Category Archives: Martial arts

Hatmaker’s Readiness Test — Part 5

Posted on October 29, 2019 | Leave a comment

Click here to see Mark’s entire post

If you missed Parts 1 through 4 in this series, click here.  In a nutshell, author and martial arts coach Mark Hatmaker recently posted The Self-Resilient Readiness Test  and I worked my way through them to assess my ability to self-rescue.

 

 

This week I faced the following tests:

#1: Swim half a mile.  To my utter shock and surprise I was actually able to complete this challenge.  Sure, it took me a very long 20:17 to get there, but I finished it without putting my feet on the bottom of the pool or hanging on the edge.  I loved this challenge because it pushed me outside my comfort zone.  I have not swum laps in over 20 years and, because I don’t have a pool membership, I had to get my daughter Morgan to guest-pass me into her pool, which ended up being a fun evening for everyone.  Learned a ton from this one.  1 point.

#8: Carry 45 lbs 1 mile in under 12 minutes.  I was able to make the whole mile without putting down the weight (I used a sloshy sand bag) but I was way over the 12-minute mark at 16:50.  Without the weight I could’ve walked it in 18 mins.  So, as you can see, this was for me a pathetic slog rather than a run. 1/2 point.

#4: Fifteen Chin-ups, no breaks.  I was hoping my biceps tendinopathy would be sufficiently healed so as to allow me to attempt this one, but alas, no.  It’s going to be months before I can really try this.  Doesn’t matter that before I messed up my bicep I could do 15 chins with 15 lbs on a shoulder strap.  Old Man Used-To is dead and gone — I gotta take the zero.

At this “point” it’s important to “point” out that, just line in Whose Line Is It Anyway?  the points don’t matter.

It’s not about the points

It’s about self-assessing.  It’s about learning things about yourself, stepping outside your comfort zones, taking ownership of your capabilities, and so much more.  So when I talk about my scores, don’t think I’m trying to “win” or “score big” or any of that.  That ain’t what it is.

My “scores” So Far

#1: #1: Swim half a mile.  Done!  My time = 20:17.  1 point.
#2: Run at top speed for 200 yards.  I’m slow, but I did it. 1 point.
#3: Jump over waist high obstacles.  Close but no cigar.  1/2 point.
#4: 15 Chin-ups with no breaks.  Bicep tendinopathy.  0 points.
#5: 25 dips.  They were pathetic and I had to take breaks.  1/2 point.
#6: Drag a 100 lb. sandbag 50 years in under 30 seconds.  19 seconds.  1 point
#7: 25-yard buddy carry. 1 point
#8: Carry 45 lbs 1 mile in under 12 minutes.  16:50 is a fail. 1/2 point.
#9: One minute unprepared breath hold. Check.  1 point.
#10/11: Swim 25 yards underwater or walk 50 yards out/back on one breath. Picked the latter and failed.  1/2 point.
#12: Do you use drugs or alcohol to impairment?  No. 1 point.
#13: One minute shower on full cold. Check.  1 point.
#14: One day fast in plain sight of favorite foods.  Done.  1 point
#16: All day Tenderfoot Drill. Check.  1 point

———————–
Total Score so far: 11 points out of 14

What’s next?  Only one left to complete!

  • #15: Three nights in a row get up and keep a vigil for 15 minutes

Wanna play along?  Post your scores in the comments!

DID YOU KNOW…that I have an awesome shop where you can buy all kinds of cool stuff, like martial arts training materials, bespoke books, artwork, and so on?  Check it out!

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New Videos Sundays and Wednesdays

Posted on October 27, 2019 | Leave a comment

As a deacon and seminarian looking forward to ordination — and trying to grow a little group into something more — I think it’s important to get in the habit of writing a Sunday sermon/homily.

As a martial artists trying to promote my nonprofit Cabal Fang group as well as my Frontier martial arts program, I think videos are a great way to do that.  So I’m setting a goal to publish two videos a week — a video with a religious theme on Sundays and a martial arts video on Wednesdays.

It’s a lot of work, but if you want to achieve the incredible you must attempt the impossible!  Here’s this week’s video for Sunday…

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Update — Safari: Martial Arts Training Involution #180

Posted on October 26, 2019 | Leave a comment

My little suburban safari did not go as planned.  But that was the point — to go outside my comfort zone, to stretch my limitations, and to face the unexpected, the unknown, and the unplanned for.

The first thing that threw me for a loop was that, immediately after the first big turn, Hungary Creek transformed into a reedy, rivuleted flood plain covered in chest-high grass.  I had never previously navigated terrain like that, and it was more than a little nerve-racking.  That was a very, very long stretch for sure.  But I learned a little about nerve, and how to pick your way, and foot placement.  Proud to say I didn’t even once get myself sunk below the shoe tops.

Once I was back to woods and thickets I was alright.  It was easy walking for the most part, although circuitous because of fences and property lines.  Eventually however the creek ran through a narrow culvert.  When I emerged onto the road I found myself smack-dab in the middle of the Hoehns Lake gated community, surrounded by “No Trespassing” signs.  The creek was running straight down the middle, and they would’ve called the cops for sure if I had stuck to course.  Didn’t have much choice besides high-tailing it down the private road to the main road.

Of course, along the way I got barked at by several dogs and challenged by a frowning resident, but they weren’t anything I couldn’t handle with a few apologies, some raised hands, and some smiles.

Back on the main road I skirted the private property, regained the creek on the other side, and continued my adventure.  Eventually though I ran into an 8′ high chain link fence with barbed wire ontop — another community — Laurel Lakes this time.  See selfie at right.  It’s the only one I took during the trip, because that unfortunately the end.

I had covered roughly 5 miles at that point.  So I ambled over to Laurel Park, sat down in the shade of mighty pine, had a snack, and took a catnap.  Then I hiked the 3 miles home.

What did I learn this trip?

  • Don’t panic in high grass and start hurrying to get out — you might step in a hole and find yourself with a twisted ankle while up to your neck in mud.  Pick your way with your feet cock-eyed so you press the grass down ahead of you.  You can see where you’re headed quite a bit better,  you make a kind of mat that keeps your feet from sinking into the goop, and it gives the snakes more time to flee ahead of you.
  • As I’m getting older I have to slow down.  I am no longer as sure-footed as a billy goat.  If I was to stumble and jam my leg into a tangle of logs and flood debris, I’d spiral break a leg.
  • No matter how light you’re traveling, throw in a pair of dry socks.  I was lucky my feet didn’t get soaked.  If they had, I would’ve been miserable.
  • Old-fashioned blanket-covered canteens are twice as good as the modern kind.  They ride better and bounce less.  My 2-liter, pill-shaped canteen was more comfy that a 1-liter bullet-styled one.
  • Hemp-cotton blends dry almost as fast at poly-cotton blends.  My hemp-blend shirt kept me cool and dry.

Although I didn’t successfully walk the whole creek, it was still and fun and educational day!

——————————————————-
Original Post from 10/26/19

At the time this post is scheduled to publish, I will be exploring the entire 6 mile length of Hungary Creek.  I’m only familiar with about a third of it, so this is going to be fun.

This suburban waterway runs through the  powerline easements of my neighborhood, between parks and housing developments, and winds its way in and out of dense thickets.

I’m calling it an suburban safari.

Once upon a time a safari was understood to be a trip to Africa to hunt large game.  Technically though, safari is a Swahili word that means “journey”  and that’s mostly what it means these days — a journey through unfamiliar territory.

Your assignment this week is to go on a safari.  Like me, you don’t need to go very far to find unexplored territory.

safari: Martial Arts Training Involution #180

Take a hike, go for a paddle or mountain bike ride, etc.  Carefully select an activity that will be challenging based on your experience level.   Beginners, seek the advice and help of friends and loved ones who know your skills and read my book The Wildwood Workbook: Nature Appreciation and Survival.  

At a bare minimum, tell at least two people where you’re going, take a fully stocked possibles bag, a fully charged cell phone, and plenty of water.  

If your situation won’t allow you to wander far from home, go out to your back yard or patio and climb a pyramid or ziggurat.   Now there’s an adventure of a slightly different kind!

If you enjoyed his training involution you’d probably enjoy my books.  Why not check one out?

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The Holy Cross: Vervaeke, Exegesis, Truth, and the Hermetic Quaternary

Posted on October 21, 2019 | Leave a comment

In this video I examine the Cognitive Scientific idea of the Four Ways of Knowing (as expounded by John Vervaeke in Episode 1 of his video series Awakening from the Meaning Crisis) by the light of Hermetic and Christian concepts.

For a Google spreadsheet of all the Holy Cross associations I make in the video, click here.

 

 

 

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Year Ten: Martial Arts Training Involution #179

Posted on October 19, 2019 | Leave a comment

I can’t believe that today we’re celebrating the 10th anniversary of Cabal Fang martial arts.

It seems like just yesterday that I started this crazy project.  What’s amazing is that thousands of people have read the Cabal Fang books, watched our videos, and visited this blog to find out about what we’re up to.

What’s even more amazing to me is that so many people have invested their physical, material effort, their sweat and attention, by training with us.  All of these folks are now my friends, and all of them — everyone who has ever attended a Cabal Fang training session here in Richmond, VA — has been invited to a celebration and homecoming event at my house this afternoon.

So I kind of need to wrap up this week’s T.I. and start getting ready for guests!

Anyway, in honor of our anniversary, this week’s. T.I. is a flashback to our very first official constitutional.  If you’re new to my blog and/or to Cabal Fang, a constitutional is a calisthenics training routine made up of seven different calisthenics exercises done back-to-back as quickly as possible and while taking as few breaks as possible.  A new constitutional is created each month, and everyone in the club is expected to get through it twice a week.  To see a complete list of all our monthly constitutionals back to 2009, click here.

At Cabal Fang we believe that calisthenics are an essential component of functional fitness.  So, without further preamble I present our first official monthly constitutional.

Year Ten: Martial Arts Training Involution #179

* Warm-up.  Set a timer for 8 mins and warm up thoroughly until the timer beeps.
* Martial mobility.  Perform 4-rep sets of Shots, Leg Triangles, Inside leg kick with décollage, and Sit-Out Push-ups for another 8 mins.
* Constitutional.

Lunges (100)
Log Presses (50) (use a sandbag or heavy bag if you don’t have a log)
Ab Punches (1.5 mins)
Neck Crunches (100)
Bodybuilders (25)
Jack-knifes (25)
Wall Touches (100)

If you enjoyed his training involution you’d probably enjoy my books.  Why not check one out?

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Hatmaker’s Readiness Test — Part 4

Posted on October 16, 2019 | Leave a comment

Click here to see Mark’s entire post

If you missed Part 1, 2 & 3 in this series, click here.  In a nutshell, author and martial arts coach Mark Hatmaker recently posted The Self-Resilient Readiness Test  and I’m working my way through them to assess my ability to self-rescue.

I got sidetracked after a kidney stone, and now I’m back at it.  Over the last month or so I’ve faced the following questions:

To keep the rock from moving to a comfortable spot I taped it to my sock. Miserable.

#7 — 25 yard buddy carry.  I finished this one with not problem despite the fact that I used a buddy who outweighs me by 10 pounds.

#14 — One day fast in plain sight of favorite foods.  I’m an old hand at fasting (I fasted every Tuesday for about 5 months working on this project) but I didn’t rest on my laurels — I did another one.  Fasting is always an eye-opener. 

#16 — All day Tenderfoot Drill.  Works like this:

For one day place a rock/pebble in one shoe.  Place it so that you feel its uncomfortable dig into the plantar with each step. Go about your day. If at any point the pebble shifts to a more comfortable position, adjust it to less than fun. Do not complain to yourself or to any else throughout the day. If an occasional wince draws a comment such as “Is there something wrong?” You may reply honestly, “Oh, I have a rock in my shoe.”  That’s it.  If asked, “Why don’t you take it out?” reply simply, “I like it.” No other explanation.

This drill was endlessly self-revealing and not as simple as it sounds.  It was powerful enough to help constellate some disparate ideas into a unified whole (for more detail click here).  Highly recommended.

My Scores So Far

#2: Run at top speed for 200 yards.  I’m slow, but I did it. 1 point.
#3: Jump over waist high obstacles.  Close but no cigar.  1/2 point.
#5: 25 dips.  They were pathetic and I had to take breaks.  1/2 point.
#6: Drag a 100 lb. sandbag 50 years in under 30 seconds.  19 seconds.  1 point
#7: 25-yard buddy carry. 1 point
#9: One minute unprepared breath hold. Check.  1 point.
#10/11: Swim 25 yards underwater or walk 50 yards out/back on one breath. Picked the latter and failed.  1/2 point.
#12: Do you use drugs or alcohol to impairment?  No. 1 point.
#13: One minute shower on full cold. Check.  1 point.
#14: One day fast in plain sight of favorite foods.  Done.  1 point
#16: All day Tenderfoot Drill. Check.  1 point

———————–
Total Score so far: 9 ½ points out of 11

What’s next?  Only three left to complete!

  • #1: Swim half a mile
  • #4: 15 Chin-ups (I’ll face this one after I resolve my biceps tendonitis)
  • #8: Carry 45 lbs 1 mile in less than 12 minutes
  • #15: Three nights in a row get up and keep a vigil for 15 minutes

Wanna play along?  Post your scores in the comments!

DID YOU KNOW…that I have an awesome shop where you can buy all kinds of cool stuff, like martial arts training materials, bespoke books, artwork, and so on?  Check it out!

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Heart: Martial Arts Training Involution #178

Posted on October 12, 2019 | Leave a comment

The heart is the center, the core, where everything begins and ends.  In martial arts, the heart sits at the the intersection of form, intent, action, and reaction.  In Cabal Fang martial arts, these four things equate to the Hermetic Quaternary — “To Know, to Will, to Dare, to Keep Silent.”  In the Frontier Rough  ‘n’ Tumble martial arts milieu, these equate to the four animal teachers —  Stag, Bobcat, Dog, and Hawk — and of course to the cross and to the medicine wheel.

These associations are prehistoric and are equated to the four directions.  Thus we see them cropping up everywhere — the Four Living Creatures from Ezekiel, the four heavenly creatures (Ox, Lion, Man and Eagle), the Four Holy Beasts from Vietnamese folklore, the Four Symbols from Chinese folklore, etc.

Heart: Martial Arts Training Involution #178

  • Form.  Spend 15 minutes working on your form.  How do you do that?  Here are some ideas: break down a technique by practicing it slowly, get in front of a mirror and analyze your movement, practice your kata, poomse, hyung, etc. with extreme exactness, etc.
  • Action and Reaction.  Spend 15 minutes working on your action and reaction.  If you have a partner, work flow drills.  If you’re going solo, run flow drills with your heavy bag, grappling dummy, floor bag, etc. (if you need some flow drills, read Chapter 26 of the CFSG).
  • Intent.  Spend 15 minutes honing your intent with meditation.  Intent is the secret sauce that makes everything you do open up like a flower (last week I explored a related idea in this video).   Think of a suitable phrase, about a dozen words, that embodies your intent.  Pick a famous quote from your choice of wisdom literature — a Bible passage like the one I used (“Be ye therefore perfect as your father, which is in heaven, is perfect” ~Matthew 5:48) or a quote from the Tao Te Ching (“Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know”).  Set a timer for 15 minutes and assume your meditative posture of choice.  Mentally recite the first half of the phrase as you breathe in.  Hesitate with lungs full and airway open as you mentally recite the second half of the phrase.  Recite the first half as you breathe out.  Hesitate with lungs empty and airway open as you mentally recite the second half of the phrase.  This phrase, when split and used in this manner, will focus your mind and urge you into box breathing.  Repeat until the timer beeps.
  • Record.  And, as always, record your results and thoughts in your training journal.

If you enjoyed his training involution you’d probably enjoy my books.  Why not check one out?

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Excuses Excuses: Martial Arts Training Involution #177

Posted on October 5, 2019 | Leave a comment

This laser-focused workbook could change your life.

What’s the difference between a reason and an excuse?  An excuse is a failure.  A reason is a delay.

You are either going to reach your ultimate  goal or not.  If you don’t reach the goal, your “reason” is an excuse.  But if you reach the goal, your excuses are valid reasons for being delayed.

This week’s T.I. is an excerpt from my most recent book The Hourglass Way: Transform in 12 Weeks with Cabal Fang.  Get it on Kindle, as a paperback, Nook book, or in any ebook format via Smashwords.

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WHAT TO DO IF YOU KEEP MESSING UP

Things happen. People and situations are not perfect or ideal. You are going to have bad days, bad weeks, maybe even a bad month or year. So what do you do if you wake up one day and realize you haven’t touched this workbook for a while – a few days, weeks or even months? Well, did you read the section above or not?

If you mess up on the program, all you have to do is get up, dust yourself off, and get back to work. Cabal Fang will change your life – but only if you stay with it. If you only missed a few days, you can pick up right where you left off. If you fall out of the program for a couple weeks, back up a week and resume. If you drop out for a month or more, it’s probably best if you start over.

Have you ever heard the expression, “I don’t know where you’re going but you can’t stay here.”? You picked up this workbook because you know you need to work on yourself. Obviously you don’t want to stay where you are. Well, the only way to get to a better place is to move and keep moving.

Listen to the lies you are thinking:

* “I don’t have time to do this program properly right now.”  Nonsense. People make time for the things that are important to them. Take a little time away from TV, social media, web surfing, napping, snacking, partying, video games, etc. etc.

* “This is a great program but I can’t do it justice.” You know how you do justice to a great program? By not quitting it.

* “I don’t have the __________ (focus, strength, willpower, determination, etc.)”  Of course you don’t.  You know you don’t.  I know you don’t. That’s why you’re in the program you chucklehead. Just do the best you can.

Bottom line? Doing the program half-assed is better than not doing it all. Nothing’s stopping you from doing it over again later! In Cabal Fang, we don’t judge. But neither do we whine, complain, or make excuses – and especially we don’t quit. We modify, adapt and overcome.

Enough talk. Let’s get started.

Excuses Excuses: Martial Arts Training Involution #177

Last week we took it easy.   But not this week.

  • 20 minutes on the heavy bag. Warm up for 8 minutes while you decide if you want to work on speed, accuracy, form, endurance, mobility, or power (“SAFE MP”).  Don’t just wail away on the bag without any purpose.  Adjust round length to suit your goals (shorter when working on S or P, longer for E), add tape targets to the bag for A, etc.  For more ideas read this.
  • 20 minute Half Pyramid.  Then set a timer for 20 mins and climb as high as you can before it beeps — 1 of each, 2 of each, 3, 4, 5, etc. of the following: Sit-Out Push-ups, Shrimps, Drop Duck-Unders, Bear Walks (5 yards), Jump Squats, Bodybuilders, Jackknifes.  Don’t know an exercise?  Read this.
  • Complete a nice long sit.  Animals and humans, both predators and prey, have been doing it since the dawn of life on Earth.  Contemplation (a.k.a “passive meditation”) is baked into your DNA.  If you want to explore how your mind works, learn patience and self-control, slash your body’s production of cortisol and other stress hormones, relax more deeply than you thought possible, and strengthen your relationship with the divine, this is the thing for you.  Set a timer.  Beginners 10 mins., intermediates 30 mins., advanced folks 1 hour.  Assume your meditative posture of choice.  Narrow your eyes somewhat to minimize blinking.  Do not fidget, wiggle, or scratch.  Breathe in a slow, steady rhythm.  Don’t get up until the timer beeps.
  • Record everything you did and learned in your training journal.  If it’ ain’t in the journal, it didn’t happen.

DID YOU KNOW…that I have an awesome shop where you can buy all kinds of cool stuff, like martial arts training materials, bespoke books, artwork, and so on?  Check it out!

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P.R.A. for Self-Defense and Survival

Posted on October 2, 2019 | Leave a comment

When it comes to martial arts, most folks focus on flash and neglect preparation and prevention.  The video below is an introduction to P.R.A., which stands for “Preparation, Recognition and Action.”  Because here’s the thing.

He who avoids conflict cannot lose.

That’s the preparation part. The prevention piece breaks down into a series of four steps I call P.A.D.E.  It breaks down like this: if you’re never avoid anything you hit everything, 

And failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

Want the details on P.A.D.E.?  Well, if you prefer the Frontier Rough & Tumble quick fix, read my self-defense booklet “Nine Lives of the Bobcat!”  But if you want the whole martial arts program enchilada, get yourself a copy of the Cabal Fang Complete Study Course from Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, or wherever fine ebooks are sold.

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Creature Teacher: Martial Arts Training Involution #176

Posted on September 28, 2019 | Leave a comment

Continuing the theme this month, this week’s T.I. is an excerpt from a forthcoming module of my Frontier Rough & Tumble martial arts program on animal teachers.

We learned from Frog that there is a great lesson in sitting still, and we received the gift of contemplation which literally means to watch something — from the Latin  contemplārī meaning “to observe.”

From Dog we learned that there is great utility — and an evolutionary imperative — for not just hiding our suffering but learning to be happy and loving even when we are suffering.

From Hawk we learned that the ability to assume the thousand-foot view, and to keep our eye on the grand scheme, is essential to success.

And from the cave paintings of our ancestors we learned that what is truly unique to the human animal is our ability to visualize and to mythologize — to examine past failures, pre-test schemes and plans, and rehearse our strategies in the flesh-and-blood virtual reality environment of the brain.

From these four animal teachers we can distill four powerful tactics for fighting stress that you can use every day — not just during a self-defense situation, but at work, at home, or any time.  The problem is that when you’re stressed your tendency is going to be toward panic.  So you’ll need to practice this sequence often enough that it becomes second nature.

When you find yourself extremely stressed:

  1. Be like Dog.  Pretend to be perfectly calm and relaxed even when your thoughts are in disarray.  In the same way that water assumes the shape of the vessel in which it is placed, your mind will begin to conform to the attitude of your body if you buy it some time.
  2. Be like Hawk.  Breathe, soar, and gain some distance.  Take slow, deep breaths making sure that your airways remain open at all times.  Make a conscious effort to hesitate for a few beats between inhaling and exhaling phases, but never hold or clamp down on your breath.
  3. Be like your ancestors and go to the cave — the cave of your mind.  Regain your comfort zone by calling up a mental picture of either of a familiar and related training simulation or of an actual previous success during similar circumstances.  You’ve been here before and you’re going to be fine.
  4. Be like Frog.  Go on auto-pilot.  Just be in the present moment.

Creature Teacher: Martial Arts Training Involution #176

These weekly T.I.s can be very physically demanding —  especially if you’re doing them on the weekend in addition to another training program.  This week we’re going to take it a little break and do some head work.  Practice the above drill.  Run through all the steps one by one.  Then make a note in your planner, or set a reminder on your phone, to run through them every day for the next week or so until you have them memorized.  Then take a nice long sit, at least ten minutes.  Try to practice your contemplation for double your usual daily length (but not more than an hour).  Daily internal work — contemplation, meditation and prayer — are essential to the health of the human body, mind and spirit.  If you’re not doing daily internal work there’s no way you’re maximizing your health and potential.  So get started!

DID YOU KNOW…that I have an awesome shop where you can buy all kinds of cool stuff, like martial arts training materials, bespoke books, artwork, and so on?  Check it out!

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