25 insane military training exercises from around the world
The Japanese martial art of tameshiwari involves breaking bricks or wooden planks. South Korean special forces do it with heavy rocks...
Strategy1 min read...while Chinese SWATs do it with their heads.
The Iran's Basij militia is a voluntary force, but its training in the martial arts is gruesome nonetheless.
Iraq's Shiite volunteer forces take their knife fighting training pretty seriously, as you can see.
Mexican marines, meanwhile, have to learn to crawl across a thin metal wire without falling.
Psychological training is also important for military forces, particularly in China. This exercise is meant to relieve anxiety.
Not all training has to be gruelling through. Here's the 11 Gorkha Rifles Regimental taking part in a yoga session in Lucknow, northern India.
South Korean special warfare are covering themselves with snow here to help strengthen both physical power and psychological fortitude.
Taiwanese marines have to crawl through a rocky pathway in front of their fellow recruits to finish their training course.
In China, jumping through a ring of fire is just part of training.
This Iraqi military exercise is not very sophisticated, but it is brutal: do the chair or get beaten.
These special force soldiers in Belarus are training for chemical warfare.
Colombian policemen train in camouflage in the jungle, preparing to battle FARC, one of the most fearsome guerrilla forces in the world.
Elite forces from Nicaragua also for jungle fighting. It's called "hostile-environment training."
Alpine warfare is another form of hostile environment training that many forces around the world have to go through. Believe it or not, this is in Israel.
Thai navy sailors are trained to survive in the tropical jungle. In a joint military exercise in 2013, they taught US Marines to drink cobra blood.
As well as cobra blood, you might be required to eat bugs from a bamboo stick if you join the Thai navy, as the US Marines found out.
Australia North West Mobile Force patrol the desert of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. For this reason, its soldiers learn Aboriginal survival skills like spear fishing.
These Philippino recruits have to hold a banana on their heads while eating lunch to teach them balance and posture. If the banana falls, they have to eat it. Peel included.
A similar drill for new recruits of the Chinese People's Liberation Army involves marching with a cross tied to your back. It is all part of reaching a military posture.
Another Belarusian special-forces member tests his balance walking over smoke bombs and fires.
Often soldiers are asked to train with animals. These Dutch gendarmes have to ride their horses through smoke bombs.
Here's a US soldier jumps from an airplane with his dog, Cara, breaking the record for "highest man/dog parachute deployment." They jumped 9,174 metres.
German special forces have to be able to mount a gun underwater. Holding their breath.
But military training is not always so daring. These Lebanese soldiers use a virtual-reality game to practice their shooting skills without the risk of getting injured.
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