The view from the top of the Priest
The weekly mettle maker supports all of the Heritage Arts programs — Heritage Self-Defense, Heritage Wildwood, Heritage Fitness and Heritage Spirit — and is extra credit material for both our in-person and remote programs!
Group Hike: Mettle Maker #278
Today is the Heritage Arts Group Hike! If you can’t join us hiking the Priest today, then pick your own hike and get it done!
When you do your hike, you can focus on:
Self-Defense: Can you escape, self-rescue, cover ground while carrying a pack, and still have enough gas in the tank to defend yourself if need be? If that’s not self-defensey enough for you, watch the video below and do some of these exercises!
Fitness: Fit to do what? Fitness means different things to different folks. Depending on who you ask, it might mean looking good naked, being ready to compete in a specific sport, having a BMI in the ideal range, or who-knows-what. If you ask me, it means fit to fight and explore the outdoors, but I’m a martial arts and survival instructor — what do you expect? So ask yourself — what are you training for? What’s the point? And when you find out and/or decide, tailor your fitness program as needed. If you need assistance with doing this kind of analysis and implementation, sign up for the Heritage Fitness program. It’s totally free! We’re a non-profit, remember?
Wildwood: Go outside. How many hours a day do you spend outside? Are you outdoors every day, 12 months per year? Silly questions? Nope. Outdoor skills accrue the same way other skills do — slowly, incrementally, across time. Get outside every day. Keep a journal, and make a daily note about what you observed in your environment. Identify one plant, one bug, one kind of cloud, etc. and sketch it. Check the moon phase by observation, and write that down too. Want more? Sign up for the free Wildwood program.
Spirit: Mountains are special places. There’s a reason why so many spiritual tales and biblical stories take place atop or at the base of mountains. If you have never hiked to a peak, you can’t understand it. If you have, you know what I mean. Get there and understand first hand. Here’s a picture of the view from Sharp Top. For more inspiration, join us at Heritage Spirit for weekly online church.