Lt. Col. Manaka, thank you for being part of this forum. I had the opportunity to train with Shawn Havens a few years ago and, for some of us, it was an eye opening and, at times, painful experience!

I would like to ask you about training military personnel in hand-to-hand combat. I am a Sergeant in an United States Army Infantry battalion, and one of my responsibilities is teaching hand-to-hand. Our available time is very limited and it is often true that the same individuals will not be at more than a few consecutive classes, due to other duties and responsibilities. This makes it very difficult to develop a program that builds on previous classes, since new soldiers are constantly coming in.

In your experience, what are the most important qualities and abilities to train soldiers in, for use on the battlefield? Is there any guidance that you could give me, that would help me to bring across to my fellow soldiers the critical aspects of budo, while teaching in a military environment? If there was one thing that you would teach a soldier, what would it be?

Thank you for your time and thoughts.

William Johnson
Sergeant
82nd Airborne, Ft. Bragg