Phototropism: Martial Arts T.I. #222

Phototropism: Martial Arts T.I. #222

  • Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

  • Escape Plan. This one combines the fitness and fighting elements into a single delicious layered casserole of goodness.  See video below.  Set timer for fifteen intervals of 1 minute.  Run a minute, shadowbox for a minute, and do martial-relevant calisthenics for a minute.  Repeat four more times and your done.  Adjust running speed down to jogging or walking, and add rest breaks as needed, to suit your fitness level.  When you're done, cool down by taking a walk and look at some trees.

  • Learn to find north using phototropism.  Plants naturally grow toward the light -- even trees (see picture above).  Branches on the north side of a trees tend to be more vertical, those on the south more horizontal.  Go for a walk on a tree-lined street that runs east-west and look at the trees.  Ain't that something?  Could save your life someday!

  • Sacred reading part 3.  This month's symbol is the Book.  The essence of sacred reading is to analyze what you read in four different ways: literally, morally, allegorically and anagogically.  Last week you did some reading and some analyzing.  This week, memorize a meaningful snippet of sacred literature and recite it to yourself often during the week.  Memorizing sacred words gives you a special type of understanding -- not so that you can impress your friends or hit people over the head with fancy words, but so that your command of the ideas can shape and hone they way you think.

  • Journal.  As always, log everything you did and thought about in your training journal, even if it's only a few lines.  If it ain't in the training journal it didn't happen!

Plug and Play: Martial Arts T.I. #221

Plug and Play: Martial Arts Training Involution #221

  • Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

  • Wrestling Conditioner #2. This one's should be a mainstay in your rotation.  Get out a floor bag, grappling dummy or silent partner and set a timer for 10 mins.  Strike 10 times from Top Saddle then drop and roll to Bottom Scissors.  Strike from bottom 10 times.  Hit your reversal of choice -- Hip Heist (full or half), Kick Stand, DWL Sweep, etc. -- and get back to Top Saddle.  Repeat until timer beeps. 

  • Hike 1 mile with a heavy pack.  Heavy carries build real-deal strength.  Select a bag appropriate to your size, strength and fitness level and get walking (#30, #45 or #60).

  • Sacred reading part 2.  This month's symbol is the Book.  The essence of sacred reading is to analyze what you read in four different ways: literally, morally, allegorically and anagogically.  This is called the Quadriga (see video below for more info).  Spend 15 minutes reading something of a spiritual, or at least philosophical, nature -- the Holy Bible, the Tao Te Ching, the Meditations, whatever suits your fancy.  Apply at least two of the four types of reading to your selection and record your insights in your journal.


Slack nor Howl: Training Involution #219

"Slacker" was a term for citizens who were uninvolved in the war effort during World War I, and a "calamity howler" was a fear-mongerer.  When the Spanish flu hit in 1918,

"the term slacker took on the added meaning of one who went out in public while ill, coughed and sneezed openly and in the presence of others, and generally disregarded the prudent recommendations of city authorities. The calamity howler became one who spread unfounded rumors of hundreds of influenza deaths in one day and vituperated health officials' inability to minimize the spread of the contagion."¹

Here are some of the things people did to keep society moving during the Spanish Flu epidemic when schools, churches, offices and civic centers were closed:

  • Kids were encouraged to do use their knitting, crocheting, sewing, wood-shop and arts and crafts skills to make new or repair damaged hats, gloves, and toys for the needy.

  • Churches teamed with Boy Scout Clubs to deliver stay-at-home Sunday school lessons to the homes of parishioners.

  • High School students were expected to be prepared for exams when they returned to school.  Teachers were available to assist struggling students by phone.

  • Outdoor schools, opened to fight tuberculosis, continued to operate throughout the early 20th century.  Kids didn't just make do with outdoor schools, they excelled. Evidence suggests that students actually learn better outdoors than they do within.²

We are martial artists.  We should neither slack nor howl, but get our cracks out of the sack.

Slack nor Howl: Martial Arts Training Involution #219

  • Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

  • Crack yourself a sack.  Get a floor bag (a heavy bag with chains taped).  Make one if necessary.  Set timer for 10 mins.  Scissor lock the bag from the bottom and squeeze as hard as you can.  Straighten your trunk while you hit the top of his “head” with hammer fists.  When your legs gas, swap top/bottom foot position.  If you can't make the whole 10 minutes, alternate Smearing Push-ups on the bag and Hatmaker’s Kansas Burpees until the timer beeps.

  • Get your crack out of the sack.  Run 1 mile as fast as you can.

  • Sack up and crack right back.  Whatever pressures are putting the squeeze on you —  social, work, health, financial, etc. — there is always something you can do.  Restriction breeds creativity, not freedom.  Get paper and pen and set a timer for three minutes.  Don’t analyze and think deeply — you’ll do that later — just throw out ideas!  Write down as many things as you can that might help your current situation.  When the timer beeps, calmly review and analyze the list.  Pick the three best ideas.  Put them on your to-do list, set completion dates on your calendar, and so on.  Taking action — any kind of action — is better than laying there and letting life, your opponent, or your assailant, crush the life out of you.

¹ How Did LA Cope With The Influenza Pandemic Of 1918?

² Schools Beat Earlier Plagues with Outdoor Classes.  We Should Too.

Stickin' and Movin': Martial Arts Training Involution #218

This month's martial focus is sparring.  All month long we're providing solo drills to keep you sparring-fit during the pandemic.  Week one, a striking drill.  Week 2, a grappling drill.  Week 3, a wrestling fitness drill.  Week 4, a weapon drill and a two-part movement drill.

Stickin' and Movin': Martial Arts Training Involution #218

  • Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

  • Stickin' drill.  What is your everyday carry weapon of choice?  Pepper spray?  Kubotan keychain? Folding knife? Walking stick?  Banana?  Take a dull version of your weapon of choice and go after your heavy bag for 3 x 3:00/1:00.  Practice with both hands.  Beginners concentrate on form or accuracy only.  Intermediate and advanced persons may focus on speed, power, endurance or mobility as desired.   Sections of wooden dowel or galvanized pipe cut to correct length and wrapped in hockey tape stand in well for many short weapons.  Get as close as you can to the same size and weight as the actual weapon so that your practice will directly translate.

  • Movin' drill.  Could you quietly navigate your home or apartment in the dark if you had to evade an intruder?  Could you avoid all of the creaky doors, squeaking boards and popping stairs?  How about your yard?  Could you make it off your property in the dark in any direction without making noise, stepping in a divot, or tripping over a root?  Start practicing today.  See video below for tips.

  • Practice the Rule of Five. This month's symbol is the Pentangle or 5-pointed star ★ (more about its symbolism here).  After you’ve cooled down for 3 minutes, spend some time organizing your life by the Rule of Five.  Divide a sheet of paper into two columns. Then cut the right column into four equal parts so that your paper is divided into five sections.   Label the left column "Misc." and the four sections on the right side, "Today," "This Week," "This Weekend," and "This Month."  List all goals and to-do items under "Misc."  Then move three things into each of the blocks on the right, crossing them off the left as you go.  When you're done you'll have three things to do today, three this week, three this weekend, three this month, and a slew of things on the left that are on deck.  Work and maintain a list like this and it'll change your life.  For more on this program see The Hourglass Way: Transform in 12 weeks with Cabal Fang.

Trial and Storm: Martial Arts Training Involution #217

This month's martial focus is sparring.  All month long we're providing solo drills to keep you sparring-fit during the pandemic. Week one, a striking drill.  Week 2, a grappling drill.  Now, for Week 3, a wrestling fitness drill.

Special Pre-Release Deal for Cabal Fang Members

Get Elder Mitchell’s new book Martial Grit: Real Fighting Fitness (On a Budget) for half price until August 1st 2020.

Trial and Storm: Martial Arts Training Involution #217

  • Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

  • Morgan's Constitutional.  Morgan passed her Constitutional Trial by completing this in 16:00 flat.  See how many licks it takes you to get to the center of this tootsie pop: Medicine Ball Clean & Press (40), Zombie Squats (50). Bear Walks (25 x 15'), Crunches Legs Up (50), Standing Broad Jumps (25), Bicycles (100), Mountain Climbers (100).

  • Imitate mythical sailor Captain Stormalong.  This little jewel is from Elder Mitchell’s Bobcat Frontier Rough 'n' Tumble program.  Get out your floor bag and set a timer for 4 x 3:00/1:00 (advanced players work through the 1:00 rests).  Round 1, dry swim (alternate Flutter Kicks and Swimmers).  Round 2, wrestle your floor bag (Hip Heists, Back Bridge, etc.).  Round 3, Rope Climbs (if you can't climb, hang).  Round 4, wrestle the floor bag some more (Shrimps, Bottom Scissors crush, etc.).

  • Practice the Rule of Five. This month's symbol is the pentangle or 5-pointed star ★ (more about its symbolism here).  After you’ve cooled down for 3 minutes, spend some time organizing your life by the Rule of Five.  Divide a sheet of paper into two columns. Then cut the right column into four equal parts so that your paper is divided into five sections.   Label the left column "Misc." and the four sections on the right side, "Today," "This Week," "This Weekend," and "This Month."  List all goals and to-do items under "Misc."  Then move three things into each of the blocks on the right, crossing them off the left as you go.  When you're done you'll have three things to do today, three this week, three this weekend, three this month, and a slew of things on the left that are on deck.  Work and maintain a list like this and it'll change your life.  For more on this program see The Hourglass Way: Transform in 12 weeks with Cabal Fang.


Art Addition to Cabal Fang Temple Saturday, July 11th 2020

Shove and Yank: Martial Arts Training Involution #216

This month's martial focus is sparring.  All month long we'll be giving you solo drills you can use to stay sparring-fit (not everyone has sparring partners living in their households like I do).  Last week we did some striking stuff.  Today we're going to do some grappling work.

Shove and Yank: Martial Arts Training Involution #216

  • Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

  • Three rounds of grappling dummy clinch punishment.  Set a timer for 3 x 3:00/1:00 and get your floor bag or grappling dummy (or just stuff a big gym bag with soft equipment and linens. Round 1, put it up against a wall and shove, grind, push, cram, gouge, knee and elbow.  Round 2, body lock your dummy and squeeze the life out of it with a good palm-to-palm grip and proper forearm cutting.  Round 3, back to the wall.  Advanced players skip the round breaks and press on.

  • Yanking practice.  Put a rope on your floor bag or grappling dummy and spend a few minutes warming up.  Reeling the bag towards you across the mat/floor, lightly pull and yank, etc.  When you're ready to go, set timer for 30 second intervals and practice yanking that bag with maximum aggression.  Alternate 30 seconds of action and 30 seconds of rest.  Imagine this is your opponent's arm and really go to town.  5 to 8 minutes of that should be more than enough.  Video below.

  • Pentangle meditation. This month's symbol is the pentangle or five-pointed star ★.  In addition to symbolizing the five wounds of Christ, it symbolizes the knight in action, the unification of all five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch) and all five faculties (faith, effort, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom).  After you’ve cooled down for 3 minutes, set a timer for 10 minutes. Assume posture of choice and regulate breathing to a slow and steady rhythm. Keep your eyes open and do not fidget, wiggle or scratch. Visualize a five-pointed star.  Do not think about it in words -- just experience the symbol as it is in a state of calm and relaxed awareness. When the timer beeps, record what you did and what you experienced in your training journal. 



SLING SHOT: MARTIAL ARTS TRAINING INVOLUTION #215

This month’s martial focus is Sparring and the spiritual symbol is the Pentangle. In the age of COVID, what do you do to in place of sparring and/or to stay fit for sparring?  Well read on…

Oops, I almost forgot to give you this month’s constitutional.  Breathe deep, you’re going to need it:

Get-ups (25)
Prison Push-ups (25)
Sprints (25)
Neck Crunches (25)
Russian Squats (50)
Down-ups (25)
Sit-out Push-ups (25)

And now for…

SLING SHOT: MARTIAL ARTS TRAINING INVOLUTION #215

  • Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

  • Wrestling Conditioner — impaired.  To simulate having to fight injured, put your dominant arm in a sling, tuck it into your belt, cram it in your pocket, etc. and go it with one hand.  Throw your floor bag in the center of your training area and set timer for 4 x 2:00.  Round 1, circle the bag with good form.  Round 2, take Top Saddle and strike the bag with your good arm. Round 3, Roll to Bottom Scissors and squeeze as hard as you can.  When you gas out, swap feet. Round 4, let the bag rest on your your face and chest and strike as hard as you can with hooks, palms, etc.

  • Take your best shot.  7 rounds of “COVID Sparring.”  See video below.

  • Contemplation. After you’ve cooled down for 3 minutes, set a timer for 10 minutes. Assume posture of choice and regulate breathing to a slow and steady rhythm. Keep your eyes open and do not fidget, wiggle or scratch. Allow your thoughts to dissipate like ripples on a pond and your mind to approach a state of calm and relaxed awareness. When the timer beeps, record what you did and what you experienced in your training journal. If you don’t take bearings and spot landmarks, you might get lost.

No Reins: Martial Arts Training Involution #213

As mentioned at the beginning of the month, the Chariot Tarot card symbolizes the successes that come to a person who is in a proper relationship with Being.  This is the individual who spends a great deal of time in what modern people call a "flow state" or what used to be called (and sometimes still is) "being in Christ."

The chariot is drawn by two sphinxes, and there are no reins.  So how does the charioteer steer the chariot?  How does he direct himself to his destination?  By being aware and engaged, he gets where he wants to go because he goes were he wants to get.  It is allowed to happen.

As Hatmaker pointed out on his blog this week, the greatest frontiersmen could hear a mouse pissing on cotton, and they gave the impression they could see the invisible and predict the future.  That's because they were paying attention -- not in a forced and tension-filled way but in a relaxed, fearless and fully engaged manner.  They were in the flow.

Consider this 17th century Masonic poem by Scot Henry Adamson:

For what we presage is not in grosse,
For we brethren of the Rosie Crosse;
We have the Mason Word and second sight,
Things for to come we can foretell aright.

Some say that Adamson is implying that Masons have psychic abilities.  I don't think so.

I think what he's saying is that when you have integrity -- when thoughts, desires, actions and beliefs are unified such that you live "in the flow" or "in Christ" -- then you are oriented to such a degree that your spiritual and physical compasses are superimposed and things happen for you as if by magic.

No Reins: Martial Arts Training Involution #213

  • Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

  • How many hours have you spent "in the flow" this week?  When you're in the flow, walking with Christ, or whatever you prefer to call it, you are relaxed, happy, productive and engaged -- without effort, tension, or self-consciousness.  If the answer is less than an hour per day on average I suggest journaling daily.  Analyze your entries.  Figure out what gets you into that space and what pushes you out.  Set some benchmarks.  The more time you spend there the better.

  • 20 minutes of forms.  Run through the Fool's Journey, the Star of Ishtar and the Black Dragon three times each, then shadowbox until you get your 20.

  • Have you done two constitutionals this week?  If not, complete this month’s constitutional.  Pikes (25), Push-ups, uneven (25), Jump Squats (100), Reverse Bridges (25), Curb Touches (100), Ploughs (25), Burpees (25).

  • Contemplation.  After you’ve cooled down for about 3 minutes, set a timer for 10 minutes. Full instructions in the video below.  When the timer beeps, record what you did and what you experienced in your training journal.  If you don’t take bearings and spot landmarks, you might get lost.

We Are Back!

Meetings have resumed! We are doing no-contact sessions with 6’ distancing only. What does that look like? Well, you can still shadowbox, do calisthenics, practice footwork, movement, body mechanics and much more. So come join us!

Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 - 7 PM at WEMCA, 88600 Lakefront Dr, Henrico, VA 23294

Antlers: Martial Arts Training Involution #212

Cabal Fang's June symbol is the Cross, and as we discussed last week, the stag and cross are both symbols of “the flow” — the conversation between two forces, concepts, states, and so on — between you and your higher power for example. Unlike horns which are akin to fingernails, antlers are actually bones.  They are an outgrowth of the skull which are shed and regrown every year.   You don't have bony antlers.  But you do have a bony skull with a sizable brain inside it, which means you can learn two lessons from the stag's inspiration -- one about fighting and the other about spirit.

Antlers: Martial Arts Training Involution #212

  1. Fighting lesson from the stag: When stags fight, the contest is almost always won by the stag who stays the lowest and locks in his antlers.

  2. Spiritual lesson from the stag: You cannot run down a stag in the forest.  The only way to get him is to lie in wait, and the way to do that is to sit perfectly still -- to be relaxed but aware, focused but not tense, without fidgeting, wiggling or scratching.  Sounds a lot like meditation, doesn't it?

And now for the T.I.

  • Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

  • 3 rounds of level mirroring drills. Set timer for 3 x 3:00/1:00.  Round 1: Square off with your partner, both of you in fighting stance, 6' apart.  At any moment either partner fakes a takedown, ankle pick, or other level change.  Other partner follows suit, trying to keep head lower. Round 2: If social distancing due to COVID-19,  do another round like the last except this time add in sprawls -- go all the way down to the floor.  If you have a training partner in your household, get into clinch position and practice level mirroring there.  Round 3: If social distancing, do another round like the last except add in lateral movement.  If you have a safe training partner, practice getting your head in the pocket.  See video below.

  • Have you done two constitutionals this week?  If not, complete this month’s constitutional.  Pikes (25), Push-ups, uneven (25), Jump Squats (100), Reverse Bridges (25), Curb Touches (100), Ploughs (25), Burpees (25).

  • Meditation.  After you’ve cooled down for about 3 minutes, set a timer for 10 minutes. Assume your posture of choice and regulate your breathing to insure a slow and consistent rhythm that completely fills and empties your lungs without bearing down on your breath. Eyes open, think about the stag and his antlers, but not in words.  Picture the stag in your mind's eye.  Allow yourself to think in emotions and pictures only.  This pushes your thinking beyond the intellectual, past words and out into experience.  Do not fidget, wiggle or scratch.

  • When the timer beeps, record what you did and what you experienced in your training journal.  If you don’t measure performance, how do you know if you’re improving or not? Only that which is measured improves.

Victory Flow: Martial Arts Training Involution #211

Victory is attained through flow not by force.

To lead a group you must be in dialogue with its members.  To win a fight you must work with your adversary's openings.  To physically train your body for fitness, you have work with your body or you will destroy it.

Forcing people destroys teams and groups.  Forcing a given strategy onto set of conditions loses matches, fights and battles.  Forcing your body leads to injury.  And please tell me how it's at all possible to force a relationship with your higher power?

The monthly focus and symbol are both related flow, which is the conversation and interplay between contrasting elements -- you and your higher power, you and your martial opponent, the present state and the goal, etc.  Common symbols for this are pictured on the right.

Clockwise from the upper left: The Chariot Tarot card depicts a chariot drawn by two sphinxes, one light and the other dark.  The rider is being drawn along by the flow.  The stag, a crepuscular animal active only at dawn and dusk, is awash in the conversation between light and dark.  The Luminaries are the two heavenly bodies, one to light the day and the other to light the night.  Boaz and Jachin are the pillars of Solomon's Temple, Boaz often depicted as black and Jachin as white, evoking ideas similar to the divine twins astride horses -- one dark the other light -- and  to the taijitu or "yin-yang" symbol -- the unity of opposing forces.

The cross, this month's symbol, is also about flow.  There are four ways of approaching biblical interpretation (allegorical, moral, anagogical and literal) and they are collectively known as the quadriga -- a chariot drawn by four horses -- a call-back to the symbols pictured above.  The cross, which is after all compass and the "X" that marks the spot, warns you that if you fail to acknowledge the flow you will surely lose your way.

Victory Flow: Martial arts Training Involution #211

  • Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

  • At least 11 minutes of flow drills. Get our your grappling dummy or floor bag and set a timer for at least 3 x 3:00/1:00.  Put in at least 3 rounds on flow drills.  Start with a chain of two moves.  Add one or two moves per round, slowly building up your flow drill from the bottom.  Don't force.  Let the drill modify itself as you go.  See what "flows" and what doesn't.

  • Complete this month's constitutional.  Pikes (25), Push-ups, uneven (25), Jump Squats (100), Reverse Bridges (25), Curb Touches (100), Ploughs(25), Burpees (25).

  • Contemplation.  Contemplation is about being in, and a part of, flow.  Dump out your intellectual mind for a few minutes, become empty of words, and marinate in the flow.  After you've cooled down for about 3 minutes, set a timer for 10 minutes. Assume your posture of choice and regulate your breathing to insure a slow and consistent rhythm that completely fills and empties your lungs without bearing down on your breath. Eyes open, gently allow your mind to empty and calm itself. Don’t make war with thoughts, just let them pass by, dissipating like ripples on the surface of a pond.

  • Record what you did and what you experienced in your training journal.  If you don't measure performance, how do you know if you're improving or not? Only that which is measured improves.


Volition Magician: Martial arts Training Involution #210

Today's the fifth and final T.I. of the month centering around the Cabal Fang symbol the Chalice and the martial focus Striking.  May's a long month which allows us five weeks to get into the weeds of this unique internal and external work combination. The Chalice symbol has many associations, but the one most central is inherence. 

The Chalice is about what you let into yourself, what you choose to allow to indwell in you. 

Although the most obvious symbol on the Magician card is the infinity symbol, the largest one is The Chalice. The Magician understands the concept of inherence like no other, and so should the martial artist.  Why?  Because 99% of magic is brute force.  Most magic tricks are based on the fact that the magician can do things that you assume cannot be done.  And the magician does this by practicing certain movements and techniques over, and over, and over again — cutting cards, memorizing lists, palming objects, etc. Great magicians can fan out a stack of cards, quickly memorize them, and then cut to any card they desire after they are flipped — not with hocus-pocus but with skill. .

Real magic happens when you allow something to fully become a part of you.

What are you putting into yourself in terms of nourishment -- intellectual nourishment (what we read, watch, and concentrate upon), literal nourishment (things we eat and drink), physical nourishment (the things we do and participate in), and spiritual nourishment (things we believe in and worship, Holy Communion, the Eucharist, etc.)? What are you focusing on?  What are you allowing to colonize you?  What is your Holy Grail? 

Volition Magician: Martial arts Training Involution #210

  • Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

  • 15 minutes of punching half-pyramids for speed.  My old friend Woody understood the magic of repetition and so should you.  Get in front of your heavy bag and throw a half-pyramid of Left Jabs to  4 -- that's 1, then 2, then 3, and 4.  Do that five time -- each set in the most rapid succession as possible without sacrificing form.  Switch stance and do it again with Right Jab.  That's 100 Jabs total.  Now do Left Cross and Right Cross for a total of 100 Crosses.  Go back to the beginning and repeat until the timer beeps.

  • Contemplation.  Before you can fill yourself up with something great you must first dump yourself out and become empty.  Cool down for about 3 minutes, then set a timer for 10 minutes. Assume your posture of choice and regulate your breathing to insure a slow and consistent rhythm that completely fills and empties your lungs without bearing down on your breath. Eyes open. Gently allow your mind to empty and calm itself. Don’t make war with thoughts, just let them pass by, dissipating like ripples on the surface of a pond.

  • Record what you did and what you experienced in your training journal.  If you don't measure performance, how do you know if you're improving or not? Only that which is measured improves.

Have Mercy: Martial Arts Training Involution #209

Today's the fourth T.I. of the month centering around the Cabal Fang symbol the Chalice and the martial focus Striking.  May's a long month which allows us five weeks to get into the weeds of this unique internal and external work combination.

Have Mercy: Martial arts Training Involution #209

  • Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

  • Mix'n'match pyramid of 5 exercises to 5 reps for power.  A pyramid to 5 reps is 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1 (25 reps total of each exercise).  The five exercises are Bearhug Carry (1 orbit of your training area = 1 rep),  Shots (classic wrestling style), Shovels (sledgehammer, 1/side), Bodybuilders (10-count Navy Seal style) and Heavy Bag Combos (5 combos = 1 rep).  Power is a work/time/distance equation (lots of detail on this inMartial Grit, see below) so everything in this pyramid should be done with full force -- max-power-squeezing of heaviest manageable sand or heavy bag based on size/fitness level, explosive sledge digs, max-power heavy bag striking etc.  Only have one heavy bag and using it for the carries?  Just put on the floor and practice your down strikes from Top Saddle.

  • Mercy meditation.  Cool down for 3 minutes, then set a timer for about 10 minutes and assume your meditative posture of choice.  Regulate your breathing to a slow and steady rhythm.  The Chalice symbol embodies the concept of reception.  It is about receiving, accepting, and allowing.  Keep your eyes open as you think about something you've been unable to forgive, allow or accept -- something you know you should let go in yourself or in someone else.  See if you can envision a way to be merciful.  It's very important not to think in words during meditations like this.  Think in images and feelings only.  Let them appear like gauzy dream superimpositions on your visual field.  If the word-monkey starts chattering just ignore him and he'll quiet down soon enough.  When the timer beeps, record your thoughts and experiences in your training journal.

A

Perilous: Martial Arts Training Involution #208

Perilous: Martial arts Training Involution #208

  • Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

  • 16 minutes of martial fitness action.  Set timer for intervals of 4 minutes.  Shadowbox for 4 minutes.  Then run out for 4 minutes, run back -- (get back before the timer beeps!), and finish up with 4 minutes of weapon shadowboxing with your training weapon of choice.  How many times did you drop your blunt training weapon or accidentally allow the business end to touch your body?  Do 50 Push-ups for each error.

  • Want more? Do this month's constitutional -- click here.

  • Grail mediation.  Cool down for 3 minutes, then assume your meditative posture of choice and regulate your breathing to a slow and steady rhythm.  Keep your eyes open as you imagine that the glowing Grail is hovering in the air before you, close enough to touch.  The Grail is the cup Christ used when he instituted the Holy Eucharist, and legend has it that one sip from it confers infinite blessings.  How does it make you that make you feel to be in its presence?  Don't think about the Grail in words -- just allow yourself to experience the image and concept of the Grail emotionally, spiritually and inspirationally. When he timer beeps, record your thoughts and experiences in your training journal.

An Excerpt from Alfred Lord Tennyson's The Holy Grail

Then came a year of miracle: O brother,
In our great hall there stood a vacant chair,
Fashion’d by Merlin ere he past away,
And carven with strange figures; and in and out
The figures, like a serpent, ran a scroll
Of letters in a tongue no man could read.
And Merlin call’d it ‘The Siege perilous,’
Perilous for good and ill; ‘for there,’ he said,
‘No man could sit but he should lose himself:’
And once by misadvertence Merlin sat
In his own chair, and so was lost; but he,
Galahad, when he heard of Merlin’s doom,
Cried, ‘If I lose myself, I save myself!’

II

…When the hermit made an end,
In silver armour suddenly Galahad shone
Before us, and against the chapel door
Laid lance, and enter’d, and we knelt in prayer.
And there the hermit slaked my burning thirst,
And at the sacring of the mass I saw
The holy elements alone; but he:
‘Saw ye no more? I, Galahad, saw the Grail,
The Holy Grail, descend upon the shrine:
I saw the fiery face as of a child
That smote itself into the bread, and went;
And hither am I come; and never yet
Hath what thy sister taught me first to see,
This Holy Thing, fail’d from my side, nor come
Cover’d, but moving with me night and day,
Fainter by day, but always in the night
Blood-red, and sliding down the blacken’d marsh
Blood-red, and on the naked mountain top
Blood-red, and in the sleeping mere below
Blood-red. And in the strength of this I rode,
Shattering all evil customs everywhere,
And past thro’ Pagan realms, and made them mine,
And clash’d with Pagan hordes, and bore them down,
And broke thro’ all, and in the strength of this
Come victor. But my time is hard at hand,
And hence I go; and one will crown me king
Far in the spiritual city; and come thou, too,
For thou shalt see the vision when I go.’

Amazon Babylon: Martial Arts Training Involution #207

Long before the 2017 movie, Cabal Fang was using an 8-point combat clock called the Star of Ishtar -- a universal symbol for the divine feminine associated with the ancient Babylonian goddess Ishtar.  You will note that the star on this fictional Amazon's diadem is a star of similar design.

Symbols colonize our subconscious minds and permeate the world's cultures. 

It's quite possible the artists and costume designers working on the film didn't consciously change the original 5-pointed star from the comic books to an 8-pointed Star of Ishtar.  They probably did it without even realizing they were doing it.

In the meantime, for this week's involution we're going to take our training inspiration from Amazon warriors and ancient symbols...

Amazon Babylon: Martial Arts Training Involution #207

  • Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

  • 10 minutes of crams.  Get on your forging post, pell or war-post and work your crams.  If you don't have a post, use your grappling dummy today -- and then go put up a post in your gym or back yard tomorrow.

  • Practice the Star of Ishtar drill for 10 minutes.  Don't know it?  It's in the Cabal Fang Study Course.

  • 10 minutes of heavy carries.  Want to be Amazon strong?  The ancients had no barbells -- they carried loads and lifted stones.   Set a timer for 10 minutes and bear hug or shoulder carry your heavy bag (or appropriate substitute based on your fitness level) until the timer beeps.  Put the weight down and take a break as few times as possible.  Finish the whole 10 minutes without putting it down and you're either a monster or you picked too light a load.

  • 1 mile run.  The ancient Greeks were big on running.  Cover a mile as fast as you can.

  • Contemplation.  Cool down for about 3 minutes, then set a timer for 10 minutes.  Assume your meditative posture of choice and regulate your breathing to insure a slow and consistent rhythm that completely fills and empties your lungs without bearing down on your breath.  Eyes open.  Gently allow your mind to empty and calm itself.  Don't make war with thoughts, just let them pass by, dissipating like ripples on the surface of a pond.    

The Galahad Maneuver: Martial arts Training Involution #206

New constitutional, focus and symbol for May 2020

The Galahad Maneuver: Martial arts Training Involution #206

  • Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

  • Martial Arts Mix and Match.  4 rounds of action (beginner/intermediate 2:00 each, advanced 3:00) for a total of 8 to 12 minutes.  Take as few 12-second breaks as you need.  Do one round each of Lunges, Clocks, Low Crawl, Sled Pulls/Yanks.  Video below.

  • Not enough exercise for you?  Do this month's constitutional.  See photo above left or click here.

  • Practice the Galahad Maneuver.   Pick something you know that's not good for you and make a substitution -- a food or beverage, a form of entertainment, or even a person who's a negative influence.  Just 5 minutes of serious thought will reveal a list of stuff you know you shouldn't be eating, watching, doing or associating with.  Start with one of the easy ones and substitute a better choice.  This is the trail-head that leads to the mountaintop of sacrifice.  Keep going and perhaps one day you'll come to see the world the way that Sir Galahad saw it when he said, "If I lose myself I save myself."  Remember, Galahad was the only Knight of the Round Table who saw the Grail. You are not your tastes, your needs, your wants, your favorites, or hobbies, or any of that.  You are something much more than that.  But you have to strip some things away to begin to see it.  By the way, this drill is associated with the Chalice symbol and it first appeared in The Hourglass Way: Transform in 12 Weeks with Cabal Fang which contains about 11 more exercises that are equally powerful.

Movie Time: Martial Arts Training Involution #205

Sim Webb

Locomotive fireman who survived the wreck of the Cannonball Express

Movie Time: Martial arts Training Involution #205

This training involution plays out like an old western movie.  Imagine you are a mild-mannered fireman on a coal-fired locomotive.  The train is robbed by bandits who capture you and take you for ransom, planning to sell you back to the railroad at the next town.  What they don't know is that the railroad is about to go under, and there will be no ransom paid.  You must make your escape!  You manage to flee in the middle of the night, evading all but one of the bandits, but your hands are bound.  As dawn is breaking you free your hands just in time for the climactic fight scene in which you defeat the bandit.  The credits roll as you stride into a deserted town ready to make a new start.

  • Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

  • Sim Webb fitness drill.  Simulate a few minutes in the life of a locomotive fireman -- named after Simeon T. "Sim" Webb -- Casey Jones' famous fireman and survivor of the wreck of the Cannonball Express.  Get a sledgehammer and complete this twice through: rake the coal to the box (20 Paddles w/ sledge), check the box (2o Sprawls), check the pipes (5 x 50 yd sprints w/ sledge), shovel the coal (20 Shovels with sledge), check the fire (20 Squats).  See if you can beat my time of 10:21.  If you want more drill like this, click here.

  • 1/2 mile P.O.W. Run.  Run 1/2 mile with your fingertips touching your ears or with fingers interlaced behind your neck (my time was 5:57).

  • Constant contact drill.  Square off with your heavy bag and get after it as fast as you can with meaningful contact.  See how long you can go without gassing out.  If you do this immediately after the run and you make it past 2 minutes you're doing fine.

  • Walking contemplation.  Walking at a leisurely pace, regulate your breathing to insure a slow and consistent rhythm that completely fills and empties your lungs without holding your breath.  Gently allow your mind to empty and calm itself.  Don't make war with your thoughts -- just quiet your internal dialogue, stop thinking in words, and let yourself slide into relaxed awareness.  Just be.  Simply exist and move and breathe for about 10 minutes.

Sprawl 'n' Crawl: Martial Arts Training Involution #204

No sparring allowed during the pandemic kids.  You're going to have to stay fighting fit via the solo training route.  How?  By doing stuff that's as close to real fighting as possible of course!

Keep it real, keep it relevant, and keep it rigorous.  REAL means you're doing stuff that's as close as possible to what real people do in real life.  RELEVANT means that it relates to what you want to get better at.  And RIGOROUS means that you are paying attention to doing the work properly in terms of technique and intensity.

This week’s T.I. on the chalkboard in the C.F. Temple

Sprawl 'n' Crawl: Martial Arts Training Involution #204

* Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

* 15 minutes of floor bag work.  Get out your floor bag (a heavy bag with the chains taped up) and set a countdown timer for 15 minutes.

  1. Sprawls.  Lay floor bag on side and Sprawl with forearms to the bag 4 - 6 times based on your fitness level.

  2. Bear Walks: Approx 25', 4 - 6 times based on your fitness level.

  3. Shots:  Stand the bag on end, back up a couple of steps, and shoot in on the bag for a takedown.  4 - 6 times based on your fitness level.

  4. Bag Lifts. Get the bag from the floor to your shoulder any way you like 4 - 6 times based on your fitness level.

  5. Bear Hug the bag: Stand up and squeeze with it with max power cutting bone pressure of the forearm until you gas out. 

  6. Repeat until the timer rings. 

* Contemplation.  Cool down for about 3 minutes, then set a timer for 10 minutes.  Assume your meditative posture of choice and regulate your breathing to insure a slow and consistent rhythm that completely fills and empties your lungs without bearing down on your breath.  Eyes open.  Gently allow your mind to empty and calm itself.  Don't make war with thoughts, just let them pass by, dissipating like ripples on the surface of a pond.