To learn about\u00a0the Ropes Course\u00a0at the Marine Military Academy read our recent article\u00a0 “High\/Low Ropes Course<\/a>”<\/p>\n To learn more about the Marine Military Academy visit our website at http:\/\/www.mma-tx.org<\/a> or request information at http:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/MMA\/admissions\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Marine Military Academy: Ropes Course Maj Harold Compton In 1999 I had the opportunity to attend a Boy Scout National Camp School to receive my certification to direct a high ropes course.\u00a0 The course was one week in length and at the end of it I felt ready to embark on running of the course […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[258],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-training-facilities"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":6}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2863"}],"version-history":[{"count":48,"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12678,"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2863\/revisions\/12678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"ropes](\"http:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/ropes1.jpg\" "\\"ropes1\\"")
<\/a>In 1999 I had the opportunity to attend a Boy Scout National Camp School to receive my certification to direct a high ropes course<\/b>.\u00a0 The course was one week in length and at the end of it I felt ready to embark on running of the course at the Marine Military Academy.\u00a0 The most important aspect of the ropes course<\/i> for me was experiencing what our cadets go through when they find themselves 30 feet in the air with only a rope to protect them should they fall.\u00a0 I have never had a serious fear of heights but it was eye opening to say the least.\u00a0\u00a0 The goals that the course left me with were developing teamwork on low ropes and overcoming fears and improving confidence on high ropes events.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Running the MMA Ropes Course<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Over the last 13 years I have directed and observed thousands of cadets and summer campers on our low and\u00a0high ropes course<\/u>.\u00a0 They run the entire spectrum from those that seem unafraid of any of the challenges to those that find it hard to even climb the ladder to get up on the course.\u00a0 Additionally the groups as a whole initially struggle with working as a team\u00a0 How a facilitator handles each of these types determines whether they will succeed in achieving the overall goals of the course.\u00a0 Cadets are never forced to go on the course but are encouraged by Drill Instructors, course instructors and cadets alike.\u00a0 All want to see them successfully work together and\u00a0complete the course.\u00a0 Working in a group and facing their fears is part of growing up and in this scenario they are safe although they may not realize it.\u00a0 Many of them also lack confidence in their ability to complete the course and need constant encouragement to continue.\u00a0\u00a0 Getting them to continue and ultimately complete the course serves to help build their self confidence.<\/p>\nRopes Course Director Responsibilty<\/h3>\n
<\/a>As the course director it is my responsibility to oversee the running of the course and ensure everything is conducted in a safe manner.\u00a0 Additionally, it is important to oversee those facilitating the course to ensure that their manner of running it is consistent with our goals.\u00a0 Those goals are not to simply negotiate each obstacle successfully but rather to\u00a0help overcome fears, develop self confidence and encourage teamwork among the participants.\u00a0 No participant should ever come off the course feeling that they did not gain anything from it. \u00a0They should at the very least feel that they were able to push themselves a little further than they thought possible even if they do not complete the course.\u00a0 Since our cadets get the opportunity to run the course more than once the goal is to have each cadet push a little further each time and hopefully complete the entire course some day.<\/p>\nRopes Course\u00a0at Marine Military Academy<\/h3>\n