Category Archives: Mysticism

New Cabal Fang Cord and Rule Program is Live

Posted on October 2, 2018 | 5 comments

After some preliminary teasing and a lot of work, the new Cabal Fang Martial Arts Cord and Rule program is official.  In a nutshell, every month we’ll be stamping each member’s rule with certain marks to indicate achievements in terms of attendance, fitness and rank.  Rulers will be handed out at Thursday night’s session.

Here is a link to the full program handout that explains the symbolism and outlines the process, and below are the pictures of the first set of rulers sitting on the temple’s anvil.  The holes in the end are so that we can attach the cord — we also tie knots in a personal cord in order to keep track of certain other milestones.

This process fits in nicely with something that in Cabal Fang we call “mettlecraft.”

\Met”tle*craft\, n.  mettle [E. metal, used in a tropical sense in allusion to the temper of the metal of a sword blade; substance or quality of temperament; spirit, esp. as regards honor, courage, fortitude, ardor, etc.; See {Metal}.] + -craft [AS. cr[ae]ft strength, skill, art, cunning; akin to OS., G., Sw., & Dan. kraft strength, D. kracht, Icel. kraptr; perh. originally, a drawing together, stretching, from the root of E. cramp.] 1. The art, skill and cultivation of physical endurance, unflagging determination and resolute strength of mind, body and spirit.

This is the next step in the evolution of Cabal Fang.  Onward and upward!

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The Flow: Cabal Fang Martial Arts Training Involution #124

Posted on September 29, 2018 | 2 comments

I am in physical therapy — again — this time for biceps tendinitis.  This caused me to do some word problems.

Jill always trains close to max intensity.  This causes soreness, which limits training to 2 days/week, and increases  injury risk.  She spends 10 weeks per year too hurt to train at all.  Total training sessions per year: 84.

Jack moderates his intensity.  He ups the intensity once a month or so and saves maximum effort for a few special events per year.   Reduced soreness means he can train 3 days/week.  Reduced injury risk means he spends only 4 weeks per year hurt.  Total yearly training sessions: 144– 71% more than Jill.

Jack is a better martial artist than Jill because he trains 71% more.

He also suffers less pain and his long term health is better too.

I am Jack’s complete lack of surprise.

There’s a time for pushing envelopes and testing limits.  But, more often than not, we need to be in the flow.   What is “the flow?”

When you are in the flow, you are not self-conscious and nothing is forced.  Time flies.  when you look back later, it feels like fun instead of work.

Let’s get into the flow.

The Flow: Training Involution #124

  1. Create a flow drill and work it for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour.  Ideally your flow drill will have give-and-take (or if solo, anticipated defenses).  And, in a perfect world, it will have at least 8 beats or moves.  Videos of two flow drills below.
  2. If you don’t have a partner, don’t sweat it.  You can work with noodles, make a wrestling dummy, practice your Double Wristlock using a sledgehammer, work on your katas, or just shadowbox.  No excuses.  Get in the flow!  
  3. Meditate on the caduceus.  The caduceus, or the Staff of Hermes, is an ancient symbol of the flow — the give and take between opposing forces that gives rise to equilibrium, understanding and transcendence.  Assume your meditative posture of choice, picture the symbol in your mind, and step into the symbol for at least 10 minutes.

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Stick and Move: Training Involution #123

Posted on September 22, 2018 | Leave a comment

Stick and Move: Training Involution #123

A competent fighter moves while hitting and hits while moving.  These drills should help with that.

(A) Set your timer for 3 rounds of 3:00 mins each.

  • Round 1 — 3 minute Constant Action Drill.  Shadowbox — with constant action! — until the timer beeps.  Plenty of slips, pops, bobs and weaves please.  And as Mark Hatmaker would say, “no lollygagging.”
  • Round 2 — 3 minute Lightning Bolt Drill.  Assume your fighting stance.  Punching all the while, surge backward at a 45° angle toward rear foot. Then surge 90° back in line with the lead foot.  Repeat to the extent of your training space.  Your path will resemble a lightning bolt.  Now surge forward, away from your rear foot, at a 45° angle, followed by a 90° surge back to center line.  Move like a fencer and never stop punching!  See video below.
  • Round 3 — Double-end Ball.  Get right on top of your double-end ball, so close that it will hit you in the face when it comes back, and fight with it for 3 minutes.  Hit while you dodge, dodge while you hit!  Don’t have a double-end ball?  Make one for less than $5.

(B) Complete a 1/2 mile Balboa Run.  I know, a half mile doesn’t seem like much.  But trust me, if you do it “Balboa-style” — arms punching the whole time — and you go as fast as you can, it’ll feel like a half marathon.  Still too easy?  Add a weighted vest (I used a #5 and that was plenty) or carry hand weights.

(C) Meditation.  After a thorough cool-down, set a timer for 5 to 10 minutes, assume your meditative posture of choice, and regulate your breathing.  Then pick one of the seven symbols in the Hand of Mysteries — the key, the lantern, the sun, the star, the crown, the moon, or the fiery fish —  and meditate on it’s meaning.  When done, as always, record your performance and your realizations in your training journal.

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The Fiery Fish: Training Involution #122

Posted on September 15, 2018 | 1 comment

The Hand of Mysteries. Like the Hamsa, except there’s a fish in the palm instead of an eye. But the fish is the ichthys, which is the vesica piscis, so a fish is an eye. Sort of.

Here at Cabal Fang HQ this month’s internal focus is the Hand of Mysteries and our martial focus is a two-fer — Counter-punching & Sparring.

The fiery fish that’s in the middle of the Hand of Mysteries symbolizes our ability to thrive in chaos, to adapt and overcome.

What’s with the symbols, and what good are they?  Well, symbols speak to our subconscious minds in ways that mere words cannot.  They are experienced and understood viscerally and visually.

With that in mind, and without further ado, I’m pleased to offer you…

The Fiery Fish: Training Involution #122

  1. Add a handicap.  Slip on a weighted vest, put one arm in a sling, wear an eye-patch, practice in the rain, train on uneven ground, etc. Use your common sense –don’t do anything ridiculous or unsafe! — just disrupt your usual body mechanics and/or routine.
  2. Complete this months’s Constitutional, “Escape Plan Drill.”   Set timer for 1:00 intervals. Sprint for 1:00, then Shadowbox or hit the Heavy Bag for 1:00 then pick a calisthenic and do as many reps as you can for 1:00. Repeat 4 more times for a total of 15 mins, picking a new calisthenic each round.  If you did this last week you should have written down your total laps/sprints your number of calisthenics reps.  See if you can best it despite your impairment.
  3. Now, despite your handicap, get through Wrestling Conditioner #1.  Set timer for 2 minute intervals and complete 2 minutes of each for a total of 10 minutes: 1. Circle the bag (forearms on bag and toes on floor, circle the bag using only legs and feet, alternating directions), 2. Mount and strike the bag (strike 10 times as hard as you can, body lock the bag, barrel-roll, regain mount, and repeat until the timer beeps).  3. Rolling pin the bag (Lie on your back with heavy-bag perpendicularly on top of your body and roll it up and down across torso, pushing and pulling like a rolling pin; press up the bag and let it drop on your torso to maintain your tolerance for the stresses of wrestling if you’re able),  4. Defend the bag (Lie on your back with bag on top of you longways. Push up the bag w/ left hand and strike it five times with the right, then switch and strike with the left hand, repeat) 5. Side Mount and Scissor (Scissor legs each direction 3 times, then scramble over bag with forearms and toes only, repeat).
  4. Watch the video below, then mediate on the Hand of Mysteries.  Don’t forget to write about what you learn in your training journal!

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My Talk with Paul VanderKlay about Jordan Peterson and Sam Harris

Posted on September 13, 2018 | Leave a comment

I had a fun conversation with Paul VanderKlay yesterday, and I’m flattered to say that he thought it was interesting enough to post on this very popular YouTube channel.

We talked mostly about the  Jordan Peterson/Sam Harris Vancouver talks (Part 1 and Part 2) but about some other things too.  Public reaction has been 95% positive.

By way of introduction, Paul is the pastor at Living Stones Church in Sacramento, CA and has been referred to as “the Pastor of the Intellectual Dark Web.”

Here’s the video.

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The Rose: Training Involution #119

Posted on August 18, 2018 | Leave a comment

Archangel Barachiel (art by yours truly).  His primary symbols are the rose and the lightning bolt.

The following is an excerpt from Cabal Fang: Complete Study Course from Querent to Elder.  If you like this, you’ll love the book.

Barachiel, Guardian Angel of Cabal Fang

Depending on the Hebrew spelling, Barachiel translates as either ”Blessing of God” (Barachiel) or “Lightning of God” (Baraquiel). He doesn’t appear in the traditional biblical scriptures, only in the apocryphal books of Enoch. In 1 Enoch, he is Baraquiel, the “Lightning of God”, a fallen angel who is one of the 200 rebellious angels known as Watchers.

But in 3 Enoch, where his name appears with both spellings used interchangeably, Barachiel is an angelic prince who rules over the second of the seven heavens.

With this conflicting and confusing information in mind, views and interpretations of Barachiel vary widely. To a person of Orthodox or Catholic persuasion, Barachiel is an Archangel and a saint, the supreme leader of all the guardian angels. He is depicted in religious art as a radiant figure holding a white rose, a basket of bread, or a lightning bolt. Believers in folk magic may see Barachiel as a spirit or saint who can be petitioned for help in matters of luck and games of chance, or to prevail in a contest.

Barachiel’s symbols are the rose and the lighting bolt.

The Rose: Training Involution #119

  1. Inverted Pyramid of Combos and Calisthenics.  Advanced start at 12 (78 of each exercise total), Intermediate 10 (55), Beginners at 8 (36).  Exercises are Striking Combos (3 count min), Push-ups (HS or hardest type you can manage), Wrestling Combos (2 count min), and Get-ups.  So beginners are going to throw 8 striking combos, do 8 Push-ups, execute 8 Wrestling combos, and then 8 Get-ups. Then 7 of each, 6 of each, etc. down to 1.  Video below.
  2. Meditation on a Rose.  Select a color of rose that reflects a mental state you want to cultivate (see list below if needed).  Set a timer for at least five to ten minutes. Assume your meditative posture of choice, regulate your breathing, and then imagine a rosebud of the chosen color. As you meditate on the bud, imagine in your mind’s eye that the bud is slowly opening. As the bud opens into a blossom, so does your mental state open up and flower into the desired state.

Rose Color Symbolism

  • White: Heavenly love, purity, innocence, peace and harmony
  • Red: Passionate love, desire, sacrifice and courage
  • Pink: Friendly love, family love, grace, joy and empathy
  • Yellow: Self-love, joy, calm, focus, health and clarity
  • Coral: Sincere love, thanksgiving, enthusiasm, happiness
  • Lilac: Magical love, wonder, enchantment, change, and success
  • Black: Carnal love, rebellion, rebirth, protection, silence
  • Variegated Rose: Combinations and mixtures of other colors

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Camping Pics and Insights

Posted on August 13, 2018 | 1 comment

Dinner Saturday night: Jiffy cornbread, Nathan’s all beef hot-dogs with Saverne sauerkraut with dill, and Bush’s baked beans. Heaven on a plate.

My adult son and I went camping at the Peaks of Otter this past weekend.  Here are some pics.

I took only a few because I had the phone off most the trip.  And, as often happens, when I ditch the tech and get out in the woods I start seeing things more clearly.

Camping never fails to teach me something.

If you’d like more details, check out this rare public post on my Patreon blog.

A fawn still showing spots. Mommy was just off frame to the right.

Perfect cornbread — hot, moist, and not sticking — cooked in a vintage M-1942 US Army mess kit. Camp with me sometime and I’ll show you how it’s done.

Our parking pass from Peaks of Otter Campground.

 

 

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Cord and Rule: Training Involution #118

Posted on August 10, 2018 | 2 comments

I’m camping with my son this weekend, so T.I. #118 is posting early this week.  Lots going on around the Cabal Fang Temple these days.  Here’s a quick rundown:

  • We are testing a new Cord and Rule program to track attendance and keep students motivated.  More info below.
  • Started getting my head around this nonprofit thing.  Started reading books, making calls, getting on grant application email lists, got a Linkedin profile, etc.  Time to start attracting high-powered board members and big donors!
  • No more being shy about asking for donations.  All events and services will be on a “please give what you can” basis.  Yes, we’re a non-profit.  But it takes a few hundred dollars a year just to keep up with web-hosting, legal services and basic program materials, and we want to save up money to build a fancy new temple.
  • Another student in the Hermit Path Distance Learning Program faces his Constitutional trial this month.  The program is virtually free (please give what you can) and there’s only one text book.  Email me to get started.
  • As part of my continuing martial arts education I’ll be headed to Tennessee in October to attend a Western Warrior Boot Camp hosted by Mark Hatmaker — two full days boxing, wrestling and hanging out with some of the toughest guys on planet Earth.

Stay tuned!

Cord and Rule: Cabal Fang Training Involution #118

  1. Work your body.  Set timer for 8:00.  Complete as many strikes as you can vs. your heavy bag before the timer beeps.  If you don’t have a heavy bag,  make one; if you don’t have anywhere to hang it indoors, throw a rope over a tree limb or lash it to a tree or post.  When done, shoulder your bag and see how far you can carry it, switching shoulders as needed.
  2. Work your mind. Write down your strike count and the distance carried.  Are you writing down measurable metrics for all training sessions — such as rep counts, time elapsed, distance, etc. — and trying to improve?  If not, you aren’t training, you’re mucking around.  “That which is measured improves.”
  3. Work your spirit.  Set a timer for 10 mins and assume your meditative posture of choice with a chalice (or an image of one from a book) at roughly eye level.  Regulate your breathing as you stare at the chalice.  Allow thoughts, feelings and images to manifest.  What can you learn from the chalice?  As always, record everything in your training log.

Ancient Mesopotamian tablet showing the god Shamash holding the cord and rule.

The Cabal Fang Cord and Rule Concept

As a way to motivate students, add more structure, deepen the mind-body-spirit connection through mettlecraft, and better track attendance, we’re adding a rule to our knotted cord.

Since ancient times the mark of a “ruler” was the holding of a knotted cord and a hashed rod or rule – the cord for measuring long distances, such as in surveying land, laying out a building’s foundation, measuring the speed of a ship in “knots,” etc., and the rule for measuring shorter, more precision distances.

According to ancient myths, deities only bestowed cords and rules upon human leaders who were competent to rule.  A “ruler” should be is a person we can all measure ourselves against — someone we respect, admire, and believe is worthy of being emulated and followed. Our cord and rule will remind us to strive to become people we feel are worthy of respect, admiration and responsibility.

Babylonian goddess, likely Ishtar or Ereshkigal, holding cord and rule

The cord and rule are mentioned in the Old Testament, Ezekiel 40:3: “So He brought me there; and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand; and he was standing in the gateway.”

A blank ruler will be issued to each student at the beginning of the third month of study.  Starting after the first trial, the rule will be stamped with various words and symbols to mark monthly training milestones, to commemorate the completion of trials for rank advancement, etc.

Marking and maintaining the metal rod ties into Mettlecraft — it is a tangible item of “metal” that is marked based on one’s “mettle.” Our cord and rule help us determine how we “measure up” against the people we were when we started.

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You Could Learn a Lot from a Dummy: T.I. #117

Posted on August 4, 2018 | 2 comments

The finished dummy.  I used blue duct tape to finish him off.  Feels like you’re beating up a member of Blue Man Group.

With some pipe scraps and an investment of about $20 in duct tape, zip ties, and one $3 length of PVC plumbing pipe, I made a grappling dummy.  There’s a photo set of the construction at the bottom of the page.

Why did I make such a thing?  Because you can learn a lot from a dummy.  Plus, with the price of shipping, these things cost over 200 smackers — and I’m way too frugal for that.

If you don’t have a dummy and you don’t feel like making one, you can always substitute a large athletic bag full of folded sheets or something — but since your bag won’t have legs, your starting position will have to be on top of a weight bench or plyometric box, which will interfere with your footwork.

You Could Learn a Lot from a Dummy: Cabal Fang Martial Arts Training Involution #117

  • Heavy bag power punching.  Set timer for 10 minutes and work your combination of choice, applying the Dempsey falling step.  Suggestion: Lead Jab, Rear Cross, Lead Hook.  Sink into that Lead Jab. Then, when throwing your Rear Cross, get your rear heel off the ground and really bite into the ground with the ball of that foot as your lead foot creeps out a jot more. Then surge in on the bag and uncork the Lead Hook — “slam the door” with max power as you straighten your knees a tad and pop up after the two previous falling step punches.  Rules 1 through 3 are (1) move in, (2) move in, and (3) move in.
  • Work your dummy.  Get out your dummy, pick a throw or clinch technique, and work it for 10 minutes.  I prefer either Seoi Nagi or Duck-Unders (which I always finish with a takedown — either a back ride to the mat or a knee breaker to put him on his back).  10 minutes is enough if you don’t muck around.
  • Complete a this month’s constitutional.  Leg Lifts (50), Jumping Jacks (100), Push-ups, Hop/Clap (25), Crunch’n’Punch (50), Help-ups (50) (if solo substitute Steam Engines), Burpees (25), Jump Squats, Split (50).

 

 

 

 

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Self-Destruct Sequence: T.I. #116

Posted on July 28, 2018 | Leave a comment

I guess I’m getting old.  Yesterday I did Self-Destruct Sequence in 36:52 — six minutes behind my record time of 30:20 back in March ’16.

How about you give it a try?

Post your times here in the comments and share your thoughts on what it was like.  I’d love to hear from you.

Without further ado, the Cabal Fang Martial Arts Training Involution of the Week!

Kicking it with Self-destruct sequence: Training Involution of the Week #116

1. Shadowboxing Kick Combos (180 kicks total).  Keep your usual fighting shape throughout — trust me these combos still work — and don’t muck around.  Kick like you mean it.

  • 10 @ L. Knee + R. Roundhouse
  • 10 @ R. Knee + L. Roundhouse
  • 10@ L. Stomp + R. Push Kick + L. Roundhouse
  • 10 @ R. Stomp + L. Push Kick + R. Roundhouse
  • 10 @ L. Side Kick + R. Back Kick + R. Side Kick + L. Roundhouse
  • 10 @ R. Side Kick + L. Back Kick + L. Side Kick + R. Roundhouse

2. “S.A.F.E. M.P.” Kicks vs. Heavy Bag.  Set timer for 1:00 rounds.  Complete two sets of “SAFE MARTIAL PRACTICE” (12 mins total), taking as few 12-count breaks as needed to finish without throwing up:

  • S. = Speed (as many kicks as you can)
  • A. = Accuracy (Add Xs with tape and hit them)
  • F. = Form (best form possible)
  • E. = Endurance (no rest breaks no matter how bad it hurts)
  • M. = Mobility (lots of foot maneuvers, head movement, and off-angling)
  • P. = Power (max power shots only — try to split the bag open)

3. Self-Destruct Sequence

Doesn’t matter if you break it up in pieces, do it in circuits, or rip it straight through; doesn’t even matter if you have to substitute an exercise or two because of your fitness level.  Just modify, adapt, and get the damned thing done.  Video of the exercises below.

  •  Zombie Squats (50)
  • Push-ups, diamond (25)
  • Jump Squats (100)
  • 10-Count Bodybuilders (25)
  • Pikes/Leg Triangles (25)
  • Jump Squats, split (50)
  • Push-ups, Sit-out (25)
  • Bicycles (50 each side)
  • Burpees (25)
  • Twisters (25 each side)
  • Wall Touches (100)
  • Push-ups, hopping/clapping (25)

This workout appears in my Top 10 calisthenics ebook — click here to download!

Did you like Self-Destruct Sequence?  The you might really like my book The Calisthenics Codex.  There are some real beauties in there, like “Gym Class Flashback,” “Cell Block Montage,” “Bad Karma,” “Very Bad Karma” and many more.  Available wherever fine eBooks are sold!

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