SPIKE TV’S  DEADLIEST WARRIOR STAR AND EX-FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION COMMANDO NICK HUGHES ON COMBATIVES TRAINING IN THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION’S ELITE UNITS

Combatives expert extraordinaire and one of Spike TV’s Deadliest Warriors, Nick Hughes last week spoke about his reality-based martial arts training under instructors like the legendary Bob Jones and others, his subsequent experiences as a bouncer during the heyday of the Australian club scene, and the martial arts lessons he learned from those experiences.

This week Nick Hughes narrates how with just five dollars to his name he next wound up serving in the French Foreign Legion. He ultimately became a commando with the legendary 2^nd REP airborne regiment. He shares with us what he learned there about combatives and martial arts training.

What made you decide to join the French Foreign Legion?

Nick: After working crowd control in Australia, I wanted to take it to the next level and get into diplomatic protection.  There wasn’t a market there for that and I kept hearing you needed to go to Europe or the States if that’s the field you wanted to work in.  I landed in London, black belt in hand, figuring I was there to save the world and quickly found out the agencies that hired body guards were only interested in people with Special Forces’ training.

If you think about it, it makes sense.  The candidate has had his background evaluated courtesy of the government, he’s proved he can operate as part of team, take orders, wear a uniform, stand a post, do first aid, handle weapons and more than likely been under fire.  That’s great raw material to work with.

I looked at joining the British military but, due to the economic woes in Europe at the time the waiting list if you got accepted was about a year and a half long.  The Brits, also served in cold climates like Northern Ireland, Norway and Germany and I abhor cold weather.

I’d read Simon Murray’s book Legionnaire and coincidentally met a guy on a security detail who’d been in for a few years before deserting.  He said if the Legion took me it would be immediately and that I would learn at least one foreign language (French) if I made it which would be a good skill to have working in Europe.  As a bonus, the Legion served in hot climates like Africa, South America, Tahiti, Corsica and the South of France etc.

I took the train to France the next day and arrived outside the Fort in Marseille with $5 left to my name and thankfully made it in.  I have no idea how I would have got home if they’d turned me down.

 

How much H2H training did you have in the French Foreign Legion? What was it like?

Nick: Many people assume that almost everyone in the military spends a ton of time learning to jump around like Jackie Chan on six cups of coffee. The reality is, unless you’re in a specialized unit, or going through some specialized training, you may do none at all or a couple of hours here and there as an alternative to your regular PT session.

In my case I was chasing being in the Special Forces of the Legion, specifically their famous parachute regiment the 2^nd REP and in there we did do some.  When I was stationed in Corsica, it was the odd hour here and there in lieu of running or doing the obstacle course for example.  In Africa there was more emphasis on it no doubt due to the fact we were in what was deemed a war zone.   We also did a lot on the commando training course and during my recon diver training.

What was it like?  To be honest I wasn’t impressed with what I was taught.  I thought the stances were too deep, the hands held too low and a few other minor criticisms but you have to remember the military isn’t teaching that stuff only so someone can use it.  It’s also used as a confidence and aggression builder and for that it worked just fine.

The cool thing about the Legion though is that we have over 150 different nationalities on board and many of those guys have previous military experience.  If someone in the unit comes up with a better way to do something then progressive officers (and there were some of those thank God) would pick our brains.

The officers and cadre who knew about my background would get me to teach and there was also a lot of working out with guys in my unit after hours to alleviate the boredom.

Recently, I saw a clip on YouTube from a documentary and noticed they were using techniques straight off my Legion Unarmed Combat DVDs (I’d sent the series to the Legion HQ). So it’s progressive and clearly getting better all the time.

In the next part of our Nick Hughes interview, we’ll get Nick’s take on martial arts training today.

In the meantime, train hard, stay safe, and live well.