Professionally 'Fit to Fight'

  • Published
  • By Kate Blais
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Against all odds and popular opinion, the determined man defeated the warrior-giant with the shot of a single stone. Standing over the giant Goliath in victory, the much smaller David continues to embody the timeless axiom that size is not everything.

For Master Sgt. Christopher Easter, an intelligence analyst with Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center Detachment 5, the idea of beating someone bigger than oneself motivated him to begin a career in Brazilian jujitsu, a form of mixed martial arts and combat sport focused on grappling and submission holds.

"When the UFC [Ultimate Fighting Championship] first started coming on back in the early '90s, I kind of watched it and saw these little guys beat up on the big guys," said Sergeant Easter. "And I thought, 'man I need to learn how to do that stuff.' I liked the idea that size just didn't matter so I told my wife I was going to start training, and I just fell in love with it."

Beginning his training in 1998, Sergeant Easter has turned a way to stay fit into a professional fighting career. Although different from his work in the Air Force, he can draw parallels between the two.

Sergeant Easter expressed that both the Air Force and professional fighting are like rollercoaster rides, and if you can ride out the ups and downs, you'll find success.

"I always tell my guys [Airmen] that no matter how bad their current situation is, it'll be different in a year," said the sergeant. "It's kind of the same with fighting. There's always someone that's going to be able to beat you. You can't be a fighter if you're not going to be committed, and you can't do 20 years in the military without being committed, either. And the guys who aren't [committed] don't go anywhere."

Motivating himself to stay fit to fight, both as an Airman and a black belt, involves envisioning his competition and the amount of work they're putting into their own training.

"When I'm training, I always tell myself that my competition is training harder than me," Sergeant Easter said. "When I'm actually fighting, I tell myself that I'm not going to like myself in six months if I quit now."

Sergeant Easter tested his degree of commitment and hard work as his two careers merged, Jan. 22, at the military only "MCAS Miramar Submission Grappling Tournament (Gi and Non-Gi)" at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego. One difference between gi and non-gi lies in the uniform worn by each fighter. In gi competition the fighter wears a gi - a martial arts robe. In non-gi competition the fighter essential wears anything else, such as shorts and a T-shirt.

Eager to compete against others who work for a living like himself, Sergeant Easter also looked forward to representing the Air Force in competition between the services. Faring well in the non-gi advanced division, Sergeant Easter took 2nd place against four Marines.

"They are going to hold this event four times a year," said the sergeant. "So my plan is to try and build an Edwards team to take there and compete."

Sergeant Easter expressed his desire to share his jujitsu training with anyone on base interested in getting into or staying in shape.

"I'd like to teach on base," said Sergeant Easter. "I love coaching anyone who wants to compete, anyone who wants to lose weight and anyone who wants to get in shape."

Sergeant Easter recently made a permanent change of station move from San Antonio, Texas to Edwards.

"It's tough because my family's still in San Antonio," said the sergeant. PCSing alone to keep his daughter enrolled in her current high school, Sergeant Easter still feels the support from Texas.

"My wife went to one fight, she saw me twist some guy's arm and she said she could never go again," laughed the sergeant. "But she supports me. There are a lot of guys who want to train but their spouses won't let them, but I get a lot of support from home."

Training three times a day, six to seven days a week both on base and at Kemo's Fight Factory in Lancaster, Sergeant Easter continues to find motivation and enjoyment in what he does.

"I'm real competitive," said the sergeant. "So once I started competing it just fueled that fire."