Ju-Jitsu? Pfft. That's just rolling around in pyjamas, Commando Krav Maga is for real soldiers!

Commando Krav Maga is for pussies. Real men do Shorinji Kempo.

Shorinji Kempo? What are you? A kangaroo? Do Taekwondo for the win.

TKD? You total spazzer. Like the guy is going to stand their and let you win-up a flick kick; doofus.

Yeah? I'd beat you ass any day.

Naw, you'd just beat off TO my ass. Gayer.

And so on the net ninja* trolls will roll.

I would have thought the Seals would have wanted to avoid hand-to-hand on the ground; especially in a multiple-combat situation.

*No offence to nin-jitsuka meant, it's just most of these faceless freaks seem to consider themselves the ultimate stealth warrior or something.

Try Gokor & Gene Lebel's academy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capoeira

some of the best fighting you will ever see from that art. its amazing to watch :)

It's only gay if you make eye contact

for bravado misuse of a random latin phrase in an attempt to seem clever goes to ... [crinkly envelope sound effect] ... sine qua non

"That word you keep using ... I don't think it means what you think it means."

...or does anyone find it very strange that hardened martial arts masters are hanging around on a tech web site?

No, not at all. There are quite a few martial artists in the tech field. (Or a bunch of techies into martial arts, whichever.) There were a whole mess of them in the dojo I went to.

But regarding the story, 30 hours isn't very impressive. I'm sure they've found somebody who will skip straight to the rip-a-man's-heart-out-and-show-it-to-him-before-he-dies type techniques and not bother with the usual niceties, but still, you can't expect to get really good at something by spending less thana week on it.

Ecky-Thump kicks Welsh butt, Taffy[1]!

Although in reality, the USMC is probably better at Tae Kwan Leap ...

[1] No actual Welsh person has been insulted, some of my best friends, etc.

"Is it just me...or does anyone find it very strange that hardened martial arts masters are hanging around on a tech web site?"

I assume you're referring to the people who've stated they have some form of experience (a few of us above)?

Well, I never qualified (or tried to qualify) as a master, I just like the training, which I've been doing since I was a kid. It's a pastime, in the same way as people go running or whatever - jogging five times a week for 20 years doesn't mean you're an Olympic athlete, just like training in martial arts for 20 years doesn't mean you're a "Master".

Also, teaching as a F/T career doesn't pay very well unless:

a. you're very lucky

b. you throw "ethics" out the window and work on conning people with flashy tricks.

c. you lie about how much you earn whilst you're actually flipping burgers.

The people I know who make a full time living out of teaching do so because they enjoy it (and they consider enjoying their work to be the most important thing), not because of the fantastic money. Apart from the "big names", most of the good ones are on moderate incomes, which can fluctuate wildly from one month to the next. Not what you want if you're trying to pay a mortgage and raise a family, really. You also need to be a very specific type of person to effectively teach AND make a business out of it AND put up with all the shit from your students - or 'customers', as they are these days, who expect "service" in the same way as they do at a restaurant

For me, I don't have the patience - which is why I went into a career that rewards grumpy surliness...

A black belt just means you know the basics - nothing more. (Which comes as a crushing blow to the ego!)

And as for martial artists hanging about on tech sites - not all geeks are nerds. :oP

(I am no master, although I do wear a black belt)

Capoeira? dancing and ridiculous high kicks?

Hmmmmmm. Could work- The "insurgents" i suspect these guys are training to fight seem to consider a shoeing a grave insult, maybe getting kicked in the face by a dancing SEAL wearing flippers would be especially demoralising?

I'm thinking that it is rather unlikely that the SEALs in question will be starting from the basics. Far more likely, the very specific requirements are down to a desire to compare techniques for COMBAT, not just learning how to win a local tournament. Remember the Indiana Jones bit, where he is facing down a guy with a sword, and just pulls out his pistol and shoots him? That is the kind of pragmatism that the SEALs will be after, not the orchestrated chivalry that they could expect in Wales - the Portuguese > English translator might not be too much use either; would need an English > American one instead.