How Marines Earn Martial Arts Instructor Trainer Distinction
by U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. William Tucker
October 9, 2026

The Martial Arts Instructor Trainer course at the Martial Arts Center of Excellence is a seven-week program that tests the physical limits and mental fortitude of its students, evaluating their capacity for decisive actions while adapting under pressure.

"Whenever they first show up, we get the product that they walk in with, and our job as martial arts instructor trainers is to coach them to the best of our ability," said Staff Sgt. Daniel Morales, the lead instructor trainer. "Everybody has their own threshold of what their instructor ability could be, and that is the challenge for us."

Following principles of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, the MAIT course not only strengthens unarmed combat techniques but also incorporates weapons handling, instructing students on how to employ weapons effectively and retain them if attacked.

The MAIT course is divided into three distinct phases over the span of the program.

The first phase establishes foundational principles and physical conditioning. This includes long-distance running, calisthenics, a review of the program’s structure, basic combative techniques and a fitness assessment; all participants are required to achieve a first class on both the Physical Fitness Test and Combat Fitness Test.

The second phase hones techniques and develops the foundational skills. This is where students must spar, learn advanced combative techniques and simulate real-world scenarios within combat drills. During this phase, they continue physical endurance training using obstacle courses and build on instructional methodology for when they return to their home units across the Corps.

Toward the end of the course, prior to the culminating event, students face a challenge that has earned a notorious reputation: the washboard drill. The event consists of formation hiking across steep elevation changes, interspersed with exercises and sparring bouts at every checkpoint.

"The washboard drill is a weighted movement through great changes in elevation and depression with workouts and fights along the way," said Sgt. Maxwell Thurman, a student in the MAIT course, "You have to work with your squad to make movement up and down terrain, then there would be burpees or squats and pushups you would have to execute in unison, and then you would finish that off with fights. It was one thing after another."

The third and final phase culminates with an event that tests all the knowledge gained over the previous weeks, where students receive their certification as Martial Arts Instructor Trainers upon completion.

"Whenever they go through their final scenario or the final events, even when they walk across the stage, it just widens our hearts to see how much they developed over those last three weeks," Morales said. "It's pretty cool to see that the person was a student and now they have their own students, and they’re developing their own students to come to the course."

Upon graduation, Marines earn the MAIT credential, distinguished by a red tab worn on the martial arts belt. While standard martial arts instructors, identified by a tan tab, train individual Marines to advance through the baseline belt system, MAITs hold the advanced qualification required to evaluate and certify new instructors. Graduates return to their home units to serve as subject matter experts, directly strengthening unit readiness.

"I’m living my dream right now, working at this place," Morales said. "I highly encourage Marines who have a fighting background, or even if you have an interest in learning how to fight, to reach out to your martial arts instructor. They’ll point you in the right direction so that we can get you the credentials, coaching, and skills."

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