) that included interesting and challenging obstacles courses along with full field transport packs and training M-14 rifles. Leaping across natural terrain and into muddy holes, rivers and ravines along with walls, ropes, nets and a lot more to traverse while running in full combat gear with that rifle seems to my memory to be a lot like the Spartan Runs. You older Marines take a look at the Spartan Race site and tell me if you remember the Motivation Platoon runs as similar. They took all day to run with a five minute short lunch break and lots of water to stay hydrated, etc.
So, as you can see, we were trained to do PT with some unusual exercises like bunny hops and side straddle hops for little folk. Kind of reminds me of the Spartan exercise used called the “Beerpies.”
OhRahhh, Semper Fi, Do our Die, OhRahhh! (Note: I understand the Spartan folks actually adopted the Marine growl and shout of OhRahhhhhhh - Grrrrrr).
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