Similar to the colored belt ranking systems of martial arts such as karate and Taekwondo, the Marine Corps also incorporates a colored belt ranking system as part of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. The green belt is the third-ranked belt in a grueling system that includes 10 levels. The Navy green belt training program requires 54.9 hours of training.
Requirements
In order to qualify for a green belt, a Marine must first earn a tan belt, which is the first belt in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. A tan belt requires 27.5 hours of training, which includes basic physical and mental instruction, in addition to learning proper Marine Corps character. The next belt needed to be earned before qualifying for a green belt is the gray belt, which requires 46 hours of training and an intermediate knowledge of the program's disciplines. The green belt comes next. After completing this training, a Marine is then entitled to become a martial arts instructor and can teach the techniques of the tan belt up to the green belt.
Techniques
Navy green belt training involves learning unarmed combat and ground fighting, as well as fighting with rifles, bayonets, edged weapons and so-called weapons of opportunity. Like all colored belt training programs in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, the Navy green belt training program mixes Japanese karate with judo, ju-jitsi, wrestling, fencing, boxing and free fighting. The Navy green belt training program is classified as a mixed martial art because it combines so many disciplines.
Skills
In order to advance to the green belt, a marine must learn a basic warrior stance as well as how to fall safely and deliver throws, strikes and chokes. A green belt Marine also must know how to perform counters and joint locks, and how to properly wield a knife. He must also be adept in unarmed restraints, gouging and ground fighting.
New Navy Green Belt Requirements
In 2010, it was proposed that all Marines would be required to have green belts and complete the Navy green belt training program, as opposed to being able to qualify as a Marine with only a tan belt. This new green belt requirement proposal would give all current Marines four years to earn their green belts, but would reduce the number of hours needed to do so.
Purpose
Joseph Shusko, a retired Lieutenant Colonel and director or the Martial Arts Center of Excellence, says this about the Navy green belt training program: "If I can hone my mind as a warrior...and then tie that to the physical aspect, I'm that much better of a martial artist... It's not about making the toughest guys and gals on the planet, which we do, but it's about the ethical warrior---men and women of character."
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