MMA in Iraq. The Military needs our help.
Posted by Joshua Wood (Editor in Chief)Nov 9
For most of us we live our everyday lives with a certain level of comfort. We train in a clean fully equipped gym, watch TV in the comfort of our home and don’t have to hear gun fire going off around us (unless you live in Oakland). The troops currently deployed in Iraq do not have these luxuries yet they fight everyday for us too have them. Even though they are far from home their love for MMA and training is still there.
One great thing about having this website is the people that I get to meet via social networking and events. Recently I meet Army Specialist Sean Lewis of the B-Troop 2 Squadron 107th Cavalry currently deployed at Camp Taji in Iraq. Specialist Lewis and his fellow soldiers train at a gym they call the house of pain but the gear and equipment they use is less then adequate. They have set up a Facebook page dedicated to their training facility to show how they train and where. In looking at their page I noticed they were asking for donations and in talking to Specialist Lewis further they are actually in need of quite a bit of stuff. Here is a snippet from our email:
Some items we can always use are mouth pieces, boxing gloves, hand wraps, focus mitts, and thai pads. In all reality we need everything a normal gym would need to operate however we ask that anyone out there can be so kind to help us out big (heavy bags) to something small (mouth pieces) and will be put too use for many years to come.
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Now I’m not a Military man nor do I have anybody close to me that is or was in the Military but I have always respected them. What they do day in and day out most take for granted but without them we all wouldn’t have what we do. I do not typically “ask” for freebies as I have always thought that was rude and defeated the purpose, but this is different. These soldiers train in the sport we all love and helping them out and showing are support is the least we could do. What I’d like to do is collect whatever donations that I can from the MMA Community and then I’ll pack it all up and send a care package of MMA supplies to them. If you can’t donate gear that’s ok you can write something to them and I’ll put it in the package from them to read. Believe me I understand that times are tough but that doesn’t mean we can’t support our troops. If you are interested in donating or have a question please send me an email and I’ll get right back to you. I’m thinking that I’d like to send the care package next month to get it there by Christmas.
Thank you for reading this and please pass this along.
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I’d be honored to help out by donating some money to the fund.
Hi There! I have been a long time fan off MMA and other sports of the like, but being a woman sometimes puts you off to train in them. Though I am in the Army, it’s difficult to find someone to understand what I need to train because of being around the guys that train hard and may already have experiance. I want to thank the House of Pain for making feel VERY welcome along with another female comrade of mine. I am stronger, leaner and more confident as a soldier and a fighter now! I wanted to let you all know out there, that this gym is awesome, and the soldiers giving their free time to run it are exceptional and take pride in all they do! I am so happy to have come across it that now when I get back home, I’ll be looking for a fighthouse to train in. Thank you everybody for your help, and care. It is well needed, yet well worth it! – Joann
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