Inspirational Quotes on Potential

“Most people live, whether physically, intellectually or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness, and of their soul's resources in general, much like a man who, out of his whole bodily organism, should get into a habit of using and moving only his little finger. Great emergencies and crises show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed.” William James (letter to W. Lutoslawski, May 6th, 1906)

“You are capable of twenty times more than you think you are.” Mark Divine (8 Weeks to Sealfit, 2014)

“Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.” Black Elk (The Missing Link: Teaching and Learning Critical Success Skills, 2014)

Heritage Arts Group Hike Video & Pics

Sunday 10/2/21 we completed the first ever Heritage Arts group hike — video and pics below. Since 10/2 is the Feast of the Guardian Angels, we did a little prayer service at the top which is in the video

Watch the event calendar and join us for our next group activity!

Group Hike Video & Pics

Interested in what you missed out on last week? Check it out below. And stay tuned for more events so that you can sign up and participate next time!

Group Hike: Mettle Maker #278

The view from the top of the Priest

The view from the top of the Priest

The weekly mettle maker supports all of the Heritage Arts programs — Heritage Self-Defense, Heritage Wildwood, Heritage Fitness and Heritage Spirit — and is extra credit material for both our in-person and remote programs!

Group Hike: Mettle Maker #278

Today is the Heritage Arts Group Hike! If you can’t join us hiking the Priest today, then pick your own hike and get it done!

When you do your hike, you can focus on:

Self-Defense: Can you escape, self-rescue, cover ground while carrying a pack, and still have enough gas in the tank to defend yourself if need be? If that’s not self-defensey enough for you, watch the video below and do some of these exercises!

Fitness: Fit to do what? Fitness means different things to different folks. Depending on who you ask, it might mean looking good naked, being ready to compete in a specific sport, having a BMI in the ideal range, or who-knows-what. If you ask me, it means fit to fight and explore the outdoors, but I’m a martial arts and survival instructor — what do you expect? So ask yourself — what are you training for? What’s the point? And when you find out and/or decide, tailor your fitness program as needed. If you need assistance with doing this kind of analysis and implementation, sign up for the Heritage Fitness program. It’s totally free! We’re a non-profit, remember?

Wildwood: Go outside. How many hours a day do you spend outside? Are you outdoors every day, 12 months per year? Silly questions? Nope. Outdoor skills accrue the same way other skills do — slowly, incrementally, across time. Get outside every day. Keep a journal, and make a daily note about what you observed in your environment. Identify one plant, one bug, one kind of cloud, etc. and sketch it. Check the moon phase by observation, and write that down too. Want more? Sign up for the free Wildwood program.

Spirit: Mountains are special places. There’s a reason why so many spiritual tales and biblical stories take place atop or at the base of mountains. If you have never hiked to a peak, you can’t understand it. If you have, you know what I mean. Get there and understand first hand. Here’s a picture of the view from Sharp Top. For more inspiration, join us at Heritage Spirit for weekly online church.


Feast of St. Michael - 9/29/21

Join us today as we celebrate Holy Communion for the Feast of St. Michael, 9/29/21. To follow along at home, click here and print the Holy Communion Program.

If you would like to have prayers offered for you, a loved one, a friend, for someone who is suffering, ill or who has departed, please email Archdeacon Mitch at mitch@heritageartsinc.com and we will pray for you.

You’ll notice a new painting on the wall behind the altar and some new stained glass. If you’d like to assist in the beautification of St. Barachiel Chapel, please click here to make a donation.

Heritage Self-Defense Third Rank Advancements -- Congratulations!

Congratulations to Morgan, Jack and Allen who all passed the Midnight Quest trial last night, advanced to the rank of Initiate, and earned their blue bandanas in Heritage Self-Defense. Good job everyone!

There are only five ranks in Heritage Self-Defense, and Blue Bandana is the third — so these folks are well on their way to earning black bandanas. They tested themselves, and they tested each other. They looked inward, and now they can look outward in a new way.

They braved the dark so they can see the light.

Start your adventure today! Come out and train with us here in Richmond, VA or sign up for the Heritage Arts Hermit Path distance learning program. Everything we do is completely free (except for your sweat investment of course).

Holy Communion - 9/26/21

Join us today as we celebrate Holy Communion for the Twenty-sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time, 9/26/21. To follow along at home, click here and print the Holy Communion Program.

If you would like to have prayers offered for you, a loved one, a friend, for someone who is suffering, ill or who has departed, please email Archdeacon Mitch at mitch@heritageartsinc.com and we will pray for you.

You’ll notice a new painting on the wall behind the altar and some new stained glass. If you’d like to assist in the beautification of St. Barachiel Chapel, please click here to make a donation.

Nitty-Gritty: Mettle Maker #277

Note: The weekly mettle maker supports all of the Heritage Arts programs — Heritage Self-Defense, Heritage Wildwood, Heritage Fitness and Heritage Spirit.

Nitty-Gritty: Mettle Maker #277

  • Self-Defense: Nitty-gritty beats fancy-flashy every time. As you go into weapon week, ask yourself, “If I’m ever in a self-defense situation and there’s a loose weapon in the environment, could I get to it first, pick it up with skill and precision, and put it to use instantly?” Watch the video below and work your capture and retention drills. Want more martial arts? Join our free distance learning program or come train with us on Tues and Thurs nights from 6 - 7 PM at West End Manor Civic Association, 8600 Lakefront Drive, Richmond VA 23294.

  • Fitness: Fit to do what? Fitness means different things to different folks. Depending on who you ask, it might mean looking good naked, being ready to compete in a specific sport, having a BMI in the ideal range, or who-knows-what. If you ask me, it means fit to fight and explore the outdoors, but I’m a martial arts and survival instructor — what do you expect? So ask yourself — what are you training for? What’s the point? And when you find out and/or decide, tailor your fitness program as needed. If you need assistance with doing this kind of analysis and implementation, sign up for the Heritage Fitness program. It’s totally free! We’re a non-profit, remember?

  • Wildwood: Go outside. How many hours a day do you spend outside? Are you outdoors every day, 12 months per year? Silly questions? Nope. Outdoor skills accrue the same way other skills do — slowly, incrementally, across time. Get outside every day. Keep a journal, and make a daily note about what you observed in your environment. Identify one plant, one bug, one kind of cloud, etc. and sketch it. Check the moon phase by observation, and write that down too. Want more? Sign up for the free Wildwood program.

  • Spirit: How long is your rope? Is it long enough to reach the bottom of the well, or does it fall short? Is it long enough to draw up water to share with those who are thirsty? What water will you pour out into the world this week? What fiery pain will your water quench, what stain will it wash away, what wound will it cleanse? Meditate on this. Lengthen your rope and draw up much water to pour out into the world. For more inspiration, join us at Heritage Spirit for weekly online church.


Holy Communion - 9/12/21

Join us today as we celebrate Holy Communion for the Twenty-fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, 9/12/21. To follow along at home, click here and print the Holy Communion Program.

If you would like to have prayers offered for you, a loved one, a friend, for someone who is suffering, ill or who has departed, please email Archdeacon Mitch at mitch@heritageartsinc.com and we will pray for you.

You’ll notice a new painting on the wall behind the altar and some new stained glass. If you’d like to assist in the beautification of St. Barachiel Chapel, please click here to make a donation.

Seasons: Mettle Maker #276

Note: The weekly mettle maker supports all of the Heritage Arts programs — Heritage Self-Defense, Heritage Wildwood, Heritage Fitness and Heritage Spirit.

Seasons: Mettle Maker #276

  • Self-Defense: Grappling/clinching skill and fitness. The upcoming week’s focus is grappling/clinching. Near-perfect technique and real fitness are required to overcome a taller and/or heavier adversary. Constitutionals are the answer. Here’s a grappling-specific one. Work it with perfect form: 25 reps each of Bag Lifts, Russian Squats, Shoulder Rolls, Duck-unders, Shots, Sprawls, and Bodybuilders. If you don’t know what these exercises are, watch the video below. Want more martial arts? Join our free distance learning program or come train with us on Tues and Thurs nights from 6 - 7 PM at West End Manor Civic Association, 8600 Lakefront Drive, Richmond VA 23294.

  • Fitness: What’s your prehab plan? Many folks have recurring flare-ups, re-injuries, and syndromes, such as ITB pain, various types of tendonitis, and so forth. As discussed last week, overtraining is common and is a leading contributor to these recurrences. Have you reviewed and analyzed your training journals to see what you were doing in the weeks leading up to your injuries and find the causes? Have made changes to your program to prevent future recurrences? Perhaps most important of all, have you put a prehab plan in place to address the underlying strength deficiencies? I just put a prehab plan in place after my second flare-up of wrist pain in connection with martial arts weapon training — see below. If you need assistance with doing this kind of analysis and implementation, sign up for the Heritage Fitness program. It’s totally free (we’re a non-profit, remember?).

  • Wildwood: Fall is coming — do you know what that means? A silly question? Not really. Do you know what date marks the beginning of fall? Do you know which trees are the first to change color in your area? Do you know which edible nuts are the first to fall, roughly when they’ll drop, and how to harvest and prepare them? Do you know how long they’ll keep in the shell? Watch the video below for more info, and if this sort of thing is your cup of tea, sign up for the free Wildwood program.

  • Spirit: Seasons come and go, ever-repeating. Are you stuck in an endless loop just like the seasons, or are you moving forward in your spiritual practice? “That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.” That’s Ecclesiastes 3:15, and if you can come to an understanding of its meaning perhaps you can make a huge spiritual leap forward. Meditate on this scripture. And if you get stuck, watch the video below, and consider joining us at Heritage Spirit for weekly online church.


Quizzical: Mettle Maker #275

Note: The weekly mettle maker supports all of the Heritage Arts programs — Heritage Self-Defense, Heritage Wildwood, Heritage Fitness and Heritage Spirit.

Quizzical: Mettle Maker #275

  • Self-Defense: Take the attached self-defense quiz. CLICK HERE. Nothing fancy, just twelve short questions, but it’s a nice place to start.

  • Fitness: Are you running in the redline too often? Overtraining is common. Most people think they need to train harder when actually they need to train smarter. Answer these five questions and let’s see where you are. 1. Have you had two or more training injuries in the last three years? 2. Have you had more than one bout of tendonitis in the last three years? 3. In the past month, have you been so sore from training that it affected your choice of activities? 4. Have you taken OTC pain relievers after a training session in the last month? 5. Are you sore or injured right now? If you answered “yes” to 3 or more questions you might be overtraining. Click here to sign up for the free Heritage Fitness Program.

  • Wildwood: Do you know the survival formula? When disaster strikes and confusion rears its head, you can regain control by completing a quick seven-point rundown of your situation. If you can’t, you should learn it now. Answers at the bottom of the page.

  • Spirit: What’s your purpose? Everybody has a purpose, even if they don’t realize what it is. So sit down and figure out yours. What are you working for or toward? Are you trying to get to the next payday, the next drink, the next drug score, the next sexual partner, the next delicious meal, gadget, toy, video game, car, or motorcycle? The next promotion, trophy, ribbon, or touchdown? When you have your purpose figured out, ask yourself if it’s finite — like all of the things listed above — or something infinite, like being the best parent, husband, brother, sister, son, daughter, citizen or servant of God that you can be? The ancients had a word for people who were focused on the finite. They called them “idol worshippers” and they were very clear that if you worship tangible things you’ll end up in hell. Did they mean “hell” literally or figuratively? Perhaps both. If the various addictions aren’t hell — drugs, alcohol, porn, entertainment, power, and so on — I don’t know what is. There’s another way to live your life. Join us at Heritage Spirit to find out more.

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The Survival Rundown

1.Safey 2.First Aid 3.Shelter 4.Water 5.Fire 6.Food 7.Fun

First get out of danger, then apply first aid to any injuries. Next make sure you have shelter — not just from weather but from other dangers also, like humans, insects, predators, etc. Next you need water, followed by fire, food, and lastly fun. Why fun? You have to keep your attitude positive and your heart engaged. Negativity, hopelessness and fear will wear you down faster than you think!

Hawk's Cry: Mettle Maker #274

If you’re new in these here parts, the weekly mettle maker supports all of the Heritage Arts programs — Heritage Self-Defense, Heritage Wildwood, Heritage Fitness and Heritage Spirit.

Hawk’s Cry: Mettle Maker #274

Warm-up before training.  To avoid injuries, warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes before you train. Do about 4 minutes each of (a) jogging, jumping rope, or similar activity, and (b) light calisthenics.  Martial artists should do 8 minutes of MBF.  

  • Self-Defense: If you can’t run and you’re forced into a physical self-defense situation, what are the three things you must do? Stop and really think about this. Answers at the bottom of the page. Next week is general self-defense week at Heritage Self-Defense. You gotta know — and practice! — this stuff.

  • Fitness: What are you doing? What are your fitness goals? Does your fitness support an athletic endeavor? Are you trying to look good with your shirt off? Is health your goal, or perhaps just fun? What percentage of your fitness work is devoted to the goal and what percentage is cross-training? Sit down with your training journal, do an analysis, and make adjustments. If you don’t keep a training journal, that’s going to be a major stumbling block to progress, so fix that. Need help? Sign up for the free the Heritage Fitness program.

  • Wildwood: Why should you know the cry of a hawk? The more predators the more prey, so lots of hawks in the area means lots of survival food for you. If you see a hawk making small circles at a couple of hundred feet you can be sure there is small game very close. But often you will hear hawks at off times, when they are not hunting, and thus be assured that they are nesting nearby. Hawks are ambush hunters — they cry to warn other hawks to stay out of their territory and during mating, not when attacking. Here’s the cry of a red-shouldered hawk I spotted just this week.

  • Spirit: That which has been is now. Beauty, truth, and salvation itself, are in the things you have put off, crowded out, and chased away. Watch the video below.

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The 3 Things You Must Do in a Self-Defense Situation

1. Yell, don’t scream.

2. Deliver short, continuous blows from a low center of mass.

3. Move in, move in, move in!

Avoid conflict at all cost. But if you have to fight for your life, be like a freight train — loud, heavy, and moving forward on a rail!

The 3 Essentials of Training Program Design

A basic periodized training plan (courtesy of Ballard referenced below)

You can, in point of fact, teach an old dog new tricks. I’ve gotten older, made the same mistake many times and learned the hard way, and this year I hit 60. My body, like an old motor that has lost its compression, produces far less horsepower. It flat out refuses to train with high volume. Recovery time is longer. And so forth.

In short, the tolerances of the system are far more narrow.

I have had to apply everything I’ve learned over the last 10 years in order to stay fit enough to do martial arts and spar with people in their 20s.

Here are some of the hard-won lessons (should I have used the word “lesion” instead of “lesson?”) that I encourage you to keep in mind as you design your training programs:

  1. There is a huge difference between traditional periodicity (TP), linear progression (LP), and undulating periodicity (UP). Here is a fun little 116-page read by Keith Ballard Painter called A Practical Comparison Between Traditional Periodization and Daily-Undulated Weight Training Among Collegiate Track and Field Athletes that explains some of this (thanks Keith, you’re the man). UP is better than nothing and LP is better than UP, but TP wins with a mic drop.¹

  2. Time spent on the non-essential isn’t just time wasted — it’s actually time stolen from your focus. If you have 8 hours of training time available in a week — 3 for strength and fitness and 5 for your athletic focus — and you spend 1 hour on stuff that is no benefit, you didn’t just waste an hour. You also stole an hour from your athletic endeavor of choice. Focus is everything. Thanks to the immortal Mark Hatmaker for this nugget.

  3. Injuries are proof of overtraining. Sure, accidents happen. But 9 times out of 10, if you get injured during training it’s because you’ve been overtraining.

This has taken years of hard knocks and injuries to learn.

Like you, I’m not a professional athlete. I’m just a guy who wants to be as fit he can be until they put me in casket.

If you let me help you, we can put together a training program that takes you to new heights. Sign up for the free Heritage Fitness program and let’s get started.

¹ There’s a lot wrong with the following blog post from back in 2016, but it’s kind of funny and it shows how hard you have to work at your craft if you’re going to get good at it. I’ve come a long way since then. Lessons learned!

Original Post from 2016:

Periods, Cycles and the Power of Greyskull

Posted on April 6, 2016 | 5 Comments |

About a month ago my son told me he started a new weightlifting program called the Greyskull LP by John “Johnny Pain” Sheaffer.¹  I was intrigued, so I did some research.

This is one hilarious picture (thanks to Matthew Oliphant, whoever you are). I can’t believe how perfect it is for this blog post!

My research revealed two things.  (A) The Greyskull LP program is highly regarded by many experts, and (B) the science of strength and muscle hypertrophy  has progressed a great deal since I got my fitness instructor certificate about ten years ago.

So I started the program, modified slightly for dumbbells because that’s what I have and I don’t want to spend money and space on barbells.  Results are amazing. Only three weeks in, and I’m already pushing more iron that I ever have before.

Which brings me to another realization.  The “LP” in “Greyskull LP” stands for “Linear Progression” and it’s probably what makes the program so effective.

 Linear progressions, clipboards, and rigid systems have not been my thing.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely rigid about my workout schedules.  I don’t skip workouts and I repeatedly have to check myself to prevent over-training.  But for many years, at least since 2013, I have been rolling dice to arrive most aspects of my solo workouts (except for grip strength).  Does that give me good all-around fitness?  Probably.  Does it help prepare me for anything, in true martial arts fashion?  Maybe.  But random workouts cannot  match the consistent gains of progressive, period-ized workout programs (especially when it comes to weight training).

Bottom line: I recommend a mix of progressive, random and static or maintenance workouts, depending on the goal or goals.  

Here’s what my workout schedule looks like right now.  I’ve added colors and the letters “STA,” “LP” and “RND” or “MIX” after each section so that you can see which ones are which type.  Red blocks are static or maintenance workouts, green are progressive, and yellow are random or mixed.

My training plan back in April 2016.

I’d be interested in the opinions of other martial artists.  How do you train? In your opinion, am I on the right track or lost in the weeds?

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¹ My understanding is that the program is called the Greyskull (with an “e” instead of an “a” to avoid copyright issues) because it makes you look like He-Man.

Holy Communion 8/22/21

Holy Communion is now available for viewing and home participation — video below. If you’d like to follow along and say your parts, click this link to print the program for use each Sunday. Note that the program changes for special occasions, as well as during Christmastide and Eastertide.

The text of today’s homily is presented at the bottom of the post. Yours in Christ,

Deacon Mitch



Today’s Homily

Homily for the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sunday 8/22/21

(Readings: Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b, Ps 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21, Eph 5:2a, 25-32, Jn 6:60-69)

Friends, today we are here together truly as brothers and sisters in Christ.  St. Paul says to his Ephesian flock that this is ‘a great mystery’ that we are to be subordinate to one another as brothers and sisters in the family of the Church which is wedded to Christ.  In the spirit of our brother and sisterhood, let’s collectively ponder and perhaps penetrate this mystery.

Together we read of Joshua addressing all the tribes of Israel, and how, in their view, God had guided them through all kinds of adversity, trials and tribulations.  And therefore, they God their worshipful service.  And that’s good – we should be thankful and serve God – but that transactional way of thinking can only take us so far.

It is indeed a hard teaching, a hard and painful pill to swallow, that we can serve God with our whole heart, soul and mind and still things can and often do go wrong.  The workings of God, his plans and designs, are beyond our ability to comprehend.  Our assignment is to internalize and elevate our behavior and our faith such that we are united in our thoughts, desires, actions and beliefs even when terrible adversity enters our lives.  The Eucharist, the rite of bread and wine which Jesus emphatically stresses in today’s Gospel reading, is the act of accepting the living Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into ourselves at a level that is incomprehensibly deep – at once both physical and spiritual.  The Church is wedded to Christ, “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health” no matter what, even when tragedy and hardship assail us.  And the Eucharist is the wedding feast we must all attend.

All of this is sewed up most beautifully in Mt 5:43-45.

 

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters,[o] what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  Mt. 5:43-48