Bifax: Martial Arts Training Involution #230

Bifax: Martial Arts T.I. #230

  • 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.

  • "Top-n-Bottom" wrestling drill.   10 x 2:00 intervals, no breaks, 1/2 to 2/3 power -- just enough force to maintain realism while focusing on smoothness and technique.  Arrange in mis-matched pairs -- as much size/weight diff. as possible -- smaller partner holding larger in Bottom Scissors.  Smaller person practices chosen bottom submission (Chicken Wing, Leg Triangle, Short Arm Scissors, etc.) for 2 mins  Larger practices the counter.  Switch partners every time the bell rings and repeat.  If you're working solo on account of COVID, use your grappling dummy. 

  • Knock out this month's constitutional.  Sit-out Push-ups (25), Ploughs (25), Pikes (25), Neck Crunches (25 ea. direction), Zombie Squats (50), Bear Walks (100 yards), and Jackknifes (25).  Beginners,  go slow and just try to finish (but listen to your body and don't overdo it).  Intermediates, aim to finish in less than 20 mins.  Advanced, aim for under 15 mins and, if you succeed, go back and do 20% more (5 more of the 25-rep exercises, 10 more Zombies Squats, and so on).

  • Reverse the rehearsed -- destabilize a training session. Train outdoors in the rain or in the cold, at dawn or dusk in the half light.  Train at a different location and/or at a different time.  You'll be shocked by the severity of disruption.   You'll be sloppy and unfocused.  Push through and get there.  Do this often.

  • Synch up your inside and your outside.  This month's symbol is the Luminaries (the two lights that rule the day and night skies -- check out the intro here).  One of the many things the Luminaries symbolize is the relationship between your inside and your outside.  Watch the video below and begin to think about paying special attention to what you are doing vs. what you are saying and experiencing -- what the Greek fathers of the church would've called nepsis or watchfulness.

  • Journal.  Do the work, the external and internal, and about what you did and thought in your journal.  If it ain't in the training journal it didn't happen!


Leaping Lava: Martial Arts T.I. #229

Leaping Lava: Martial Arts T.I. #229

  • 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.

  • Mat is Lava drill.   3 rounds x 2:00/1:00 of "mat is lava" -- see video below.  Start on knees or in quarter position and practice getting the hard parts of your body on the soft parts of your partner -- but be nice!  If you don't have a partner use a grappling dummy or a floor bag. 

  • 9 minutes of real-life action.  Find a section of fence near a dead tree, or set up a couple of sawhorses and a 2x4 near one (never needlessly harm a live tree).  Take your axe and your weapon of choice, gloves and goggles.  If you're working in a gym, stack up plyo-boxes and sub tire and sledge, dull training weapon and heavy bag.  Set timer for 1:30 intervals.  Vault over the obstacle for 1:3o, then axe the tree for 1:30, then attack with your weapon for 1:30.  Run through twice for a total of 9 mins, no breaks.  Beginners, work on accuracy, form and grace and leave tools at stations.  Advanced folks, take a dull weapon with you on the vaults, attack as you clear the obstacle, and use a live weapon on the tree.  Note: The essence of an axe is accuracy.  Even if you are subbing a sledge and a tire, aim to hit a literal pinpoint. 

  • Walk and listen.  Go for a walk and listen.  Do you know the bird calls in your neck of the woods?  Being in tune with your plant and animal neighbors has a transformational affect on you inside and out.  Don't know where to start?  Use the Cornell Ornithology Lab's BirdNET app !

  • The Luminaries.  This month's symbol is the Luminaries -- the two lights that rule the day and night skies. Do you live and work by the sun and moon?  Or do you stay up all night and sleep all day?  For the rest of the month, try going to bed and getting up at the same time every day (± 20 minutes), making sure you get 7 - 8 hours of sleep.  You won't believe how much more happy, healthy and productive you become.

  • Journal.  Meditate on these ideas and exercises and then write about what you did and thought in your journal.  If it ain't in the training journal it didn't happen!

Grace: Martial Arts Training Involution #228

The October '20's martial focus is wrestling, our spiritual symbol is the Luminaries, and the monthly constitutional is as follows (previous months can be found here).

October 2020 Constitutional

Sit-out Push-ups (25)
Ploughs (25)
Pikes (25)
Neck Crunches (25 ea. direction)
Zombie Squats (50)
Bear Walks (100 yards)
Jackknifes (25)

Grace: Martial Arts T.I. #228

  • 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.

  • 50 Sit-outs. If you know how to do both long and short Sit-outs, great -- you're intermediate or advanced.  Do 25 of each AFAYC.  If you're a beginner, watch the video below and do 50 Short Sit-outs slowly and carefully.  Beginners remember -- slow is smooth and smooth is fast, so start slow and and speed up only as you get smoother.

  • 9 minutes on the floor bag.  Put a floor bag in the middle of your training space and set timer for 1 minute intervals.  Lock bag in Bottom Scissors AHAYC for 1 minute.  Then get into Side Control with the "head" of the bag on your right.  Hands out to the side -- the floor is lava! -- insert your L knee into opponents imaginary "guard" to take Top Saddle.  Then extract R foot with good form and go t0 Side Control with head of bag on your left.  Go back and forth for one minute. For the next minute, pop into Shin Ride, punch-punch, switch to other shin (or into Hamburger Ride) punch-punch, and repeat until timer beeps.  Keep going until you've done 3 sets of each.  If you liked this drill, get yourself some wrestling dice like the ones in the picture and create thousands more just like it on the fly.

  • Practice moving through the world gracefully.   Embrace the idea of "grace" at its most philosophic and esoteric level, aiming for grace in thoughts, desires, actions and beliefs.  Strive for physical grace both on and off the mat, when performing martial techniques, putting away groceries, or walking the dog.  Be graceful in your thoughts, thinking through things with care rather than like a bull in a china shop.  Be graceful in your emotions, not giving yourself over to every craving and desire.  And be graceful in your spirit, recognizing that none of us is perfect and that patience, forgiveness and love are almost always the answer.  After all, it is only by the grace of God that we are here at all.  Moving through the world gracefully should be central to martial arts.  If it ain't, you're probably doing something wrong.

  • The Luminaries.  This ancient symbol, like all the best ones, amounts to more than the some of its parts.  It reminds us that there are two primary lights -- lights which can be understood intellectually, emotionally, scientifically, and mystically -- and we get out of synch with them at our peril.  Intellectually there are two sides to every argument, and you must engage the other side with sincerity.  Emotionally we must remember that we are possessed of both a conscious and a subconscious, each illuminating the light and dark sides of ourselves.  Scientifically we cannot behave as if we are machines immune to the phases of nature.  Do you sleep all day, stay up all night, ignore your body's needs for adequate sleep, sun on your skin, and so forth?  Do you even know what the current moon phase is?  Finally, and most importantly, we must see the luminaries mystically.   There are two lights -- God, who lights up Heaven, and you, who light up the World.  You must be as much like God as you can, following His example and lighting up the World with all your might.

  • Journal.  Meditate on these ideas and exercises and then write about what you did and thought in your journal.  If it ain't in the training journal it didn't happen!

Fairy Tale Valley: Martial Arts T.I. #227

This is the last T.I. in the September focus of grappling, so this week we're going sop up every bit of our grappling gravy before we move on to October.

Fairy Tale Valley: Martial Arts T.I. #227

  • 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.

  • Grappling Conditioner #1. Set timer 10 mins. Grab a medicine ball, slam ball or sandbag in the 10 - 30 lb. range.  Pretend it's an attacker's head or neck and lay on the choke, lock or hold of your choice with maximum squeezing power and complete 10 Rear Lunges.  Then relax your grip and complete 10 Sprawls (beginners put the ball down for this, advanced folks take it with you).  Then place the ball on the floor, put your hands on it, and complete 10 Smearing Push-ups (beginners hands in diamond shape, advanced with hands overlapped in an "X").  Repeat until the timer beeps.

  • Do 25 Valley Rolls.  See video below.  If you have a partner, great.  If not, get out your floor bag, take a nice grip on it, and start rolling.

  • Run fast, walk quiet.  Set a timer for 5 minutes.  Run as fast and as you can for 3 seconds and then get down -- take a knee, baseball slide to your side, dive to prone position, etc. -- as if avoiding gunfire. Stay down for a 3 to 10 seconds, then run again.  This is called an IMT run -- we learned about them from Mark Hatmaker here.  For frontier flavor and to keep track of your three seconds, say "Messanik kakew!" (mess-AH-neek ka-KAY-ow) which is Powhatan for "running squirrel'." When the timer beeps, spend 5 more minutes practicing your silent walking.  Make sure your feet are properly oriented, knees are flexed just right, and you are rolling your feet.  Purposely pick varying surfaces -- grass, sidewalk, gravel, leaves -- so that you can experience the varying dynamics, and make sure that you are habituating good foot placement choices.

  • Fairy tale reading.  Fairy tales are not silly, made-up fantasies. They are stories washed free of every unimportant detail by millennia of re-telling -- 100% pure and refined meta-truth.  Read one (if you can't find one, read the one from Issue #9 of SHIFT).  This month's internal focus is journaling.   So after you read that fairy tale, get out your journal and write your personal fairy tale.  What have your challenges been?  Where are you going?  How are you going to live happily ever after?  And then jot down your training activities -- if it ain't in the training journal it didn't happen!




Attack and Track, Cram and Exam: Martial Arts Training Involution #226

The September focus is grappling (a.k.a. "stand-up wrestling", a.k.a. "the clinch").  Being able to handle yourself in this range is key to real self-defense.

In this week's involution we're going to hit you with a delightful bit of grappling fitness training followed by some technique training -- namely the way to create space by using braced strikes and crams.

The clinch is where you avoid being carried away, forced to the ground, or smashed against a wall.  This is where the rubber hits the road!

And now on with the show...

 Attack and Track, Cram and Exam: Martial Arts T.I. #226

  • 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.

  • Attack.  Grappling Conditioner #2. Set timer for 3 x 3:00/1:00.  For each 3:00, Splay-n-Punch 1-2, Splay-n-Punch 1-2-3-4, Splay-n-Punch 1-2-3-4-5-6, etc. up to Splay-n-Punch 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10, then start again.  If you’re not dawdling you should be able to get at least 5 climbs done during every 3:00 round — that’s 25 Sprawls and 150 punches.  For the 1:00 “rests” body-lock a heavy bag and squeeze it as hard as you can.  Take as many 12-count breaks as you must in order keep from reaching for the bucket.  I promise it’ll be over in 12 minutes.

  • Track.  Go for a walk in your neighborhood and see if you can find the tracks of an animal.  Tip: Look just after sunrise with the sun at an angle so that you can spot places where the morning dew has been lifted or disturbed.    Follow them as far as you can.  Sketch or photograph the tracks (and any droppings that may be associated with them) and see if you can identify them in a tracking book.  You never know when you may need to hunt for your next meal.

  • Cram.  3 rounds of braced crams.  Watch video below, then set timer for 3 x 3:00/1:00.  Round one, use your naked forearm to brace against, and strike, the bag.  Round two, use a short, blunt training weapon (a wooden knife, escrima stick, etc.).  Round three, a longer blunt training weapon (a jo staff, shinai, cane, bokken, etc.).


  • Exam.  Journaling "exercise." This month's internal focus is journaling, and the goal is to write in your journal every day this month.  Get out your journal and complete 5 clean Push-ups for every day this month you've failed to make a journal entry.  It's no good setting benchmarks, creating to-do items, planning, tracking progress, or any of that if you aren't self-evaluating.  Try to make an entry every day, even if it's only one sentence.  If you forget or get sidetracked, don't sweat it, just start again.   Include your training activities -- if it ain't in the training journal it didn't happen!

Hitches and Stitches: Martial Arts T.I. #225

FYI, the September focus for Cabal Fang is Grappling (a.k.a. "the clinch" or stand-up wrestling) and the symbol is the Quill -- so the T.I.s will revolve around those two pole stars for the course of the month.

And now on with the show...

Hitches and Stitches: Martial Arts T.I. #225

  • 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.

  • Grappling Conditioner #4.  Complete the following as fast as you can: 50 Get-ups, 50 Bodybuilders, and 250 strikes vs. heavy bag.  Take as few 12-count breaks as you need in order to finish, and see if you can beat my PR of 18:45.

  • Learn to tie a sliding sheet bend hitch.  Very useful for tying a quick-release, cinching, collapse-resistant loop in the end of a line.  What if you needed to put a loop around a friend's waist or ankle in a rescue situation?  Perfect!

  • Journaling exercise.  It's no good thinking up goals and making resolutions if you don't do "the work."  What's "the work?"  Things like setting benchmarks, creating to-do items, planning, tracking progress, establishing, evaluating and re-evaluating metrics -- but most especially being in touch with what you are doing and why.  Try to make an entry every day, even if it's only one sentence.  If you forget or get sidetracked, don't sweat it, just start again.   Include your training activities -- if it ain't in the training journal it didn't happen!

The Hunter: Training Involution #224

The Hunter: Martial Arts T.I. #224

  • 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.

  • Grappling Conditioner #3.  Set a countdown timer for 10:00 mins and complete as many sets as you can before the timer beeps of 5 Bag Lifts (regular or Kansas-styled), 10 mounted strikes, and 5 Splay ‘n’ Punch.  Take as few 12-count breaks as you need in order to finish.  Then...

  • Complete this month's constitutional.  Burpees w/ hop (25), Smearing Push-ups (25), Drop Duck-unders (25), Back-ups (50), Ab Punches (1 min -- if training solo use a medicine ball), Get-ups (25), Prisoner Get-ups (25).  If you finish in under 15 minutes, go back and do an extra 5 of each.

  • Learn to tell direction by Orion.  Last month Orion returned to the night sky after his summer absence and is now visible for about an hour before dawn.  It's one of the most visible and easily recognizable constellations in the sky and is perfect for this purpose.  If you can spot Orion, look at the belt of three bright stars.  If they are pointed parallel to the horizon, you're looking east.  If they're almost flat to the horizon, you're looking west.  If they're at about 45° you're looking south.  See picture below (I learned this from Gooley's  great book The Nature Instinct).     

  • Go soulsearching -- in your journal.  Last month we practiced sacred reading, this month journaling.  Think of journaling as sacred writing.  No, you're not writing the Bhagavad Gita or the Bible!  But you are writing down the things that are going on in your life, which then allows you to go back and self-analyze using the four ways of reading sacred books (literally, morally, allegorically and anagogically).  You have a story, and every story has at least four layers of meaning awaiting discovery.  This is what is meant by "finding oneself."  Include your training activities -- if it ain't in the training journal it didn't happen!

Rope and Rag: Martial Arts Training Involution #223

Rope and Rag: Martial Arts T.I. #223

  • 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.

  • 8 mins of martial fitness.  You can do this one unarmed or, if you train with weapons, with a dull training weapon.  Set timer for 8 x 1:00.  Round 1: strike the air while doing Russian Squats.  Round 2: Low Crawl forward and backward up and down your training area making sure your profile is as low as possible.  Round 3: Get-ups.  Round 4: Strikes vs. heavy bag.  Repeat once more for 8 total rounds.  The first time you hit the heavy bag do so standing, the second time do so grounded.  Consider tying a rag to your heavy bag (s) to simulate hair.  See video below.

  • 150 max power kicks vs. heavy bag.  Go as fast and as hard as you can.  Record your time in your training journal and beat it next time.

  • Learn to tie a bowline knot.  The right knot at the right time can save your bacon.  If you need a cinch-proof loop in the end of a line, say you need loop to make a lasso or anchor a line to a post or branch, then you need bowline knot.  See photo set below.   Practice makes perfect.  Tie it and untie it 25 times until you have it down.

  • Sacred reading part 4.  As we've learned in previous weeks, the essence of sacred reading is to analyze the things you read in four different ways: literally, morally, allegorically and anagogically.  Consider that these ways of reading can be applied to all forms of input, not just to sacred literature.  Try reading a newspaper article or interpreting a friend's story in these four ways.   Everything is a story, and every story has at least four layers of meaning awaiting discovery.

  • 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!

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.

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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.