What’s the “weekly mettle maker?”
The weekly mettle maker is a weekly blog post that contains training ideas, information, and fun facts related to Heritage Arts’ programs — Heritage Self-Defense, Heritage Wildwood nature appreciation and survival training, Heritage Fitness, and Heritage Spirit (YouTube church). It’s been around for over 5 years — although we didn’t start numbering them until May of 2018!
Mettle Maker #315
Self-defense: Put a slip stick on your heavy bag and put in a solid half-hour of training, either boxing or using your wooden knife mock-ups. See video on the left. Want more training tips and drills in a structured format? Get with the program! Check our our free distance learning program here.
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Fitness: As part of my re-invigorated quest to put wind under a 200 lb. stone, I’ve gotten back into doing Pull-ups. I think fully-core-engaged pulling power is going to be essential. Now, I never stopped doing some Chin-ups — which I prefer over Pull-ups because the muscles involved are more martially-relevant — but I think I’m going to need to recruit more back when picking up rocks. Here’s my program for going from 1 Pull-up to (hopefully) 20 or more. Give it a try and let me know how it goes. Want help designing a fitness program that suits your needs? Sign up for our free distance learning program.
PULL-UP PROGRAM (for those who can do at least 1 Pull-up)
Day 1: Complete as many Pull-ups as you can in 5 minutes, first set to failure (that’s your SSM or “single set max”). This total is target “T” for the week. Write it in your training log along with your SSM.
Day 2: Complete 2 x T of Chin-ups, plus 100% of T in Pull-ups. No sets to failure on any exercise — stop 1 rep short of failure on every set of both exercises.
Day 3: Complete 2 x T of Commando Pull-ups, plus 130% of T in Pull-ups. No sets to failure on any exercise — stop 1 rep short of failure on every set of both exercises.
Day 4: Hang to fail + 160% of T in Pull-ups. On Pull-ups, no sets to failure — stop 1 rep short of failure.
Day 5: Repeat. Complete as many Pull-ups as you can in 5 minutes and note your SSM. Did your total and/or SSM go up? If so, repeat the sequence using your total is your new “T.” If neither goes up, take 1 to 2 weeks off and re-start.
Notes: Take one day off per week, and do not ignore the rules about going, or not going, to failure depending on the exercise and the day (it really does matter, I promise). This is inspired by the Athlean-X program — I’ve adapted it based on my personal insight and experience. Your mileage may vary.
Wildwood. I love to read old books about survival. Many of them are available to read free of charge online, as they are outside copyright. Here’s a fun one — the most popular survival book of the 19th century: The Prairie Traveler by Capt. Randolph B. Marcy.
At one point in the book he talks about making a lariat from cowhide. Frankly I was a little surprised Marcy didn’t mention the following trick that can be used whenever you need to get a long piece of cordage from a small scrap. Start at the outside, cut a circle, and cut your way in a long, slow spiral until you run out of material. Twist the material gently up and it will make cordage.
No, it’s not perfect, but this method will yield more product than tying together straight strips. In the photo set on the right, I turned a 10” scrap of cloth into 70” of cordage. Want to learn more about survival? Sign up for our free Wildwood distance learning program.
18th Sunday of Ordinary Time, July 29, 2022
Readings: Ecc 1:2; 2:21-23, Ps 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17, Col 3:1-5, 9-11, Lk 12:13-21
Luke 12:13-21 World English Bible, Catholic Edition
13 One of the multitude said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” 15 He said to them, “Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man’s life doesn’t consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses.”
16 He spoke a parable to them, saying, “The ground of a certain rich man produced abundantly. 17 He reasoned within himself, saying, ‘What will I do, because I don’t have room to store my crops?’ 18 He said, ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” ’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’ 21 So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
I would like for us to explore together today, brothers and sisters, what Jesus might mean when he says in Luke12:14, “Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” The question is, if we cannot rely on Jesus, our Lord, Master and Savior to adjudicate for us, upon whom can we rely? Why would Jesus, who comes “to judge the quick and the dead” as it says in the Apostle’s Creed, deny his mandate to judge?
Often when exploring scripture, we find that context, as the saying goes is king. So let’s look at the stanzas immediately following. Jesus says, “Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man’s life doesn’t consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses.”
Perhaps, my friends, we are meant to understand that Jesus’ judgement has nothing to do with the material world. His judgement is a form of heavenly judgement rather than a material one. Jesus, who is from heaven and of heaven, is concerned with heavenly things. What are heavenly things? Heavenly things, in Greek epouranios (ep-oo-RAN-ee-os) literally “of heaven,” are the things that are in, of, or from the divine, eternal, spiritual world, or which relate to spiritual truths. Some examples:
· In John 3, when Nicodemus asks Jesus, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh…Are you the teacher of Israel, and don’t understand these things? …If I told you earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”
· In Hebrews 8, we read that the Tabernacle is an imperfect copy of the perfect heavenly sanctuary which contains “heavenly things.”
· In Genesis 1 we read, “God created man in his own image.” We are imperfect material “earthly things” that are copies of the one, original, and perfect “heavenly thing.”
In a similar way, an earthly judge is an imperfect image of the perfect heavenly judge, Jesus. An earthly judge sits in judgement of earthly matters, like the inheritance case the man posed to Jesus in today’s reading. Jesus, on the other hand, sits in judgement of heavenly matters – the concerns of the spirit, our unseen thoughts and desires, our actual soul. He judges the degree of sin and disorder in our hearts – the covetousness itself – not the particulars of earthly cases regarding possessions.
If I’m correct, what this means is that Jesus has no interest in worldly squabbles. His courtroom is the human heart.