One of my coworkers is fighting cancer. Instead of sitting around feeling helpless, I decided to do something — I signed up to participate in No Shave November.
It’s easy to help. All you have to do is click this link and donate money to my campaign.
Or you could actually participate by putting down your razor for the month, donating the shaving money you saved, and setting up a donation challenge of your own!
This is my scruffy face. And I’m using it to kick cancer’s ass.
The Cabal Fang Workout of the Week is two-parter. Enjoy!
Cabal Fang Workout of the Week #28
Part 1: A nasty little pyramid with no breaks. This works great with two heavy bags, one standing and one lying flat. But if you only have one or none at all, you can either make one or punch the air. No excuses! Start with Splay Punch x2, Punch x2 from Mount, Punch x2 from Guard, Standing Punch/Kick x2 vs. the upright bag, Then Splay Punch x2, Splay Punch x4, Punch x4 from Mount, Punch x4 from Guard, Punch/Kick x4 Standing. Then Splay-Punch x2, Splay-Punch x4, Splay-Punch x6, Punch x6 from Mount, Punch x6 from Guard, Punch x6 Standing. Keep going until you get to 5 Splays and all strikes x10. Next round 4 Splays all strikes x8, then 3 Splays and all strikes x6. etc. back down to 1 Splay and all strikes x2.
Part 2: Find your compass and meditate on it. There’s nothing worse than feeling lost. To find out where you are and start heading in the right direction, get our your handy compass. This holds as true in the realms of mind and spirit as it does in the realm of the forest. When you want to orient yourself in the great outdoors you use a physical compass; to get your mental, spiritual bearings, get out a symbolic compass.
Yes, I said meditate. Here’s how. Look at the 9 “compasses” listed at the bottom of this post. Which one seems appropriate to the problem, pickle, or situation you’re dealing with at the present moment? Once you settle on a choice, memorize it. Close your eyes and imagine that the North pole of the compass is tattooed in glowing letters on your forehead, the South one on your lower abdomen just below your belly button, the East one on your right shoulder, and the West one your left shoulder. Set a timer for 10 minutes, assume your chose meditative posture and close your eyes. Imagine that compass situated on your body. Which words are glowing most brightly? Which aren’t glowing at all? Try to make them all glow evenly in your mind’s eye.
Below you’ll find 9 compasses that will help you orient yourself if you give them some time, consideration, meditation, contemplation, and prayer.
Maybe the Being/Action compass is what you need. Sometimes you don’t know if your problem is bad thinking or poor choices. North/South is the “Being” dipole while East/West is the “Action” dipole. There is no “wrong way” on a compass is there? Of course not. Just as there’s a time to go North or South depending on where you’re headed, there’s a time to accept what you’ve been dealt (“I am not”) and a time to reach down deep and assert your will (“I am”). There’s a time to take action (“I will”) and a time to refuse to take action (“I will not”). Sometimes these things overlap — inaction becomes an action, acceptance can become inaction, and so on, like a four-way game of rock-paper-scissors. To figure out which direction you need to go, meditate on this compass and see if you can find your way out.
Or maybe you have a goal in mind and you don’t where to start. Try the Ways of Achieving compass. Not sure which quality you need to cultivate in order to hit your goal? Meditate on the the Qualities of Manifestation compass.
When it doubt, go with the Hermetic Quaternary. If you’re looking for direction but you’re not sure which compass is best, go with the one that’s been around since Eliphas Levi first wrote it down in 1854. It’s about as powerful a tool as you could ever hope for.
Go ahead, give it a try!
| Directions | Hermetic Quaternary (a.k.a. “The Powers of the Sphinx”) | Qualities of Manifestation | Being/Action |
| North/Up | To Know | Purpose | I am not |
| South/Down | To Will | Intent | I am |
| East/Right | To Dare | Passion | I will |
| West/Left | To Keep Silent | Determination | I will not |
| Directions | Western Elements | Tarot Suits | Astrology |
| North/Up | Earth | Pentacles | Ox/Taurus |
| South/Down | Fire | Wands | Lion/Leo |
| East/Right | Air | Swords | Man/Aquarius |
| West/Left | Water | Cups | Eagle/Scorpio |
| Directions | Holy Grail Bloods | Archangels | Ways of Achieving |
| North/Up | God & Goddess | Uriel | To Visualize |
| South/Down | Ancestors & Kin | Michael | To Practice |
| East/Right | Heroes & Friends | Raphael | To Execute |
| West/Left | Sacrifice & Nourishment | Gabriel | To Plan |
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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?
Now for the Cabal Fang Workout of the Week. To wrap up Grappling Month I humbly introduce to you…
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.
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
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.
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I teach free of charge through Heritage Arts , a 501(c)(3) educational charity offering free or donation-only classes related to martial arts, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development. Distance learning programs available. Visit the Heritage Arts website to find out more, or click here to join the Heritage Self-Defense group on Facebook.
What is Heritage Rough ‘n’ Tumble? It’s mind-body-spirit form of American Rough ‘n’ Tumble, which began as a manner of no-holds-barred fighting in the Southern Virginia backcountry during the Colonial Era and has since grown, evolved, and adapted to the realities of modern self-defense. An amalgam of the varying techniques brought to America by colonists from all over the world, blended with the fighting methods of the over 900 distinct indigenous tribes, American Rough ‘n’ Tumble is perhaps the world’s most fearsome martial art.
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Robert Mitchell Jr. 