“Yes I can assure you that mixed martial arts are absolutely necessary skills in the navy” ~ Theodore Roosevelt apparently.

I don’t think I need to tell you just how much Theodore Roosevelt reveled in combat sports. Boxing & wrestling was his primary foray, but he dabbled in judo & jujitsu as well. TR wasnt exactly shy about his hobby. He lined the White House basement with training mats, and he practiced with anyone who was willing to tussle—including his wife and sister-in-law. Once, he even excited a state luncheon by throwing the Swiss minister to the floor and demonstrating a judo hold, to the delight of his guests. Roosevelt first engrossed himself with judo after meeting the frankly wild [Yamashita Yoshitsugu](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamashita_Yoshitsugu), who so thoroughly impressed TR that he asked for lessons. Yamashita gave judo lessons to the president and secretary William Loeb Jr. in a room at the White House. Roosevelt, personally worried that the physical prowess in the armed forces was falling behind other world powers, began to advocate for jujutsu training for American soldiers. In January 1905, Yamashita got a job teaching judo at the U.S. Naval Academy. The position ended at the end of the school term, and Yamashita was not rehired for the following year. When President Roosevelt heard of this, he was alarmed. He contacted the Secretary of the Navy, [Charles Joseph Bonaparte](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Joseph_Bonaparte) (grandson of Napoleon’s brother and the founder of the FBI) and stated his case. I am not satisfied about the giving up of the judo or jujitsu at the Naval Academy. It is not physical exercise so much as it is an extraordinarily successful means of self-defense and training in dexterity and decision. But I know enough of boxing, wrestling, rough-and-tumble fighting, and of the very art in question to be absolutely certain that it is of real and on occasions may be of great use to any man whose duties are such as a naval officers may at any time become. The president concluded, I should like to have it continued next year at the Naval Academy. And so it was, as Yamashita was rehired and resumed teaching come 1906. Source: T.R., The Last Romantic, pages 554-555

Tbf, whilst the age of naval boarding had effectively come to an end by then, I cant think of many other skills more useful in close quarters combat than being able to reliably hip toss some poor bastard overboard.

Ah yes, I see you know your judo well.

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