Goodbye Mr. President

Posted on January 11, 2017 | 1 comment

I have been at times a vocal critic of President Obama.  It still frosts my cookies that Guantanamo isn’t closed, and let’s not even start talking about the state of our civil liberties, the drone strikes, and blah blah blah.

But last night’s speech?  Nothing short of amazing — one of the best speeches I’ve ever heard or read or seen or felt.

If you saw it and you don’t think it was amazing, I’d like to know why.  Please tell me the comments below.  If you didn’t see it, check out some of these quotes or watch it on YouTube.  It’s message of self-reliance, self-reflection and personal responsibility was perfect.

Although he’s a long way from being a out of the public eye, the closer he gets to the hallowed halls of history the better and sharper he looks.  They say it takes many years to fully understand the legacy of a president.  I suspect he may go down in history as one of our greatest.

——————————————————————-

“Ultimately, that’s what our democracy demands. It needs you. Not just when there’s an election, not just when your own narrow interest is at stake, but over the full span of a lifetime. If you’re tired of arguing with strangers on the internet, try to talk with one in real life. If something needs fixing, lace up your shoes and do some organizing. If you’re disappointed by your elected officials, grab a clipboard, get some signatures, and run for office yourself. Show up. Dive in. Persevere.”

“It falls to each of us to be those anxious, jealous guardians of our democracy; to embrace the joyous task we’ve been given to continually try to improve this great nation of ours. Because for all our outward differences, we all share the same proud title: Citizen.”

“For too many of us, it’s become safer to retreat into our own bubbles, whether in our neighborhoods or college campuses or places of worship or our social media feeds, surrounded by people who look like us and share the same political outlook and never challenge our assumptions.”

“Change only happens when ordinary people get involved, get engaged, and come together to demand it.”

“Understand, democracy does not require uniformity. Our founders quarreled and compromised, and expected us to do the same. But they knew that democracy does require a basic sense of solidarity—the idea that for all our outward differences, we are all in this together; that we rise or fall as one.”

 

1 Comment

Posted in Writing

Tagged ,

Image

The Social Media Web

1 Comment

Posted on January 10, 2017 in Mysticism, Writing

Tagged ,

Gallery

Notes on a Used Envelope 

Posted on January 8, 2017

This gallery contains 5 photos.

Leave a comment

Nutty News and Workout of the Week #38

Posted on January 6, 2017 | Leave a comment

A grab bag of random news and information before we get to the Workout of the Week:

Peanuts are awesome for kids of all ages.  According to this article at USA Today, the National Institutes of Health now recommend that parents feed their kids peanut products at as early an age as practical.  The guideline used to be age 3.  Apparently, early exposure cuts the chance of developing peanut allergy by over 80%.  I’m not surprised.  Kids raised on farms suffer less from asthma and hay fever.  It’s all about the exposure.

coverFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is no longer an atheist.  According to his annual announcement he now thinks that “religion is very important.”  I don’t quite know what to make of this.  Still processing. Or maybe I just don’t care? 

Did you know that there’s a “statistically significant” link between eating egg rolls and owning a dog, drinking ice tea and believing that Crash didn’t deserve to win the Oscar for Best Picture, and eating fat-trimmed steaks and being atheist? Don’t believe all the nutrition/health stuff you read. Fun article.

Above you will notice the cover the new Cabal Fang eBook.  If you  haven’t pre-ordered this thing, please go do so now.  You can save $2.00 by pre-ordering now.  Price goes up to $7.99 on release day Feb 1st.

And now for the workout of the Week.

 Cabal Fang Workout of the Week #38

This week is all about self-defense, and it has three components — one each for body, mind and spirit.

 All-in HIIT for Power.  Set timer for 1 min intervals and complete 5 sets of these 3 activities (15 mins total) : 1. AMAYC Burpees (advanced folks add #20 sandbag), 2. AHAYC strikes to heavy bag and 3. Neck bridge.

Self-defense quiz. Sit down with a pad and paper and draw a diagram of the restaurant you visit most often. Mark the location of the following: emergency exit, fire extinguisher, potential barriers to gunfire, and the location of at least one weapon. If your sketch is at least middle-school level and you got 3 out of 4 things marked, you pass.

Visualization of consequences.  Set a timer for 10 minutes. Assume your chosen meditation posture and regulate your breathing. If you passed the quiz above, close your eyes and visualize the aftermath of a self-defense situation that you survive — you and yours make it out but others do not, you have to harm an attacker, there’s a terrible lawsuit, etc. If you failed the quiz, visualize the aftermath of one in which you fail — you perish, you lose a friend or loved one, etc. NEVER visualize scenes from action movies! Self-defense situations are nasty, brutal and messy both during and after, win or lose.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in Martial arts, Mysticism, Writing

Tagged

Dangerous Liasons

Posted on January 4, 2017 | 2 comments

In honor of my 1,001th post: 

How do you react when your blog is followed by someone whose viewpoint isn’t completely aligned with your own?  What if he or she seems to be diametrically opposed? 

What if, for example, you identify as a political moderate, but you have a follower who’s an anarchist, leftist, alt-righter or conspiracy theorist?  Do you follow back and stay friends? 

Before you answer — and I encourage you to do so in the comments below — consider the implications in a google-ized, Facebooky world.  These apps put things in your news feed based on your history of “likes” and whonyour friends are.   Apps contain algorithms that calculate your interests based on how much time you spend looking at certain images.  And your profiles are public.

Which means if you want to be able to influence them you have to be willing to allow them to influence you.  You have to be willing to really share and communicate. 

I’m inclined to take my example from Hermes-Thoth, the interlocutor, ambassador and mediator. I follow an incredible range of blogs, some of which are written my folks whose views are often opposed to mine. I follow them because they follow me. There must be dialogue.

But I confess I’m not immune to concern about what others will say, and I also worry that my incoming news feeds are being filled with negatively influential things.

Are my feelings justified or irrational?

2 Comments

Posted in Writing

Tagged

Pay Attention

Posted on January 3, 2017 | 5 comments
This is a Chicago hot dog from Gene & Jude's I had last month. It was awesome.

This is a hot dog from Gene & Jude’s I had when I was visiting Chicago last month. It was awesome.

Buddha walks up to a hot dog stand.  “What’ll it be?”  the vendor asks.  Buddha says “One with everything,” and slides over a ten-dollar bill.  Vendor hands Buddha a hot dog but no change.  “Where’s my change?” Buddha asks.  Vendor says, “Change must come from within.”

Which reminds me of a true story:

When I first got into martial arts I was a sponge for everything the master said.  One Saturday when the studio was slow and there weren’t many people around, he pulled me aside and asked me into his office.  I was ecstatic.  Surely I was about to receive an incredible nugget of wisdom, some secret teaching.  I stood  there in his small, cramped office quivering with anticipation.  He went behind his desk, opened the drawer, and reached inside.  What was he about to show me?  An ancient artifact?  An arcane diagram or obscure book of wisdom?  Was he going to ask me to snatch a pebble from his hand?

What happened next is etched in my mind forever.  He pulled a ten-dollar bill out of the desk and handed it to me.  “Here,” he said.  “You go Fuddrucker.  Small hot dog, no fries.  Okay?”

It turned out that my Taekwondo master, despite his broken English, wasn’t the  Asian stereotype I thought he was.  He was just a very intelligent, skilled, dedicated and hard-working man who wanted some lunch.

I, on the other hand, was an idiot.

Allow situations to teach you, no matter how mundane, unexpected, funny or downright peculiar they may be.  Pay attention and you may learn something.

5 Comments

Posted in Martial arts, Mysticism, Writing

Tagged ,

2017 New Year Message: Are You Ready?

Posted on January 1, 2017 | 5 comments

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.

When I founded the martial art of Cabal Fang back in 2008, and then started the Order of Seven Hills martial arts club in 2009, I did it because I thought my martial art could change the world.  I still do.

Sound crazy?  It ain’t.  Don’t believe me?  Watch this video.

And when you’re done, and you want to know more about Cabal Fang, pre-order a copy of the new Cabal Fang manual that’s releasing on 2/1/2017.

Happy New Year!

5 Comments

Posted in Martial arts, Mysticism, Writing

Tagged , ,

Hermetic Dice, a Fire Sale, Book Update, WOOTW etc.

Posted on December 30, 2016 | 1 comment

This has to be one of the most absurd titles in blogging history.  Hermetic Workout Dice?  Seriously?  Yes, seriously. Sometimes absurdity is a marker that indicates you are exploring new territory.  Sometimes the fool or jester is the one speaking the truth!

The dice set pictured above will be used to help me come up with the Cabal Fang #WOOTW (Workout of the Week) in the coming year.  They’re Hermetic because they have symbols on them rather than numbers or pips.  Symbols, in the Hermetic view, are gateways to accessing and understanding universal truths. Using these dice is like reading Tarot, “throwing the bones,” or trying to understand modern art.  They’re inspirational and aspirational not literal.

What do the symbols mean?  In Cabal Fang there are 12 concentrations (external focuses) and 12 symbols (internal focuses). So I’ll be choosing one of the two concentration dice and one of the two symbol dice. I’ll also roll the focus type —  that’s the one in purple ink — to decide on Speed, Power, Accuracy, Mobility, Form or Endurance. And then, to suggest the structure of the workout or drill (volume, sets, failure, pyramid, ascend/descend, etc.) I’ll toss in the green one — a a copy of the “type” die from the PTDICE set available at ptdice.com.

Speaking of PTDICE, they’re on fire sale clearance over at PTDICE.com.  Go over there and get yourself a set for just $5.99 + shipping!

The Cabal Fang book is currently in the hands of the formatter and as of right now the release date is holding strong at 2/1/2017!

Pre-order the eBook today for just $5.99 before the price goes up to $7.99.

And now, without an further delay, I humbly present the Cabal Fang Workout of the Week.

Cabal Fang Workout of the Week #37

I’ve had the creeping snots for several days now — allergies or a cold, not sure which. This is what I would’ve done yesterday if I hadn’t felt like roadkill:

Heavy Bag Striking Accuracy Drill.  If your heavy bag doesn’t have targets on it, use medical or sports tape to add some “X” marks about 3″ across — nose, solar plexus, kidneys, thighs, etc. Throw 100 combos of 5 strikes each at specific targets on your bag. Count your misses. When done, complete 1 Jump Squat per miss.

Physical Training. Complete 5 sets of Uneven Push-ups (one hand on a yoga block or other sturdy object), Wall Touches  and Zombie Squats. To find reps per set, divide your SSM (Single Set Max — how many you can do witbout stopping for 1 set) by 3.

Meditation on one of the Five Vital Graces. Choose one — Wonder, Sagacity, Frugality, Indomitability or Fraternity — and meditate on its purpose, significance, nature, value, etc.

Here’s the dice roll that inspired this workout.

1 Comment

Posted in Martial arts, Mysticism

Tagged

Merry Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2016 | Leave a comment

In the quiet of the early morning, when the world is still and dark and cold, my heart is warmed by the sacred mystery that is Christmas.  I light a fire in the chiminea and wait for the sun to come up.

Dawn always comes.  That’s the first promise that was ever made to humanity.  The second is that the sun will set.  But the third promise is that moon and stars will soon rise — that out of the darkness will emerge a nighttime sun to guide our way and dots of light for us to connect into mythical constellations.

Moon and stars tell the first redemption story that ever was.  How fitting that the most famous redemption story of all time begins with the rising of an auspicious star.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in Mysticism

Tagged ,

Sacrifice, Redemption and Cabal Fang WOOTW #36

Posted on December 24, 2016 | 1 comment

Whether you are a Christian or not, you have to acknowledge that for most of the world, today is Christmas Eve and tomorrow is Christmas. And you have to admit that for somewhere near 50,000 years, humans have been trying to survive the inescapable horrors of  winter — short days, long nights, bitter cold, scarce food and so on. Nowadays the list includes seasonal affective disorder, the stresses of shopping and traveling too.. They’re inescapable because although you can try to dull the edge of what winter brings, but you can’t make the seasons change faster.

The solution to inescapable suffering is to do what to can and then relax into it. Bruce Lee would probably advise you to train hard but when the fighting starts, “Repose in the nothing.” An economist would say limited wants equals unlimited means.  Jesus would advise you to give yourself to God. Buddha would say let go, and so would a follower of the Tao. 

‘Tis the season — to accept what can’t be helped, give up some of your ego, and allow yourself to have faith that the sun will be returning soon enough.  

For a psychologist’s understanding of sacrifice and redemption, check out this fascinating video by Jordan Peterson: 


And now for Cabal Fang Workout of the Week #36 — and All-in Ziggurat for speed or power.

Set timer to beep every 30 seconds. 1 cycle each of Striking, Grappling (Clinching), and Wrestling then 2 cycles each, then 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. That’s 12.5 minutes total. For Striking rounds, either hit heavy bag as hard as you can (power) or shadowbox as fast as you can (speed). For Grappling rounds, do Splays, Get-ups (speed) and Bag Lifts (power), etc. and for Wrestling, do Shrimps, Bridges, Knee Boosts and so on. Take as few 12-second rest breaks as you need to finish.

1 Comment

Posted in Martial arts, Mysticism, Writing

Tagged ,