If you’re new in these here parts, the weekly mettle maker supports all of the Heritage Arts programs — Heritage Self-Defense, Heritage Wildwood, Heritage Fitness and Heritage Spirit.
Hawk’s Cry: Mettle Maker #274
Warm-up before training. To avoid injuries, warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes before you train. Do about 4 minutes each of (a) jogging, jumping rope, or similar activity, and (b) light calisthenics. Martial artists should do 8 minutes of MBF.
Self-Defense: If you can’t run and you’re forced into a physical self-defense situation, what are the three things you must do? Stop and really think about this. Answers at the bottom of the page. Next week is general self-defense week at Heritage Self-Defense. You gotta know — and practice! — this stuff.
Fitness: What are you doing? What are your fitness goals? Does your fitness support an athletic endeavor? Are you trying to look good with your shirt off? Is health your goal, or perhaps just fun? What percentage of your fitness work is devoted to the goal and what percentage is cross-training? Sit down with your training journal, do an analysis, and make adjustments. If you don’t keep a training journal, that’s going to be a major stumbling block to progress, so fix that. Need help? Sign up for the free the Heritage Fitness program.
Wildwood: Why should you know the cry of a hawk? The more predators the more prey, so lots of hawks in the area means lots of survival food for you. If you see a hawk making small circles at a couple of hundred feet you can be sure there is small game very close. But often you will hear hawks at off times, when they are not hunting, and thus be assured that they are nesting nearby. Hawks are ambush hunters — they cry to warn other hawks to stay out of their territory and during mating, not when attacking. Here’s the cry of a red-shouldered hawk I spotted just this week.
Spirit: That which has been is now. Beauty, truth, and salvation itself, are in the things you have put off, crowded out, and chased away. Watch the video below.
The 3 Things You Must Do in a Self-Defense Situation
1. Yell, don’t scream.
2. Deliver short, continuous blows from a low center of mass.
3. Move in, move in, move in!
Avoid conflict at all cost. But if you have to fight for your life, be like a freight train — loud, heavy, and moving forward on a rail!