Category Archives: Mysticism

A weasel going after a basilisk

Are there weasels in the workout of the week?  Nope.  But as you’ll see in a minute there are crabs and bears!  The weasel is yours truly — because there’s so much going on around these here parts that I’m as wild as a weasel stuck in a corn bin!  

First off, the 501(c)3 paperwork came through, and Cabal Fang Temple is officially a tax exempt public educational charity.   I’m about to bust my buttons!

Second, we’ve got two big events at the temple this month — a Vigny Canne seminar in two weeks and a solstice event on the 21st. Both are going to be more fun than you can shake a stick at! ¹

Third — and the reason I’m using all this country hick verbiage — is that I’m happier than a pig in slops with the material I’m picking up in Mark Hatmaker’s Frontier Rough & Tumble martial arts program (you’ll have to subscribe to his RAW service to get the lessons but you can get a flavor for it on his blog).  What’s new is old and what’s old is new — more detail to come in future posts — but it’s fast becoming clear that some of the old world martial arts techniques I used to think were only side dishes just need a little extra pepper to look just like FRT, and then they can go smack dab in the middle of the table next to the biscuits!

And fourth, I’m really making progress in the Holy Orders program at Ekklesia Epignostika. It gets more and more beautiful and enriching (and more difficult!) the further I go.  More to come on that too, but in a year or so, you might be able to call me Father Mitchell.

Without further ado, this wild weasel presents the crabs and bears included in…

Workout of the Week #83

• Warm-up thoroughly. Complete a full pyramid to 8 of Push-ups, Jumping Jacks and Zombie Squats (that’ll get you to 64 total of each).
• Heavy bag PT circuit.  Put on your MMA gloves and go after your heavy bag with maximum malice, like your life depends on it, with full power and speed, until you gas out.  Then crab walk around the bag in an 8′ circle twice while you get your breath back — that’s about 50 yards. Then go at the bag again to failure, followed by two bear walk circles. Another round on the bag until you gas followed by crab walks, another go at the bag and then bear walks, and you’re done — four circuits total. Take as many 12-count breaks as you need to avoid throwing up.
• Stretching contemplation.  Walk that off until your heart rate is under 100 bpm and then do some stretching contemplation.  Clear your head and stretch out as your normally would, only practice contemplation as you do so — that is, keep your 8/4/8/4 breathing pattern and let yourself “sink into zero,” the absence of thoughts.

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¹ Vigny Canne is a form of walking stick self-defense?  “Shake a stick?”  Get it?  Look, these are the jokes.  They’re not near as funny if I have to tell you when to laugh!

This month’s focus is Mettlecraft.  For those you haven’t read the book yet, you can find a full definition here.  For those who have, you know this is the month where you dig just a little bit deeper.  So the workout of the week is pretty darn nasty.

But in Cabal Fang we never ask anybody to do something we aren’t willing to do ourselves.  So WOOTW #79 is exactly what we did at the club this past Thursday.  And I’m going to inspire you to dig deeper by showing you a little video of me completing my first Handstand Push-up after 16 months of work.

It’s fairly sloppy and I look like a lumpy old grandpa in my faded sweatpants, but I hope it inspires you nonetheless.  I mean, just think — if I can go from regular Push-ups to Handstand Push-ups at age 56 then imagine what you can do!

And now for the nasty, nasty workout of the week.

Cabal Fang Workout of the Week #79

1. Complete the Monthly Constitutional as follows:

• Walking Push-ups (25)*
• Twisters (25)
• Zombie Squats (50)
• Burpees (25)
• Curb Touches (100)
• Lunges (100)
• Flutter Kicks (100)

2. 8 minute Tire Run.  Set a timer for 4 minutes.  Pick something up and run as fast as you can until the timer beeps and then run back.  Beginners, choose something small and light, say a 5 lb. dumbbell.  Intermediate, choose something a little larger and more awkward, say a 10 lb. medicine ball.  Advanced players, use something like my personal favorite, the humble automobile tire (without the rim, obviously).  Cool down for 3 minutes and then meditate.

3. A meditation on the symbol of the Chalice.  Read or re-read Chapter 15 in the Cabal Fang book.  If you have a chalice of some sort in your home, set it up such that it’s at eye level when you’re in your meditative posture of choice.  If you don’t own a chalice, sketch or draw one, prop up a photo from a book, or print out the photo below.  Set a timer for 10 minutes, assume meditative posture, and regulate your breathing.  Do not squirm, wiggle, fidget or scratch — just look quietly at the chalice until the timer beeps.  When you are done, record your thoughts, feelings and impressions in your training journal.

A chalice (courtesy of Wikimedia)

* Take one “step” either left or right with your hands between each Push-up.

Most U.S. public parks were built by the 17 – 28 year-old men and boys of the CCC who worked their butts off for three meals a day, a cot, and a few bucks to send home to Ma and Pa. Click the pick to learn more.

Toxic masculinity.  The Patriarchy.  Hyper-masculinity.  Male privilege.  Locker room talk.  Good ol’ boys.  Male chauvinism.  The casting couch.  Cosby.  Weinstein.  Toback.  O’Reilly. 

These are some of the images of men saturating our media lately.  But you know what?  Men, on the whole, are kind of awesome.

So here are some cool facts about men.

• Men keep the lights on, the water flowing and the machines running.  Men make up 92% of workers in the fields of Production,  Craft, and Repair.
• Men do the most dangerous jobs.  93% of workplace deaths, and 94% of accidents, are suffered by men.
• Men take up arms in times of war.  97% of combat deaths are male.
• Men want to make their marriages work.  Women are more than twice as likely as men to seek divorce.
• Good fathers are downright essential to society.  85% of all children with behavior disorders come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average — as do 85% of all youths in prison.
• And if that’s not enough, check out this excellent article over at Quillette.

Good men are not hard to find.  They are all over the damned place.

And now for the workout of the week.

Cabal Fang Workout of the Week #78

• Improvised weapons practice.  Select a blunt object safe for practice such as a  hand tool from your shed like a plastic trowel, a pair of pliers, a wooden or rubber knife, a stick from your yard, a ballpoint pen, a cane, your kubotan key chain, etc. and set a countdown timer for 10 minutes.  Strike the air in an “X” pattern — with sincerity and intensity! — as many times as you can before the timer beeps. Switch to your off-hand when you gas out, which should happen if you’re going at it like it’s life or death.
• Complete the Constitutional of the Month.  Substitute exercises as needed based on experience/fitness level, partner requirements, etc.
• Cover 1 mile as fast as you can.
• Mental rewind meditation.  After a 3-minute cool down, set a timer for 5 minutes and assume your meditative posture of choice.  Regulate your breathing.  Starting with right now, replay your day in your mind’s eye, like a movie in reverse. Look for things you did or said that were not exemplary. Were a gentleman or lady today?  Did you do a good job of acting like the person you are in your heart?  Record your realizations in your training journal.