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What’s the weekly mettle maker?
Training tips and educational info in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? Mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”
Mettle maker #441: Aggression Fills Gaps
Is shadow wrestling as good for your martial arts skills as actual wrestling? Nope. But it’s better than not training at all!
The other day we put up a one-minute-and-thirty-second video of the most basic pistol strip (see video on the right). Obviously this is a very complex subject and this was one video, demonstrating an isolated tactic, not a complete treatment of gun defense strategy.
Nonetheless, a commenter said, “anybody that knows anything knows that you never stand with an arms length reach of someone when pointing a firearm, that’s just like a common sense thing you always keep a bit of a distance. But hopefully bad people with bad intentions don’t realize that.”
I’m not sure, but this may reveal if-then-then-that thinking, which is anathema in the martial arts. You learn techniques, and you drill things, and you spar, and you build up instincts. Learning to fight is a lot like learning to cook. You do not memorize techniques and how to apply them, any more than a master chef memorizes recipes.
I replied, “Very true. If he's further away, you might want to just run instead (in a famous study some years ago, only 23% of NYC cops could hit a moving target at 10' or more). Virtually anything is likely better than allowing oneself to be bound, taken to a secluded location, told to face the wall, etc. Thanks for visiting!”
If someone points a gun at you with intent to kill and there’s ten feet between you, you’re going to have to do something. That could be running away, diving for cover, trying to arm yourself, or something else I can’t think of right now. Or it could be charging him with complete aggression and utter recklessness, like a U.S. infantryman on Omaha Beach, facing an nearly impossible task with courage.
Intent is the secret sauce.
So it’s very important to practice warrior mien — facial expression, bearing, presence, and demeanor. If you need to rush a malefactor, you want him to wince and recoil in fear. In short, you need to scare the crap out of him.
Hey — if you haven’t done so already, consider signing up for a totally free mind-body-spirit program that incorporates self-defense, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development — sign up for our free Rough ‘n’ Tumble Distance Learning Program!
Holy Eucharist is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 10 am EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy Eucharist, CLICK HERE.
Homily for the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time 1/19/25 – Father Mitch
Readings: Isaiah 62:1-5, Psalm 96:1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10, 1 Cor 12:4-11, John 2:1-11
John 2:1-11 World English Bible
1 The third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. 2 Jesus also was invited, with his disciples, to the wedding. 3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine.”
4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever he says to you, do it.”
6 Now there were six water pots of stone set there after the Jews’ way of purifying, containing two or three metretes† apiece. 7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. 8 He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the ruler of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and didn’t know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the guests have drunk freely, then that which is worse. You have kept the good wine until now!” 11 This beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
The modern world struggles increasingly with the loss of truth. Our media says whatever gets the most clicks, whether it’s true or false, in order to sell ads. Good attention and bad attention are now officially equivalent in the public sphere. Entertainers behave as shockingly as possible to get attention. Bad behavior pays as well as good behavior. Lies sell as well as truth, probably better. That’s the bad news. But the Good News is that Jesus Christ is still a beacon of stability and truth amid the chaos. And this story, the true story of Jesus first miracle and beginning of his ministry, is a cosmic truth.
It is a cosmic truth because it is true at every level of analysis.
It’s true at the most basic level that every gathering of people requires drink, whether it’s soda, punch, beer, wine, or liquor, and when it’s gone the party’s over. And, to some extent, nobody can really replenish it. If the party stops while the hosts go on a beer run, the momentum is gone, and it’s impossible to get back. Some or all of the partygoers are going to call it a night at that point, either or move on to another party or go home and turn in.
And the truths in this story continue to stack up, every higher. The world always makes more sense to a child when Mom and Dad are aligned and in agreement. If you ask Mom and she says “No,” then you go ask Dad and he says, “Yes,” then there’s going to be chaos and conflict, no matter which parent’s direction you accept. Well, we are all children of God. And in this story, Jesus’ Mom echoes and recapitulates the instructions that his Father gave us from a cloud at his baptism. She says to the servants, “Whatever he says to you, do it.” At his baptism, God his father said, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!” This is as true for the average kid as it us for the average person: things will go better for you if you do as Mom and Dad say.
It's also true that a wedding is the union of two people and two families, and the wine is what washes down the food. It’s what makes the distasteful bits of one’s new relatives easier to swallow. It’s what warms everyone’s blood and promotes good cheer. When people run out of wine, they choke on their food, the mood turns, and the party is over. Everyone goes home to his or her own place and does his or her own thing.
And now we approach the highest truths on display in this story, namely that the wine is the Blood of Christ – the spirit of sacrifice, selflessness, forgiveness, and grace. ‘Running out of wine’ is running out of the spirit of patience, unity, and conciliation exemplified by Jesus Christ. When we run out of that wine, we have to turn to Jesus to transform our water into wine so that we can continue to fuel the get-together – to wash down the distasteful elements of our fellow-man, to warm our hearts, to encourage is to love even our enemies.
Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” (John 6:53). Without Jesus’s blood, which he spilled on a Cross as a sacrifice to save us all, the party is over indeed, and there is no marriage between Christ and his church, or between God and Man.
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† 2:6 2 to 3 metretes is about 20 to 30 U. S. Gallons, or 75 to 115 liters.
