Category Archives: Martial arts

Blood Symbols and Cabal Fang Workout of the Week #27

Posted on October 22, 2016 | Leave a comment

This week’s workout is a three-parter.  You can just watch the video (see below) or if you like words over pictures, here are the details.

Calisthenics.  Complete 3 sets to failure  of Narrow Push-ups and Hindu Squats. We’re not keeping score.  But if we were, you’d get extra points for doing more than 50 of the Push-ups and more 100+ of the Squats.  This segment was created using PTDICE.  Getcha some.

Shadowboxing with 1 pound weights.  Set a timer for 10 minutes — no breaks! — and shadowbox with #1 hand weights or 16 oz boxing gloves.  If you don’t imagine your opponent you’re wasting your time.  Really visualize what you’re striking at!

Meditation on blood.   Violence is a serious matter, and blood is not to be spilled lightly.  How can you call yourself qualified to draw blood in defense of yourself or someone you care about if you haven’t even take the time to understand and appreciate the sacredness of blood and what it symbolizes?  There are four types of blood — the mythological blood of Gods and Goddesses (holy blood), the blood of ancestors and kin (family blood), the blood of friends and heroes (royal and/or cultural blood), and the blood of sacrifice and nourishment (the blood that’s spilled to keep us spiritually and/or physically fed).  Set a timer for 10 minutes, assume the meditation posture of your choice, and spend this time meditating on these four types of blood.  For a deeper experience, meditate on just one of the four types of blood and do this exercise four days running.

 

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Cabal Fang Workout of the Week #26

Posted on October 14, 2016 | Leave a comment

Pre-dawn Roanoke 581 South Tanglewood

I’m on the road this weekend, in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge, so I did this workout and shot this video yesterday [Note: Unlike some folks, I never, ever post any untested workouts or exercises].

I’m in the mountains visiting one of my kids who’s away at school. Which leads me to the internal, spiritual aspect of this week’s workout. 

This is something I try to do every day, with varying levels of success of course, but that I’m keenly aware of today as I have a chance to see someone I no longer get to see every day. 

Remember martial artist friends — surviving another day means nothing if each day has no meaning, no purpose, no significance.

Cabal Fang Workout of the Week #26:

Jump Rope Conditioner. Set a timer to beep at 1:00 min. intervals. Cycle through these 3 exercises 3 times (9 mins total): Jump Rope AFAYC, Bodybuilders AMAYC, and Heavy bag (constant contact). Video below!

Awareness practice.  For the remainder of the day, try being fully present in, and aware of, what’s going on around you. Try to fully taste every flavor, hear every voice and note, smell every perfume, and so on. Sure, this is great self-defense practice. But it’s mainly a way to savor the miracle of your existence — to help you remember that there is sacredness inside every life experience.

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Workout of the Week #25 and Indigenous People’s Day

Posted on October 8, 2016 | 1 comment

Update 7/18/19:  My club still uses the flag but we’re now called Cabal Fang Temple, and we’re a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational charity.  Visit our website or purchase our 12-week personal growth program at Smashwords, Amazon, B&N, or wherever fine e-books are sold.

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Original post:

Can't spell it? Doesn't matter. Maybe that's another way to disrespect it? I don't know, but I kind of like it. Click photo to read the article at NPR.

Can’t spell it? Doesn’t matter. Maybe that’s another way to disrespect it? I don’t know, but I kind of like it. Click photo to read the article at NPR.

Monday is Indigenous People’s Day (a.k.a. Native American Day)!

For some reason there’s a connection between Columbus Day and Italian heritage.  That’s unfortunate because there are so many truly praiseworthy Italian figures — Giordano Bruno, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian,  Pico della Mirandola, Petrarch,  Dante Alighieri, and Giovanni Boccaccio come to mind — whom proud Italians could celebrate instead!

It used to be fringe idea that Columbus wasn’t really worthy of a holiday.  But over the last ten or twenty years, a slow tide has been steadily rolling in.  Colonialism’s gloss has rubbed away, humanity’s awareness has grown, and in some places we’ve seen the second Monday in October become Indigenous People’s Day.  Yesterday Vermont joined the ever-growing cadre of states and localities ditching Columbus Day in favor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

UPDATE 8/17/47: But is that really a good thing?  It’s tough.  I mean, to the 2 million members of the Knights of Columbus — I personally know two members who care deeply about their communities and do great charity work — Columbus is a hero. If we only allow holidays and monuments to perfect people there will be holidays or monuments at all.

Onward now to your Cabal Fang Workout of the Week — WOOTW #25

This month at the Order of Seven Hills our external concentration is Sparring.  And with that in mind, to help build up your lungs in case you have to fight and/or run for your life, I humbly introduce…

Escape Plan Drill: This one’s great to pull off on an outdoor track or a nice path through the woods.  Set a round timer for 1:00 min. rounds with no breaks, or start a simple countdown timer to beep every 60 seconds (personally I’m a fan of the Timex Ironman watch).  First round, shadowbox with as much speed and sincerity as you can muster.  Second round, sprint around the track or down the trail as fast you possibly can — flat out.  Third round, keep going with as much speed as you can muster, either walk, jog, run or (if you’re superhuman) keep on sprinting.  Repeat that set four more times for a total of 15 minutes.  Take as few 12-second breaks as possible to finish standing up.

 

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The Raven, the Niche and the Podcast

Posted on October 4, 2016 | Leave a comment

No, I’m not a mega-fan of C. S. Lewis and/or The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.   I just figured that I wrapped my title around that of a famous book it might catch your eye.  Did it?  Sure it did!

Anyway, I was really flattered to get a request from Vargas over at the Raven Tribe who asked me to appear on his Raven Talk podcast.  You’re always a little nervous when somebody asks you for an interview — are they planning to grill you alive?  Make fun of you?  Are they going to pull a Howard Stern on you?  Ya never know.

But my unfounded worry promptly dissipated once I got on the line with Vargas.  He was a polite and truly interested interviewer who seemed genuinely fascinated by the unusual martial arts niche we’ve carved out with Cabal Fang.  I really had a blast talking with him.

Hop over there please, and give it a listen.  Let’s make this his most popular podcast to date so that I’m guaranteed another invitation soon!

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Meet me at Zinefest Tomorrow and WOOTW #24

Posted on September 30, 2016 | Leave a comment

This week the Cabal Fang Workout of the Week is coming out on Friday instead of Saturday because tomorrow I’m tabling at Richmond Zinefest 2016!

If you’ve never attended a Zinefest, you have to experience it  at least once.  It’s hundreds of independent writers, reporters, activists, DIYers and artists selling and trading their homemade wares — pamphlets, books, magazines (a.k.a. “zines”), artwork, you name it.  Unfiltered and unedited by the big-name publishing houses.  Big, Raw.  In your face.

The event is free and open to the public.  Saturday programming is at Richmond Public Library, 101 E Franklin St., Richmond VA from 11 AM to 4 PM.  Please come out, buy some stuff off my table, and shake my hand.

AND BY THE WAY this year, for the very first time, I’ll be distributing the Hermetic Library Zine!  Check this thing out — beautiful, eh?

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Now for the Cabal Fang Workout of the Week.  To wrap up Grappling Month I humbly introduce to you…

  • Grappling Conditioner #4: Complete 50 Get-ups, 50 Bodybuilders, and 250 strikes vs. heavy bag (elbows, knees, hooks, uppercuts and other short range attacks only) – all as fast as you can.  If you finish this entire thing in less than 21:04 you’ve got me beat!

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My Vote for President Goes To…

Posted on September 29, 2016 | 2 comments

My vote for president goes to the person who, if he or she had been riding in my passenger seat this morning, would have been grinning right along with me as we listened to RATM bang out The Ghost of Tom Joad.

My vote for president goes to the candidate who detests bullies and never bullies others, who only uses violence in defense of life.

My vote goes to the candidate who’s measured and thoughtful, who’s never vengeful and lives by the adage, “Repay kindness with kindness; repay evil with justice.”

My vote goes to the nominee who looks at governance by the light of the maxim, “Seek not the paths of the ancients; seek that which the ancients sought.” — who looks forward rather than backward and  who believes in evolution (not just the biological kind, but the political, social, emotional and spiritual kinds too).

My vote goes to the contender who moves gracefully through the world and believes that humanity should learn to do the same — that social problems, environmental issues, conflict and crime are all interrelated — who believes that climate change is the greatest threat humanity faces.

And if my perfect candidate isn’t on the ballot?  My write-in vote will go to the person who gets closest to my ideal.  If that means that a detestable person gets elected, well that just means that America will get what she deserves.

Although I have disagreed with him in the past, in this case I must side with Komgun.  My heart is cultivated in the garden of wind and moon, and I would not vote against my heart even for a bribe of 1,000 gold pieces, even it means drinking a poison cup.

 

 

 

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WOOTW #23 — Now with 270% RDA of Vitamin C!

Posted on September 24, 2016 | Leave a comment

So the other day I’m thinking, “I wonder if I’m getting enough Vitamin C in my diet?”  Don’t ask me why I thought that.  How should I know?  I mean, okay, I barely eat any fruit at all because I’m all lo-carb and what-not, so I  guess I just thought I should check or something.

And I’m looking at food labels and I see that just 3 of these baby peppers I really like have 270% of the RDA of Vitamin C.  Does that make any sense at all?  That’s twice the Vitamin C of an orange — with 10% of the calories and 15% of the cost.

You know what?  Screw oranges.  You are hereby expelled, dismissed, banished.  I grow tired of you.  Leave me!

Anyway, on with Cabal Fang Workout of the Week.

WOOTW #23 — Another Grappling Conditioner and the Hourglass Meditation

  • Another 10-minute  Grappling Conditioner.  Pick out the heaviest medicine ball you have, preferably 10% bodyweight or so.  Set timer for 10 minutes and complete as many  sets as you can before the timer beeps of 8 Walking Lunges per leg (crushing your medicine ball with a good Cross-arm Clinch the whole time), 8 Get-ups (hugging your medicine ball throughout), 8 Medicine Ball Push-ups, and 8 Splay-n-Punch (you can put your medicine ball down for that).
  • The Hourglass Meditation.  This variant of the Middle Pillar Exercise is actually the second half of a longer exercise called the Caduceus Ritual (if you want the rest, pre-order the martial arts book and you’ll be one of the first people to get it).  (1) Start by standing in a relaxed position with with hands out at your sides like the letter “A” and breathe deeply. Imagine that there is energy in the earth beneath your feet, powerful energy being incubated in the earth, in the form of swirling prismatic colors.  Close your eyes and inhale as you imagine the warm, prismatic light entering through your feet and flowing upward through your body.  (2) Slowly bring your palms together as you inhale and draw the earth energy up through your feet. Bring your hands up to prayer position at chest level. Hesitate with lungs full and airways open as you envision the light filling you up.  (3) Begin to exhale. As you do, slowly part your hands and raise them up into a “Y” position.  Conceive of the prismatic light exiting through your arms, head and hands like a shower of multi-colored sparks.  (4) Continue to exhale as the sparks fall all around you.  Slowly return your arms to “A” position. (5) Hesitate with lungs empty and airways open.  Imagine the shower of sparks and energy re-entering the ground where it came from.  (6) Repeat for as long as you like, but 5 or 10 minutes should be enough to leave you feeling relaxed and present.

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WOOTW#22: 4X4 Tires and The Hadouken Meditation

Posted on September 16, 2016 | Leave a comment

There’ll be no overtures today you bilge rats!  Only gather ’round on the quarterdeck and shut your filthy scupper holes — there’s work afoot.  Arrr!

Why am I talking like this?   Well, I’m just warming up for International Talk Like a Pirate Day on Monday the 19th of course!

Cabal Fang Workout of the Week #22

This one is an auto tire workout followed by a standing meditation.

  • Auto Tire 4X4s.  Get an auto tire, set a timer for 4 intervals of 4 minutes each, and put on a pair of gloves.  For the first two intervals (8:00 total) complete as many sets as you can of 8 Tire Slams, 8 Tire Push-ups, and 8 Tire V-ups.  Then shoulder the tire and head out.  Go as far as you can — run, jog or walk as your fitness allows — until the timer beeps to end the third interval.  Turn around and try to get home before the timer beeps to end the 4th and final interval.  Take as many 12-second breaks as you need to finish. [Tip: Put your arm through the tire, reach up and grab it palms down.  Hug the tire to your shoulder so it doesn’t bounce.  Switch sides every minute or two.]  If you don’t know the tire exercises, download the tire booklet by clicking here.
  • Standing “Hadouken” Meditation.  Set timer for 8:00 and stand with feet a shoulder’s width apart.  Relax and imagine that you are forming a softball-sized ball of invisible energy between your palms.  Inhale as you gently rotate your hands in one direction; hesitate with lungs full and airways open, then exhale as you rotate your hands back to starting position.  Hesitate with lungs empty and airways open.  Repeat.  [video here and below].  As you do so, imagine the warmth of the energy on your palms and really make an investment in your full attention — you can only get out of it what you put into it.  Intensity is the secret sauce that insures results in everything you do!  This is a great exercise for beginners who struggle with focus during seated meditations, and it’s also a nice change of pace for experienced people looking to let some fresh air into a stale routine.

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1-in-4 Americans, RVA Zinefest, and WOOTW #21

Posted on September 10, 2016 | Leave a comment

Today’s post is a little ADD.  I’m hopping around like a bunny rabbit jack-hammering a hole in a hot tin roof!

Once again, as I have every year since 2011, I’ll be tabling at Richmond Zinefest on Oct. 1..  Come out, say “Hi!” and buy some of my stuff.  Heck, I’ll even autograph it for you.

1-in-4 Americans will probably not be interested in RVA Zinefest because, according to a recent Pew Research poll, 1-in-4 Americans didn’t crack a single book last year.  Who are these people?

Now for the Cabal Fang Workout of the Week #21.

  • Grappling Conditioner #3.  Warm-up well first because this is a real doozy.  Set timer for 10:00 and complete as many sets as you can of 5 Bag Lifts, 5 Splay-n-Punch, and 5 two-punch combos from mount.
  • Walk your heart rate down to normal for at about 3 minutes.
  • Tarot Meditation.  Set up the Tarot card of your choice and meditate on the image.  [Note: If you don’t have a Tarot card, print an image online.  I made a giant Tarot card using the BlockPosters app so that we could all meditate on the same oversized card at the martial arts club.  You can download and print it by clicking this link.  It prints out on 8.5″ x 11″ paper that you can tape together to make a poster.]   Set timer for 10:00 and assume the meditative pose of your choice.  Focus on the image, empty your mind, and regulate your breathing.  Try to actually enter the image.  Imagine that this image is an artistic rendering of an actual place, and that you are going to go there.  Explore this imaginal realm until the timer beeps.
  • Record your thoughts, experiences and activities in your training log or journal.  All martial artists should keep one.  Do you?

For your convenience, enjoyment and general edification I’ve included a video of the above.  Enjoy!

 

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Clinching and Tweaking: WOOTW #20 (with video)

Posted on September 3, 2016 | Leave a comment

This month at the club we’re working on clinch fighting.  We’re starting out with the basics — pummeling, the thai and cross-arm clinches , overhooks, underhooks, slide-bys, etc. — and by the end of the month we’ll be adding the striking component.

And we’ve started doing something that’s long overdue — we’re now selecting a spiritual focus in addition to our purely martial focus.  Last month it was contemplation.  This month it’s meditation.  What’s the difference between contemplation and meditation?  Well, it’s huge, and if you want to get the low-down, you should pre-order the next martial arts book (links here).

So anyway, we’re tweaking the Cabal Fang Workout of the Week by adding a spiritual component.

Cabal Fang Workout of the Week — WOOTW #20

  • Eight Ball.  Select a medicine ball that suits your size and fitness level (I’m 155 lbs and in reasonably decent shape, so I used a #12).  Set timer for 8 mins and complete as many sets as you can before the timer beeps of 8 Medicine Ball Push-ups (on knees if you have to), 8 Medicine Ball Sit-ups, and 8 Medicine Ball Jump Squats.  Take as few 12-second breaks as possible.†
  • Phone Booth Heavy Bag Drill (see video below). Set timer for 3 x 2:00/:30.  Loop and tie a hand wrap around yourself and your heavy bag so that you’re separated by only 8″ – 10″ and you can’t retreat.  Strike the bag with elbows, hooks, knees, and other short range attacks appropriate to the distance.
  • Cool down for 3:00 or until your heart rate is under 100 bpm.
  • Meditation on an Object.  Select an object that interests or inspires you and place it so that it’s at eye level when you are in your favorite meditation posture.  Tarot cards are great objects, as are photos and paintings, but you can use anything you like.  A sacred and/or religious icon, such as a Virgin of Guadalupe candle, a cross, a pentagram, an eye of Horus, a Celtic trinity knot, or what-have-you is also a solid choice.  Settle into your posture, regulate your breathing, and stare at the object.  Relax and let yourself sink into the item. Imagine that it’s a great teacher who’s going to reveal a powerful lesson to you by pulling you into a waking dream.  Allow that dream to unfold.  If it’s a Tarot card or picture, imagine that you are stepping into the image as you slip into the scene and become a part of the action.  Record your experiences in your diary or journal.

 

† From the 1913 Webster’s Dictionary:  “On shipboard, time is marked by a bell, which is struck eight times at 4, 8, and 12 o’clock. Half an hour after it has struck “eight bells” it is struck once, and at every succeeding half hour the number of strokes is increased by one, till at the end of the four hours, which constitute a watch, it is struck eight times.”

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