Category Archives: Martial arts

Hey Tammie, Jordan, G.E.G., Andrew, Joy…

Posted on April 22, 2014 | 2 comments

wpid-IMG_20140326_150737.jpgSo last week I gave all 200 of you — my loyal blog followers — a reason and a place to fly your flag.  And what did I get?  Crickets chirping.

This goes out to Eli, Rachel (all three of you), Rachael (had to be different, didn’t you?), Andrew, Jordan, Jayde-Ashe, Ekaterina, G.E. Gallas, Tammie, Joy, and all the rest of you creative blog-rats:

In the comments below, regale us with tales of your creative output over the last 12 months. 

Come on people!  Strut the runway, take the podium, steal the spotlight, snatch the mic, streak the stadium, bomb the photo.

Tammie and Eli, tell us how many words you wrote.  Joy, Andrew, tell us how many hours you spent training in martial arts.  G.E., how many drawings have you done?  Look, you might not get a chance to get on Letterman before he retires, so this is your chance to steal the spotlight for minute.

And….go!

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Graffiti Art Wanted

Posted on April 20, 2014 | Leave a comment

A wicked piece of graffit — unattributed — found on richmond.com

I’m in the process of shooting pictures for my upcoming calisthenics book, and I’d like to take some of the illustrative photos with really striking graffiti art in the background.  If you are a graffiti artist working in the Richmond, VA area, and you’re willing to point me to where I can find your art and allow the photos to appear in my book, please get in touch.  No cash, attribution only, but I will give full credit and include links to your website, blog, etc.

 

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Martial Arts Mash-up

Posted on April 18, 2014 | Leave a 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:

CF_avatarThe whole is more than the sum of its parts.  Green Goddess Dressing is more than mayo and chives.  And it’s more than anchovies.  It’s unique.

The martial art known as Cabal Fang is like Green Goddess Dressing.  It might not be the most popular salad dressing, but it’s one of the most unique.

cf_FLOWCHARTAfter over 20 years in various martial arts — none of which really made me happy, satisfied, and whole — I started Cabal Fang.  I began with what I liked best from Western martial arts and Eastern martial arts.  Then I added the universal spirituality of the Western mystery tradition (initiation and lodge studies) and gave it a good stir.   Voila — there’s your Green Goddess.

Some people, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, have a thing about anchovies, and won’t even try Green Goddess.  To the folks who have a similar reaction to an ingredient in the Cabal Fang recipe, I say the same thing I say to people who won’t try Green Goddess Dressing:

“It has anchovies in it, but it doesn’t taste like anchovies.  How do you know you don’t like it if you haven’t tried it?”

If you want to experience Cabal Fang you have two options:

If you want to experience something different, grab yourself by the short hairs,  and get yourself in shape, there’s literally nothing else like it.

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You Might be a Martial Artist if…

Posted on April 16, 2014 | 2 comments
wpid-IMG_20140411_080747.jpg

My truck console contains mouthpiece, tactical folder, wooden training knife, medical tape, and hand sanitizer. This can only mean one thing…

I looked down at my truck console and realized that, if Nick Stokes and Sara Sidle found my truck abandoned in the desert, they would have no trouble figuring out what my “hobby” is.

Then again (it’s been there so long that it has faded into the background and I don’t even notice it) there’s a giant decal on the back window that would make the contents of the console insignificant.

Friends and family are painfully aware of my love/obsession with martial arts and self defense.  For example, during movies and TV shows, my wife tells me to stop critiquing the fight sequences and poor decisions of the main characters.  She and my daughter are sick and tired of me pointing to the screen and saying things like, “If that ever happens to you, what you should do is…”  It’s important for martial artists to remember that not everything is a teachable moment, and that sometimes less is more.

The truck decal in my rear window.

The truck decal in my rear window.

Anyway, all this got me into a Foxworthy-esque frame of mind…

  • If you joke about the fact that you should be wearing an ADVIL t-shirt — you might be a martial artist.
  • If your wash your hand wraps in the sink and leave them hanging the bathroom to dry like your grandma does her bras and underwear — you might be a martial artist.
  • If you feel the same way about Fight Club that Tom Hank’s character in You’ve Got Mail feels about The Godfather — you might be a martial artist.
  • If you’re at the grocery store and you run into one of the guys from the Physical Therapy Center and they know you by name — you might be a martial artist.

Got any of your own?  Post in the comments.

 

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What’s your CQ? Tell the World Here!

Posted on April 15, 2014 | 1 comment

Sorry, trick question.  There’s no such thing as a true “Creativity Quotient” that can be measured in the same way as IQ. But you can ask yourself what you’ve done in the last year or so that is truly creative.

What have you contributed to the flow of human creativity in the last 12 months?

Go ahead and brag.   In the comments below, shamelessly show off, promote what you’ve done, and generally prance across the stage.  We’re waiting!

What the heck, I’ll go first.  In the last twelve months I have:

  • Finished the 83,000 word rough draft of The 14th Mansion, the third and final novel in the Montenegro Cycle — coming soon! — and earned a 4-out-of-five-star review for Ghilan on B&N
  • Started the PTDICE (c) website and marketed two new products
  • Completed a spiritual and artistic How-To Book involving 21 meditations and 21 acrylic paintings (currently being shopped to publishers)
  • Written 11 short stories totaling almost 40,000 words
  • Seen my eBooks get downloaded 2,504 times and reduced by body fat by 4%.  Okay, neither of those is exactly creative, but since we’re bragging, I couldn’t help myself…

It’s easy for creative, driven people to get frustrated when their creativity doesn’t get much recognition and/or earn much cold hard cash.  So go ahead, self-promote, get a little recognition.  I’ll applaud you.  I’ll be that one guy in the back of the room who claps.

PTDICE — over 8 million random calisthenics workouts!
Check out our first product at PTDICE.com

 

 

 

 

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Posted in Martial arts, Mysticism, Writing

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New Calisthenics Video is Up

Posted on April 14, 2014 | Leave a comment
How do you put a million random workouts in the palm of your hand? You buy these little beauties from PTDICE.com.

PTDICE(c) Set #1: Calisthenics

If you are a regular follower of this blog you probably already know that I designed and marketed PTDICE (c) a couple of weeks ago.  If you want a tool that allows you to create a random calisthenics workout with a roll of the dice, go get yourself a set.

And, for a quick rundown of the calisthenics featured on the dice and how to do those exercises, view the video below.

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Training for the Unexpected

Posted on April 6, 2014 | 2 comments
How do you put a million random workouts in the palm of your hand? You buy these little beauties from PTDICE.com.

How do you put a million random workouts in the palm of your hand? You buy these little beauties from PTDICE.com. These are high quality, laser etched, 16mm plastic dice made in the U.S.A.

Are you a martial artist looking to train for the unexpected?

An adventure racer, mud runner, or obstacle course enthusiast who wants to be ready for whatever a course throws your way?

A fitness or martial arts instructor who is out of ideas for calisthenics routines, or just wants an extra resource?

Or maybe you work out at home and you’re looking for some variety?

If so, check out these beauties.

Roll the black dice to arrive at the workout type, number of exercises, and number of sets.  Use the colored dice to arrive at your list of exercises.  Then make a quick calculation using your SSM (“Single Set Max”) to figure your reps per set, and you’re ready to sweat.  The instructions are short and sweet and easily committed to memory.  Use these dice a few times and you won’t even need the instructions.

Roll.  Sweat.  Repeat.

In time you’ll find other ways to use them.  They are ripe for experimentation, a virtual playground for geeks who love exercise (like me).

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Tires for Fitness eBooklet Now Available

Posted on March 23, 2014 | Leave a comment
Check out our first product at PTDICE.com

Check out our first product at PTDICE.com

Our first product is now available for sale at PTDICE.com.  Check it out.

Written by yours truly and starring my son Robert, it’s an eBooklet (18 pages fully illustrated with color photos)  called “Tires: Auto Tires for Solo and Group Fitness.”

We’ve spent years playing with auto tires at my martial arts club.  Wouldn’t you like to see which exercises are the best, how to find and select tires, how to clean them, and how to use them?

 

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8 rnds (2:00/:30) Shadowboxing with #1 h

Posted on March 23, 2014 | Leave a comment

8 rnds (2:00/:30) Shadowboxing with #1 hand weights followed by 20 mins Meditation @cabal_fang #WOD

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Posted in Martial arts

PTDICE Artwork Samples and More

Posted on March 21, 2014 | Leave a comment

dicesampleCheck out this post over at the PTDICE website, and sign up to be notified when products are in stock.  These things are really cool.

The Basic Set will include nine dice — two dice to determine the workout type and seven dice that contain forty-two different calisthenics.  If you want to train to expect the unexpected, or if you just want to experience holding over a million random workouts in the palm of your hand, you’re going to want a set of these.

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