Last week I suggested that you could use self-criticism as a power source. Once we self-analyze and see our faults, we have to admit we messed up. Depending on what kind of faults we uncovered, we’ll have to face the fact that we wasted time, energy, money or effort, that we hurt, damaged, offended, betrayed, etc.
When you change your perspective, you change how you think, act, feel and believe. You become a new person.
It hurts to let our old selves die so that the new self can emerge. What does that mean exactly?
- Changing how your think will change the media you consume, your topics of conversation, your interests, the clubs you participate in, friends who choose to hang out with, and so forth.
- Changing how you act affects how you behave, speak, and even look — how you dress, how you cut your hair, whether or not you get tattoos, all of that.
- Changing how you feel and believe changes your motivations, your career choices, your goals, aspirations, and so forth.
Letting go of old friends, old clothes, old habits, and especially old misguided dreams has a powerful sting.
But there is incredible, transformative power in taking a new direction. Especially if our new direction is inspired by, and draws upon, the the only infinite power source: God.
I’m intimately aware of this because I recently took a hard look at my life, my projects, my hobbies and my goals to insure that all of them are drawing their power from God rather than from what I want, need and desire. Toward that end, you are going to see some changes.
- Cabal Fang and the non-profit Cabal Fang Temple, Inc. will get a new name and a new logo (with the help of my friends and the cooperation of the board).
- All of my classes and projects be be rebranded and will roll up under that rubric — self-defense, ecumenical church, bushcraft, and fitness — and they will all be operated through the non-profit.
- Bobcat Martial Arts will be folded in to the new rebranded Cabal Fang.
- St. Barachiel’s of Richmond Christian Meet-up will be rolled up under the non-profit’s brand.
- Mitch’s General Store will have a fire sale and be closed down.
- And finally, once the new brand has been created, my Patreon will be closed and donors redirected to the non-profit.
Onward and upward!
New Direction: Mettle Maker #266
- Warm-up before training. To avoid injuries, warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes before you train. Do about 4 minutes each of (a) jogging, jumping rope, or similar activity, and (b) light calisthenics. Martial artists should do 8 minutes of MBF.
- Self-Defense: Select a weapon type you are not accustomed to — or even a household object! — and complete as many strikes as you can in four minutes. Eye protection required, and warm up for four minutes first so that you can learn the basic mechanics of the object before going full speed. Beginners, do air strikes with a wooden/rubber tool. Intermediates, use a dull, mock weapon and strike a heavy bag, pell or forging post. In real life you may need a force multiplier, and you can’t be assured it will be something familiar, symmetrical or easily wielded. Get there.
- Fitness: Bear Hug Carry followed by a 3-mile run. Select a sandbag of appropriate weight based on your fitness level. Advanced folks should be able to carry their body weight, beginners should be able to handle about 1/3, intermediate folks somewhere in the middle. Walk off 25 yards/meters, rest 2 minutes, walk off another 25 yards, rest 2 minutes, then walk as many 25 yard/meter laps as you can until you can carry it no more. Rest 2 minutes and then cover 3 miles as fast you can, even if that means you have to break stride and walk some of it.
- Bushcraft: Spend a day being a raccoon. Do not attempt this challenge if you have a health problem such as diabetes, low blood sugar, etc. For one whole day, consume only what you can scavenge for free. Tell nobody what you’re doing, do not beg your friends or coworkers, and keep it a secret even from your family members. Eat only the cold pizza or stale doughnuts that somebody left on the conference room table, the free hot-chocolate or instant soup from the break room or concession stand, the wild edibles you can gather in your neighborhood, the free samples they’re handing out at the big box store, and so on. You might have to go hungry a little. Don’t worry, it won’t kill you and you might learn something. Want more exercises like this is one? It’s from my book The Wildwood Workbook. Gitcha some.
- Spirit: Cultivate some patience and discipline by sitting still for 20 minutes. Set a timer for 20 minutes and assume your posture of choice — cross-legged, in a chair, leaning against a tree, in lotus position, on a prayer stool, etc. Calm your breathing to a slow and steady rhythm, and do not fidget, wiggle or scratch. Keep your eyes open, think about absolutely nothing, and sit absolutely still. Your mind will wander. Don’t make war with yourself, just calmly let thoughts wither on the vine so that you can get back to “zero.” Write down what you learned about your patience level and ability to be calm in your training journal.
Robert Mitchell Jr. 