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This announcement has been long in the making and very difficult on a personal level. Nevertheless, life has chosen and thus I have finally come to acceptance of its reality.
After teaching Small Circles of 5 Animals Jujitsu and Combat Survival for nearly 25 years, I find myself in a position where I need to step back. For the last handful of years I’ve struggled with an ever progressive list of intense physical symptoms. Each season that passed they became worse and hindered my ability to teach and do many physical activities. I knew what systems were being affected and how. I also understood part of the core issue behind them, but that core issues didn’t explain everything going on. Finally this past spring I found a set of doctors who were able to positively diagnose. The complication is a two-fold nervous system “disease”. The said “disease” was caused by almost 20 years of intense injuries, trauma and stress from spec-ops; the years of training for it, the last near death experience I had from being poisoned in 05, as well as the chronic complex ptsd. My medical team says this “disease” has been in the works for probably 13 years now. However, because of my level of fitness, training and skill abilities, I was somehow able to stave off the intensities of it until recent years. But it has caught up. Neither of the two core complications have known cures, and yet neither are fatal or contagious. My entire medical team have never encountered one of the conditions before, only read about it. But both together have never been seen by my doctors before, and they have become debilitating. I was filed this year as legally disabled on a permanent status. I have no choice but to start the process of revamping my entire life, and have been working on it since last spring. Beyond working all my self healing protocols and tons of rest, my focuses have shifted heavily toward the other aspect of what I’ve been doing for many years. It is something I’m able to do even with these conditions. And interestingly my skills in that arena have dramatically intensified as my physical body has lessened. I will leave the Small Circles of 5 Animals Jujitsu website up since it does contain a lot of good info. Since it is a complex and slow art to progress through, none of my past students reached master levels in order to continue to art; most unfortunate. So at this time I’ve yet to know where the art will end up. Only time and life know the answers to that question. I may continue to write articles to place on the blog from time to time, and it is possible I may accept or agree to doing interviews as well. Feel free to visit me at both the below links: Viking Wolf Craft Viking Wolf Seiðr
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I originally wrote this article on July 11th 2015 on my now retired Element Mountain Exploratory Wilderness school website. This is a revised repost.
First I will state that most of the chakra system information I have found on the Internet and in books is incorrect and filled with disinformation. The information is clashing and highly contradicting to one another in many of the systems I have looked into. I think the main issues are that most of the information on charkas is very new and stems for source of poor translations, and thus has been and continues to be very loose and open to conditioned and prejudiced interpretation. Far too many new age religion areas have seemingly twisted the chakra information to fit their own belief, ideals and therefore there is not near enough physical bases for the claims. The chakra system is simply an energetic field in-which the organs are situated. The energy is generated from the nervous system, which comes from the brain. Each organ contains its own energy, also created in the brain. It is the organs that control the physical body, not the chakras. If you remove a kidney from a person, both their second and third chakras will suffer. If the chakra controlled the body then removing an organ would not hinder it, the chakra would continue on. The chakras are generated by the nerves coming from the brain, but are ruled by the function of organs and glands found within each energy band. The idea that certain organs are related to chakras is backwards. It should be the chakras are related to the organs. Your skin is warm to the touch not because it is heated by the outside, but rather because heat is generated inside. Our outer energy signature is created from within, because of the functions of our internal systems. Now for more detail. The consciousness comes into the body through the brain, of course. When the prenatal energy of the body is formed, our system is reliant upon our mother’s energy. Unborn and mother are basically one in the same. Only after the infant is born does the new life begin to slowly take on its own energy. This takes time. The reason it takes time is due to the development of the brain, which is born undeveloped. As the brain develops it feeds energy through the growing nervous system to the growing organs. This process takes years and years to reach a state of development completion. This is one reason it is so detrimental for young teens to drink alcohol, because their livers are still developing and cannot handle it. While the brain is working on the slow development of the organs, among countless other areas of the body, the personality and conscious memory are also being developed, like I wrote about in previous articles on trauma and I think even in my PTSD book. Even though many of the organs are underdeveloped at birth, they still function and thus give off their own energy. Now the interesting thing to note is that the chakra system of a newborn is rather thin and singular as opposed to an adult. A typical healthy adult has a thicker (varies from person to person and area to area around the body) and very segmented chakra structure. The 7 chakras are well divided and stable within themselves while reliant upon the entire system to uphold balance. However, the chakras themselves are birthed and maintained by the nervous system and the organs and glands. The second, third, fourth and fifth chakras emanate out of ganglion nerve bundles located on the inside of the spine. The first chakra is generated out of the crossing of the front male energy and the rear female energy of the body. This point is referred to as either the premium or conception vessel 1. The female energy the runs the front of the body moves toward the rear of the body where it travels up the and down the spine. The transition between the male and female energy occurs low at the perineum and this generates the first chakra. The seventh chakra at the crown of the head is generated by those energies again, but also by the division of the frontal lobe of the brain and the parietal lobe. The point is known as Governor Vessel 20. It is a powerful energy crossing point. Interestingly just off to the sides of that point lie the motor functions of both the feet and the genitalia. The sixth chakra comes out of the pineal gland with the assistance of the pituitary gland, and the brain stem. The organs come into play in the creation of each chakra as well. Each chakra contains organs or glands for a reason, the organs help create and maintain the chakras. Starting with the heart chakra, the fourth, even though it is called the heart chakra, it is created and maintained by not only the heart, but also the lungs, thymus gland, gall bladder and liver. The intricate organ relationships I have discussed in the organ health articles works with the ganglion bundles to literally create the chakra. The thymus sits at the very top of the heart chakra. The heart and most of the lungs sit at the center and the top of the liver and gall bladder set at the bottom of the chakra. Each of those organs generates its own energy, partly creating the chakra, but also communicating with other organs as previously described, generating the real dynamics of the chakra. The heart chakra is generated by the ganglion nerve bundle on the spine, but its dynamics, health, color, sound and overall functionality are created and governed by the liver feeding the heart energy and the spleen feeding the lung energy. The balance structure for the heart chakra comes from the communication of opposites. The heart is balanced by the small intestine and the lungs are balanced by the large intestine. Male/female – female/male. It is the healthy communication through energy between the heart chakra organs and their lower counterpart viscera that allows for the chakra to uphold a state of equilibrium – positive/negative – light/dark, one relies upon the other and in-turn there is balance. If any of the above fails to properly communicate through energy with its counterpart, or one organ weakens and fails to feed the other organ (parent to child), then balance is lost and the chakra energy falters. The chakra energy does not falter from external energies, but rather from internal disruption since the chakra energy is merely an outward radiance of the internal network. That is a solid and real example of one chakra band and organ dynamic. But what of a chakra area containing no organs? Let us look at the first chakra, the root chakra. No organs exist that low. Only the male testes hang into that lowest chakra. However, we must remember the crossing and exchange of opposite energies that takes place in the first chakra as energy moves from the front of the body to the back of the body. Also it is important to note the major liver, spleen and kidney meridians running up the inside of the leg and through the inguinal region. The inside of the extreme upper thigh is in the first chakra, as is the perineum and in females, vaginal opening. All of those are governed by major organs above. The male and female front and rear energies of the body are created by the individual functions and inter-relationships of each organ. Remove an organ and the entire balance of this highly intricate relationship pattern is harmed, even unto total collapse and death. Our physical life exists within each organ. As organs weaken and falter, pieces of our physical life leave the body. Eventually death occurs because there is not enough organ strength to maintain the spirit inside the body. The first chakra is created by that energy transition, but upheld, maintained and fully governed by the liver, kidneys and spleen. The kidneys and lungs, water and air or metal, push energy downward and the spleen earth, fertile growth pushes energy upward, balance and opposite movement which creates electricity, energy… a chakra that contains an “underground river”, the crossing male to female energy. The middle organs have their opposites rather side-by-side. Spleen-Stomach, Liver-Gall Bladder and Kidney-Urinary Bladder. This ratio of opposites within the close proximity positioning creates a tighter and denser energy structure. The chakras also then reflect this denser energy the lower we go into them. The other main point to the article is the movement of the chakras. There’s a large amount of wrong information today concerning how chakras move. Today there are seemingly countless people teaching others in the western world that chakras move in and out from the chakra center like a spiral or tornado. One tornado movement out the rear of the body for each chakra and one out the front. This is wrong. The lungs create what is called Wei Chi. Wei Chi is the chi/energy that surrounds and protects the body. The stronger a person’s lungs are, typically the stronger their Wei Chi. This is the first energy defense of the human immune system. When Wei Chi is weak it allows external pathogens to invade the body. If our chakras actually formed tornado type energy that literally drilled in and out of our bodies, then it would create holes in our Wei Chi. If the chakra actually pulled external energy into our bodies through these spiral vortexes, then any and all external pollution, pathogens and other harmful energies would easily invade our systems. The lungs create Wei Chi because there is a LOT outside of us that is downright harmful to the interior of our bodies. The chakras DO NOT move like spiraling vortices in and out of the body. If we go back to the region where the recognition of chakras came from, India, and look at the old texts and teachings, we find the truth. All the old texts, the old teachings state the facts of how the chakras move. I will cite one example many. Let’s take a book that isn’t extremely old, but follows the old text teaching quite well. Ashtanga Yoga, Primer by Baba Hari Dass and published in 1981 states on page 12, “Chakras are specific energy centers that are related to the various actions of Parana. Each of these centers is circular with a central point of focused energy known as bindu; thence the name chakra, which means “wheel”. The chakras lie horizontally within sushumnanadi.” The book goes to describe 7 chakras, not 8 or 9 or 12, but 7 only. It also clearly states the chakras lie horizontally, are circular in shape and spin like a wheel. Like a barrel the spin around the body, containing it, protecting it, like the Wei Chi of the lungs. So why is there so much disinformation, contradictions and just plain wrong information about the chakras floating around in the modern world? I think the main reasons are as follows:
Chakras are nothing more than energy compilations of the organs and organ dynamic output. This is why you can find similar emotions in each chakra and even functions, because the organs creating and controlling them are in various areas of the body and in very complex communication with other organs, glands, nerves, and so on. The organs are specific, the chakras are general. The organs and hormones create emotions, not chakras. Yes organs contain emotions because they contain hormones and electrical currents from the brain. If you have a congested liver you will feel angry and irritable. If you have weak lungs you could feel depression and grief. Weak kidneys promote excessive fear. Chakras can be read simply because they contain these energy outputs from within the body. But reading chakras is not at all complete. Like I said, they are general energies only that tend to be very open to interpretation, much like palmistry and star charts. I hope this helps to clear up any confusion concerning both chakras and organs. I have written about this, done podcasts on this, held lectures and seminars going into great detail on this topic over the course of 10 years. This is just a very simple introductory article for those unfamiliar with the subject. I originally wrote this article in October of 2016 on my now retired Element Mountain Wilderness Exploratory schools website.. So this is a repost.
Our human bodies go through cycles based upon time, the clock itself as it follows a 24 hour circle. This cycle continues from the day we are born until the day our bodies give up the ghost. Of course depending upon our age and health will determine the efficiency and exactness of the cycle the body follows within each 24 hours. For example, a healthy adolescent or adult will have the highest spleen energy and functioning between 9-11 am each late morning. However, if a person has a weak spleen the spleen energy may not be so high during that time and actually lean towards a deficiency of energy that could even be taken over by liver energy. Nonetheless, for the sake of some mere basics to point to in this short article, you will find the following part of the overall 24 hour body cycle for human beings. If we begin at noon, 12pm, and move forward from there we will note the following:
If we look to the other end of the 24 hour clock we can find functions such as these happening:
The organs go through a 24 hour cycle of high energy times and low energy times. The basic layout of the 24 hour organ body clock is as follows: 23:00 hrs to 01:00 hrs – Gall Bladder – high energy – Heart – low energy 01:00 hrs to 03:00 hrs – Liver – high energy – Small Intestine – low energy 03:00 hrs to 05:00 hrs – Lungs – high energy – Urinary Bladder – low energy 05:00 hrs to 07:00 hrs – Large Intestine – high energy - Kidney – low energy 07:00 hrs to 09:00 hrs – Stomach – high energy - Pericardium – low energy 09:00 hrs to 11:00 hrs – Spleen – high energy – Triple Warmer – low energy 11:00 hrs – 13:00 hrs – Heart – high energy – Gall Bladder – low energy That completes half the 24 hour cycle. You will note that the organs are paired yin and yang. All major organs are yin energy and their excreting opposite is the yang. Lungs, for example, take in energy/breath and are thus yin in quality, but the opposite organ to the lungs is the urinary bladder, which excretes and thus is the yang organ. The next 12 hour cycle of the total 24 hours is simply the direct opposite organ association. Notice we started with the span of the midnight hour, 23:00 hrs to 01:00 hrs – Gall Bladder – high energy – Heart – low energy. We ended with the exact opposite over the noon hour span, 11:00 hrs – 13:00 hrs – Heart – high energy – Gall Bladder – low energy. The same goes for the rest of the clock. 13:00 hrs to 15:00 hrs – Small Intestine – high energy – Liver – low energy 15:00 hrs to 17:00 hrs – Urinary Bladder – high energy – Lungs – low energy 17:00 hrs to 19:00 hrs – Kidney – high energy - Large Intestine – low energy 19:00 hrs to 21:00 hrs – Pericardium – high energy - Stomach – low energy 21:00 hrs to 23:00 hrs – Triple Warmer – high energy – Spleen – low energy Back to the start: 23:00 hrs – 01:00 hrs – Heart – high energy – Gall Bladder – low energy There is a ton more detail along this 24 hour cycle of the human body. Learning it and understanding it can greatly increase our ability to manage our bodies through each day and season, heighten self awareness, design and embrace the most beneficial habits and lifestyles and truly get in touch with the many surface and deep levels of our physical systems. Even further it can assist us in relating to and understand other people and their habits, weaknesses and strengths. This can be an exceptional tool for anyone in the medical field, an employer (boss) of others and teachers of any subject! For martial training and combat training… I’m sure you can begin to see the benefits of studying, learning and immersing one’s self in the depths of this knowledge. When it comes to training, sweat is part of the process. Everyone knows that sweating is one of the body’s mechanisms to cool it down by way of shedding excess heat built up internally. Working out certainly builds up excess heat, that if not shed would damage organs, the brain and other major systems of the body. So, we sweat.
Most people have heard that sweating is healthy, and the more one sweats during exercise the healthier they are. We can, however, over-sweat and drain out bodies not only of essential fluids, but also minerals, vitamins, essential core yin fluid and imbalance the electrolytes. All of this stresses every major organ, the nervous system, endocrine system, respiratory system, circulatory system, lymphatic system and others. In old school TCM (traditional Chinese medicine), sweating depletes ad weakens the blood. Many medications and health issues prevent or decrease people’s ability to sweat, which is just as bad as sweating too much. Multiple sclerosis, Demyelinating conditions, Diabetes and other conditions prevent proper sweating. Alcoholism, Clonidine, Barbiturates, Opioids, Anticholinergics and other medications and abuses also prevent the body from sweating at proper and healthy levels. When training in contact sports and combative modalities, getting the sweat from others on you is a natural part of the activity. You don’t even need to be part of any of that to exchange sweat. All a person needs to exchange sweat is to have an intimate partner! While sweating is healthy, it has its downsides for sweat exchange. Beyond cooling the system down, the body also sweats to detoxify itself. Again, common knowledge. But what isn’t really common knowledge is what comes out of the body in sweat. We live in a toxic environment within this industrialized and “modernized” world. Our bodies are much like the oceans – they accumulate large amounts of toxins. We not only take in toxins through our mouths with foods, water and air, but also our ears, nose and through our skin; our pores. We have about 18 square feet of skin that contains around 650 sweat glands per square inch. If my math is correct that means we have about 4 million sweat glands! Skin is not only or largest organ, but also the largest area we have to absorb toxins… and release them. The skin is porous. Sweat and toxins come out and the external world seeps in. Just look at how many medications are applied to the skin because the body absorbs and utilizes it far better than taking it through the mouth. Our skin breathes constantly – fact. Another fact is that toxic chemicals taken into the body many times are excreted far easier through the skin in the form of sweat than through the bowels or urine. Chemicals (beneficial and harmful ones) such as: Phthalates, PCB’s (polychlorinated biphenyls – not all but some of them), Methadone, Tin, Thallium, Lead, Nickel, Antimony, Amphetamines, Bisphenol, Cadmium, Arsenic, Mercury, Iron, Aluminum, Zinc, Magnesium, Potassium, Sodium, Manganese, Chromium, Chloride and Copper to name a few. Back to close contact training. When we are working out with a partner, and sweating, we are excreting toxins. Your training partner is also excreting toxins through their sweat. What you sweat out, your partner’s skin will partly absorb, especially when hot and the pores are wide open. And the same goes for your skin, absorbing what your partner’s skin excretes. We not only breathe in possible toxins the other person breathes out; just by exchanging sweat we can be exposed to toxins from another person. The more skin we have exposed, the more sweat exchange occurs. We cannot avoid this kind of exchange if we are involved in anything requiring close contact while participating in sweat inducing activities. But it is something to be aware of. It can help to know who you are exchanging sweat with; their lifestyle, level of health, diet, etc. Showering immediately after working out can help cleanse the skin of lingering toxins, and help the pores clear surface toxins. Hydrating after working out is also an essential aspect of helping the body clean out toxins, not only the urination, but also through the lingering sweat process as the body works to cool down. Hydrate – exercise and continue hydrating – sweat – stop exercising – hydrate more while the cool down sweat happens – shower – hydrate some more with lightly salted water We are not germless, pure organic forms of physical life. But the body continually tries to clean itself from toxic overload. And the more the modern industrialized pursuit and mentality moves along, the more toxic our environment becomes; meaning the more toxic we have the potential of becoming. And our body’s natural methods of detoxing can actually be toxifying to others. On another note, one reason we sweat when we are in pain is because it is a way the body works to combat the pain experience. Sweating produces enkephalin, which is a neurotransmitter that literally reduces the mental and physical perception of pain, both physical and emotional pain. I’ve always told people that before they begin a training regime that would require close contact with others, to go through a detoxification process first, one agreed upon by their healthcare practitioner. It is something not only healthy and empowering to the individual, but also a respectful thing to do for the people they will train with. Most of last year I was mentally working through the idea of a different direction of focus concerning teaching. With the whole global virus scare and so many lockdowns, closures and fear keeping people at home and avoiding personal interaction, I had ample time to ponder.
In the end it was a difficult decision and one I didn’t make lightly. I have chosen to step back for a bit from teaching classes in a school setting. One might call it a sabbatical of sorts. But I prefer to think of it as a new path of direction. Starting this year of 2021 I will only be offering self defense workshops to organizations requesting, and once things open back up after the Covid scare is over, offer the occasional combat camp, which will be determined completely by solid interest. I have become an instructor at both the Vermont Center for Responder Wellness and The Institute for Trauma Recovery and Resiliency. Most all of my teaching activities are now taking place at those organizations. I am presenting trauma sensitive Tai Chi, Kata and Mindfulness practices to clients and staff. Once the covid restrictions and severe mandates are released, the level of interaction and class offerings will increase. At this time the classes are directed at the IOP (intensive outpatient program) for both men and women groups. The Institute for Trauma Recovery and Resiliency is open to the public and assists people dealing with trauma navigate the healing process with a well-rounded, highly experienced and caring staff. The Institute offers therapies such as EMDR, DBT, CBT, trauma sensitive yoga, breathing exercises, mindfulness, Tai Chi and Kata, acupuncture, Reiki, Cranial Sacral and more. The Vermont Center for Responder Wellness is designed to work with and assist responders (police, military Vets, medics, fighter fighters) and their immediate families who are struggling with trauma. The VCRW also offers a wide range of highly effective therapies listed above, presented by an equally talented, caring staff. I feel very strongly about funneling my focus and offering my skills and energy towards these two projects, and find them both to be incredibly worthy and needed establishments in today’s insanely fast paced, high stress and trauma ridden world. I believe so deeply in these two Institutes and their pursuits and am proud to have become part of their team. Feel free to visit both their websites (linked above), contact them if you wish, sign up for their newsletters if you desire and share with anyone you feel might benefit from their services. I’ve been asked so many times over the years as to what I think is the most important aspect of close-quarter combat training. Before I detail, I’ve found the answer holds true for martial arts training and pretty much any other physically demanding activity requiring honed movements demanding speed and accuracy.
Firstly, where do things like speed, accuracy, stamina, lightening reflexes, and the ability to focus movement and awareness in more than one direction at once come from? Of course some comes from the many systems running in the body, and their ability to run efficiently. Everything from the circulatory system, respiratory system, digestive system, endocrine system, lymphatic system, nervous system; all the meridians and the many layers of body tissue come into play. Even a highly trained individual will succumb to physical breaks in hardcore activity if a single system forms a weakness. That is just life. However, even with all the physical training in the world, it’s just the lesser aspect of close-quarter combat training. Those who excel in martial arts, combat training, and other highly demanding and dynamic physical activity, all share another level of skill. If, for example, someone wishes to get a chance at gaining entry into something like Special Forces training, before physically and emotionally tested, they are mentally tested. The key to excelling in a highly demanding and dynamic physical activity is found in the power of the brain. Intelligence is the key. Though we cannot limit the meaning of intelligence to a single form. Intelligence must be honed in many forms. The brain controls every aspect of the body. Strength, speed, accuracy, stamina, vigor, control, power, movement dynamics and everything else all comes from brain function before it becomes body function. I’ve seen so many people train their bodies to insane levels trying to excel in their sport, activity, and fighting style, whatever, but without doing the same with the brain; the skill will only go so far. A wide variety of brain skills need to be utilized exercised and honed in order that the most dynamic physical abilities benefit. Skills such as:
Each one of those skills activates different regions of the brain, giving the brain a full workout and thus developing all areas. Just like the many forms of exercise and training to develop all the regions of the body, the brain also needs the same attention to not only develop, but also heal and rebuild over the years. The old saying goes that we only use 10 percent of our brains, but this is not a fact. In all actuality research has shown us that the many regions of the brain all function at varying rates and times, and all together those functions in a healthy brain constitute 100 percent usage. Remember, the body only follows the brain and so can only function as well as the brain. The more of the brain that is exercised and developed, the more of the body will benefit. The intelligence level of any individual comes down to how many connections there are between brain cells. Every time we learn something new our brains create new connections between cells. These synapses are the real key to brain power. Another reason to train our brains as diligently as our bodies is the fact that ongoing stress kills cells in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is a crucial region of the brain involved in memory. And with stress in today’s modern world being as common as air, we are gifted with brain plasticity. Medical science has proven the brain can re-grow neurons through brain training, all the way through our lives, no matter the age. But also physical activity has been proven to lower the risk of dementias. So training the brain assists both brain and body, and exercising the body assists both body and brain. In the early 1990’s researchers showed that those who exercise regularly were quicker to learn new material. They also showed people that exercise regularly (or are simply physically active), are better at focusing, less easily distracted, can learn faster and remember more efficiently than those people who do not. Since about 20 percent of the oxygenated blood flowing out of the heart goes to the brain, proper breathing exercises become an essential part of a healthy brain. Breathing isn’t just important for good physical health! A smooth and free flowing circulatory system is also not only essential to good physical health, but also brain function. Blood is like water in the body, both are yin fluids. If we are dehydrated the yin fluid coagulates, bind and slow. Since our brains are about 70 percent water, it takes good hydration practices to keep the brain – fluid. The brain takes a lot of energy to function properly and efficiently, and this means the body and brain must be exercised equally. A highly varied physical exercise/activity regime helps hone the entire body. Likewise, a highly dynamic and rich exercise routine for the brain helps is heal, grow and function at peak levels. And since the brain consumes around 20 to 25 percent of our daily calorie intake, it is just as important to eat a healthy and well rounded diet for good brain health. To put the energy expenditure of the brain into perspective, there is an average of 100 billion neurons in the human brain. Between each neuron there can be between 1,000 and 10,000 synapses happening! Within a section of the brain no larger than a single grain of sand it is said there are about 1 billion synapses communicating with one another. Combine that with the fact that information can travel around 268 miles per hour through our brain tissue! No matter how you look at it, the brain takes a lot of energy to function. Healthy well exercised, well fed brain = more opportunity for better body function Healthy well exercised, well fed body = more opportunity for better brain function Activities such as reading (both fiction and non-fiction), drawing, painting, writing poetry, studying music, studying languages, mathematics, geometry, physics, puzzles of all kinds, riddles, games of all sorts, geography, awareness and observation games, adaptability challenges (ingenuity development), speed thinking activities and slow burn thought process challenges (short-term and long-term focus activities), changing up habitual activities and challenging yourself to think about and do new/different things than your usual routines and preferences - all of these kinds of things will exercise your brain and help it grow no matter your age! The old saying, “The best way to defeat your opponent is to out think them”, is very much a true statement. Another good saying is that far more fighters lose a fight than win one. Basically this reflects human nature of making mistakes and mistakes in a fight usually loses a fight. Therefore the mistake loses the fight rather than the other person successfully winning by outsmarting their opponent. In my Roots of the Warrior blog series, I have stated: Prices are paid through training. We do not rise under adverse conditions to the level of our expectations. Instead we fall to the level of our training and what we have or have not paid. The key to the most efficient close-quarter combat training, or any other highly dynamic physical activity = training and feeding the brain just as much and dynamically as the body. Simple as that, do not neglect either. When most people think about or have the desire to learn to become a warrior they usually have no concept of what it actually entails. Well how could they? If one has not become the embodiment of a warrior then one cannot fully comprehend that state of being. That is truly what it is, a state of being. I explained a little of this in the article series called Roots of the Warrior quite a while ago.
This short article isn’t about becoming a warrior. Rather its focus is the misconception concerning training. Typically when someone starts a path towards growing into a warrior and embracing a life of a warrior, they want to delve right into learning how to fight and use weapons. It’s an ego thing. Even if someone has become proficient at fighting and weaponry, this is a far cry from a warrior. The training path of a warrior must begin far earlier than learning fighting skills. Before learning weapons and fighting techniques and dynamics, a growing warrior must learn to be proficient in the arts of Survival, Adaptability and Ingenuity. The skills, mindsets and layered understanding of:
If someone is incapable due to ignorance of keeping themselves alive and well in the primitive regions of this world, just as the modern ones, they are not a warrior. Even if they are an exceptional fighter, they are just a fighter. All of the above skill sets are far more important for the entire lifestyle of a true warrior than knowing how to fight and wield weapons. One must be able to survive and fully live in the natural elements, just like the modern ones, to remain alive, strong, well, wise and centered if one is to have the realistic opportunity to fight for a cause and purpose. Like I said, anyone can learn to fight, but that doesn’t make them a warrior when the natural world could easily kill them with the strength of their own ignorance and lack. In most pre-technological cultures around the world; Native American, Celt, “Viking”, African, and Asian for example, all started warrior training at home and most with the mother. Kids learned first skills of the household and then skills to survive and live off the land away from the home long before they ever began studying to fight. By the time they began training to fight they were more proficient at the above listed skills that most adults today. Even Special Forces today, around the globe are highly trained in the arts of primitive survival. If you want to become a warrior you will need the diligence, patience and fortitude to broaden your training far more than fighting dynamics. Otherwise just stick to fighting. It takes far less time, energy, dedication, brain-power and layered development of the self to gain proficiency. What are some of the more important qualities to possess and utilize in a combat situation? Of course there are many, but just to list a few:
When you stand before your opponent you need to employ the highest level of observation/awareness as you possess. It behooves you to read their strengths and weaknesses in body, mind and spirit before ever the first physical moves take place. Without this ability to read your opponent you will walk into a confrontation completely blind, and if they can read you, game over. The intention should be set into place with your heart and mind upon reading your opponent. The intent can vary depending on what strengths and weaknesses you find. For instance, if you see that your opponent is bullheaded and in a blind fury, unable or unwilling to listen to any sort of reason, then your intent would most likely be very different than if you read hesitation, fear in their heart or perhaps some sort of injury. A great view of strategy then steps onto the stage. Once you’ve read your opponent and you’ve set your intentions based upon that reading, it is time to design your strategy. What will it require to lead you to the final destination, or end of confrontation? Physically speaking you can employ angles, distance, timing, and feinting, hard and soft advances and so on. But on the finer levels of the game you can think in terms of deception and manipulation. That is where the master game is played as all combat relies upon those two art forms. Is your opponent stronger than you, larger; are they shorter, slower, quicker? How is their reach? How are they built? That will usually tell you where their physical strengths lie, as well as their weaknesses. So many people are predictable if they don’t have lots of training, and even more importantly, experience. Bigger people tend to rush smaller folk in an attempt to crush. Smaller people tend to aim for speed with hit and run’s. How do they stand? What do they look at when viewing you; chest, eyes, shoulders, knees? What are they wearing and how can any of it be used to your advantage? It makes little sense to try a body punch to someone who is wearing many layers and a full winter parka! Likewise trying to toe stomp someone wearing heavy work boots (possible steel toe) is also not a solid option. BUT work boots are heavy which slows down the legs and can give more leverage to crank the knee joint. And a heavy winter parka with many layers underneath also slows down movement and gives ample opportunity for grasping and tangling. What sort of terrain are you on? What is the air temperature and humidity like? Will wetness or dryness be able to assist you? High humidity creates sweat which can interfere with vision but also grease someone’s skin to make grasping more difficult. Humidity combined with heat can cause breathing to be labored. It can also make terrain slippery. Dryness can interfere also with breathing, especially with exertion. Where is the light source? Could positioning be used to allow the light source to help you advance or retreat? The more you can read in your opponent the more of an opportunity for advantage you will gain. This means not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally. A wise combatant will try utilizing their own mind to overcome their opponents mind long before using their body. Out think the opponent before trying to out fight them. But just as important in using strategy on the emotional level. Elevating or suppressing someone’s emotional state can end a physical confrontation before it ever begins, or press them to make a mistake right from the get-go. Make them angry and they may overreact, over commit. Induce fear and it will undermine their desire, their intent to fight and steal their inner stability and force them to make a mistake. They want to fight so where did that desire come from? Which emotion led that commitment? Not only which emotion, but if you study emotions you can take a pretty good guess of the topic range of where that leading emotions was born out of. Is it Fear – insecurity. Anger – comes out of fear. Grief – fighting out of the pain of loss. Jealousy – the pain of not feeling self worth. Depression – fear of feeling nothing, like you’re just slipping away. Every emotion has a reason, a birthplace and can be manipulated, or the resulting action can be capitalized upon. Action stems from emotion, some desire being forced to the surface from the deeper layers of the psyche. We do not act unless we have a desire to do so, and that comes from an emotion and that emotion comes from a deeper reason. In a confrontation, the more you can read in the other, the more you can control the situation. You can then dictate what sort of endurance is necessary to carry out the tactics. Let’s briefly look at this on a larger scale. Today we are in the middle of what is being called a Pandemic. There is now plenty of contradictory information that makes one seriously question the reality of the COVID-19 virus. Major doctors; virologists, immunologists, scientists and people of like training and experience around the world have and continue to come forward with their proof of this Pandemic hoax. That much is clear. What is hazy are the exact reasons why. Of course we hear reports of pharmaceutical corporations mainly being able to make their insane amounts of money through vaccines today as opposed to other medications. Create a Pandemic, even if it is a hoax, and create a new miracle vaccine to administer to the population. We also hear about and see new public control measures being implemented around the world at a rapid pace. Reports also claim while small businesses have been forcefully closed, and many going out of business because of it, big business is raking in the cash. There is a fear that China will now start sweeping in to buy up as many suffering small business as possible during this global crisis. Reports by some people also claim that while much of the world is under a mandatory Stay Home, Stay Safe quarantine (enforced by the law in many regions of the world now), companies involved in the new 5G technology are erecting as many towers as possible while the public eyes are partly blinded. They are all over the place now throughout the Internet, just do some research and you will see. Who knows what else is being done tactically while the public eyes are blinded? After all, it is a presidential election year in America and there is a huge movement to unseat the current administration. What better way than to instill in the public eye a serious lack of trust in the president and his administration - and a pandemic blown out of proportion by the google owned media could do just the thing. Constantly present lies to the public about what is really going on, point fingers at a man in the high seat who has no control over it and enforce excessive and abnormal rules and regulations to keep people in fear and misery. Personally I do feel there is a virus, but I don't believe its a dangerous as the media claims, unless perhaps someone has other severe underlying health issues upon contracting it. I don't buy the story about this virus being of nature's making from bat to human mutation. The virus to me reeks of human design. You wait, before long the system will create a "cure"/vaccine or something of the sort and push it on the world. Of course like many vaccines it will be toxic, but I bet this one will end up having something special inside, and so will be pushed extra hard. Perhaps it will even be mandatory. My guess is that this so called virus will mutate (perhaps not on its own) at a later date to not only keep the population in a state of continual virus fear (and fear of people and interacting with the world), but also to try and get more of the population to vaccinate with whatever toxic substances they create. Mutations will give the establishment the reasons they need to force more extreme regulations and to continue an acute state of global control. My guess is the virus will probably mutate numerous times (conveniently spread-out) in order to keep the freedom reducing regulations fresh and regularly updated. Any "mutation" will be as unnaturally occurring as the "virus". Look at the first part of this article and put the dots together. We are told the death rate has skyrocketed because of this global Pandemic of COVID-19. But if we look at the CDC website we clearly see a very different picture. This chart from the CDC says it all: CDC Chart 1 The total death rate has not increased from this "virus". They've just redistributed the deaths to account for deaths from the "virus". This shows the normal death rate for the year 2017. CDC Chart 2 If you divide 2839205 by 365 days per year, you get about 7779 deaths per day in all of America. Looking at the first chart listed, the total deaths of 476602 from 2/1 to 4/4 is equivalent to 7565 deaths per day. So it has actually decreased from 2017. What can we see going on since December 2019 until today? Awareness --- The “Secret State”, “Hidden Agencies” (or many other names for a globally positioned and potently powerful organized people) are more aware of the nature and habits of the masses than most. With the very start of the public surveillance programs, NSA Project SHAMROCK in the mid 1940's, Project MINARET in the 40's, Project Amber in the 60’s, TRAILBLAZER Project, and the FBI DCSnet, all the way through today with mind boggling technological advancements on a global scale, human habits are one of the most documented things on the planet. Read and know your enemy – acute observation and the ability to interpret are vital. How and why will they act and react to any situation presented? Plan accordingly. Many people among the global masses live in fear, low self worth, anger or depression. Easy to manipulate if you create a situation that amplifies any of them.
Intent --- With that information set your intentions. What do you want to accomplish? Strategy --- Layout the master plan to manipulate the masses around the world, especially the industrialized regions. Feinting – is it an escaped bioweapon of China? One smuggled in from an opposing country? A mutated virus from wildlife? Natural immune system toxic releases from a new and intense technological stressor? What is it? Is it this, or that, or his fault, or her fault? Where did it come from and why? There is so much information from so many different places right now we really don't know for sure what the bottom line really is. Flood the public with vast amounts of contradicting information; keep them confused, frustrated in fear, anger and depression and sooner or later most just give up caring. Pacing --- start slow, set the stage and then escalate the situation tactically to make sure it has the full desired effect of widespread fear and panic – easier to implement new controls with a fear ridden population. Hit a single region in China first. Let it grow, develop and deploy the properly weighted stories and fabricated facts. Let the anger and fear of the rest of the world start pointing fingers and hate at the country and its people. Then allow it to “spread” a little ways, like the Middle East, to show its ability to move. Move it next to mainland Europe to start really inducing fear and panic. Then onward to America. Angles --- Employ the media to do what they do best – LIE, distract from facts and real events and spread panic. All the while allowing intricately placed power pieces in government to manipulate the direction of the mainstream government and its policies. Just look up Operation Mockingbird. After the assassination of JFK in the 60's the CIA coined the term "conspiracy theory/theorist". They used this term as a weapon against the public to slander and deface anyone who questioned the mainstream flow of information they wanted to feed to the world. In less than a decade Operation Mockingbird was devised and employed to fully capitalize upon the public information release platform. Leading --- Employ globally known and controlled organizations like the CDC, Media, Military, Law Enforcement, Medical Community and major corporations to generate non-factual details that are designed to blanket the public eye and convince them of a lie. Once in fear, lead them where you want. Deception --- Tis the name of the game. It is the one major player that ensures a strong possibility of success when the smaller percent is opposing the larger. Project Mockingbird created in the 60's is in full swing right now through the media. Create a media monopoly, feed it lies and watch the mockingbirds chatter across the nation and world. Manipulation --- at every turn. Even if a cure is found I'm sure it would be suppressed to keep people dying and the public in fear and dread so that ultimate control factor remains in-place. I bet anyone who would find and publicly announce they found a cure for the virus would be defaced across the country before the day was out. Then lies would be created about the cure to brainwash the public into believing the cure is in-fact deadly onto itself. Tactics, Employing strategy --- time to layout the grand plan into action. Start in a location that already has a strong military and law enforcement control over the population – China. Start there because it is easy then to force people into lockdown and even easier to completely sensor the information they can receive or send, like the Internet. The people become blind and the rest of the world’s public will only receive what the big players what them to. Let the staged information percolate across the globe, planting seeds of fear. Then open up the next stage of the game – the spread. Then the next – new control measures. Then work on new fortifications, such as tower erecting and satellite deployment and institutions to house and contain people. And all the while manipulating supply and demand, the global economy and people’s now and future ability to move/travel… Endurance --- percent and timeframe already foreseen and planned for in the Strategy level. Once you begin such a global plan of attack you need the insight, resources and energy to see it through, and then some or it fails before it begins. Strength --- show the opponent strength in a way that makes them feel comfortable. In this case create a major fear and then be the strong leaders and sturdy shoulder to lean on. Tell the kids of a boogeyman and then supply them with a nice hug, snugly blanket and a nightlight before going to bed. And all the while knowing they won’t step foot out of their beds that night because of the fear seed that took root. Precision --- the key to the new control measures; the right amount in the right locations, implemented in the right ways to make them stick like glue. Too much and too fast and people’s knee-jerk reactions engage and fight back. Too little spread out over too much time and people won’t take any of it seriously. This entire Pandemic is a global war of the few working to manipulate into greater control of the many. It is all laid out like a combat 101 class. But since far too many people are not trained in such ways, and or distracted by material possessions, habits, addictions, comforts, and weak immune systems from poorly lived lifestyles, most are too tired to care to think for themselves. The fear, low self worth, depression and anger are all too easy to play upon. And they will turn on each other in their pain and chosen ignorance and do more damage to themselves that the opposing force doesn’t have to expend energy on. Sort of like the movie that came out in the 90’s I think called Wag The Dog. Things to think about. Many folk over the last handful of years have asked me similar questions dealing with my ability to maintain strength, speed, flexibility, precision/accuracy and power when I struggle with my overall health. Those of course are great questions and if I weren’t me, I would wonder as well! For those of you who have followed my work, know me personally and understand bits and pieces of my history, it is well known that I’ve spent the last thirteen and a half years dealing with ongoing health challenges. Ever since I was poisoned my body and health have not been the same and my organs, endocrine system and nervous systems have struggled greatly because of that event. None of this is new information. In my last interview, found through this link, I explained briefly of these ongoing struggles. Nevertheless, the question remains on many people’s minds; how is it I’m able to maintain the core foundations of my martial skills and abilities? The answer dwells inside and deals with internal arts. As I’ve told students for years, the external physical body will breakdown with age and weaken respectively. There is nothing we can do to change that in the long run. It’s just a fact of physical life. Though conditioning and training of the external body is vital throughout youth and adulthood, the external physical strength and vigor of youth will always outdo age down the line. Sorry but when you’re 50 your body just isn’t 20 anymore, no matter how much strength and aerobic training you might do. It is the development, maintenance and refinement of internal energy that is the key to continuing skills and abilities into old age. When I speak of the external physical body I refer to muscles, tendons, ligaments and all the things can be developed and used for part of our lives for strength, speed, flexibility and movement in general. The internal body, if you will, points to the core energy that flows through the entire physical mass. Muscle, bone, tendon, ligament, tissue are all just parts of the physical mass, the vehicle in-which we ride. The internal energy is the oil and fuel and the refined internal energy is the combustion of that fuel that moves the mass and gives it life. Every cell of the body runs on that fuel and the combustion of it. Without it, the physical body becomes lifeless. Scientifically speaking the internal energy can be viewed, in-part, comes from the mitochondria, which are literally the work-horses of every cell. They produce somewhere around 90% of our body’s internal energy. Mitochondria are the parts of the cells that transform protein, sugar and fat into useable chemical energy. That process is called oxidative phosphorylation. They also help break-down waste in the body and help old cells die-off so new ones can take their place. Even if we have or develop some sort of physical issue that prevents us from conditioning our external body like we used to, this does not mean we need to deteriorate and lose our physical abilities, specifically in reference to martial skills, but also all other general or specific life skills. Let’s face it, being able to grab something or say lift 30 pounds is typically far more useful and required in our daily life’s that throwing a powerful kick. But trauma from injury and physical damage can dramatically interfere with being able to execute the level of physical conditioning we may have embraced before. Just because someone might not be able to do 100 or even 25 push-ups like they once could, does not mean they need to lose strength. Push-ups are a form of external conditioning, just as running, swimming, bicycling, and other forms of calisthenics and action sports. But they do not develop, cultivate or refine internal energy, only external strength and circulation. But if that is all you know how to do, injury and other traumas that steal those abilities can seriously hamper your physical body and ability to move and live. This is where the focus on internal energy development comes into play. It will not allow you to live forever in your physical body, but it will help increase your quality of life in ways that sit-ups and running could never do. And it will not fatigue and degrade the integrity of your body as you age, like many action sports and conditioning practice certainly do. This is not a “how-to” set of articles on internal martial practice, but rather a brief description on the types of energies and how I personally have and continue to use them for health and wellbeing, especially when physical health challenges prevent other forms of regular exercise. It will give you a pretty good idea of why, though I can no longer drop and do 100 push-ups or run five miles, I can still execute martial techniques and hand-to-hand combative techniques with refined precision, penetrating power and lightening speed, even more so than I could when practicing with full daily conditioning routines. Just ask students of my Combat Survival Camps :-) I spent over 25 years training daily in the hardcore aspects of the external conditioning routines of martial arts, sports, fighting and combat. But I was also training in the internal energy development. As of today I’ve spent 37 years developing and practicing the internal energy aspects of my body and life. Since I was poisoned my ability to physically condition like I used to has become impossible. However, my ability to continue with internal energy development and usage remains strong. Truly, it has been that internal energy training and focus that has saved my life, and today allows me to function in ways I otherwise shouldn’t be able to because of my extreme history of physical trauma. In the following articles I will address the energies of:
For a more detailed explanation on this video please read the blog post for it here: Internal Fire Strikes in Snow I wanted to say a few words concerning the Survival Combat Camps here in Vermont. Though there are some other pages on the Small Circles of 5 Animals Jujitsu website dealing with the topic of Combat, it still seems that some more detailed reminders of some of the information is relevant.
As opposed to many civilian offered combat classes and camps available around the world, the ones offered here are raw, for lack of a better suited word. While at other classes and camps much of the information is presented and practiced in a controlled environment (indoors with controlled temperatures, lighting, sometimes padded floors and so on), the Survival Combat Camps here in Vermont are primarily outdoors. The conditions are all natural, raw and most importantly, REAL. I am not a fan of learning something out of context and thinking it will work for you in a real situation. It’s much like the idea of learning to swim and always practicing in a pool, and then jumping out of a helicopter in the wild ocean and trying to swim the same distance you can in a pool. Another example is running in circles on an indoor track and then trying to run the same distance on a woodland mountain trail. If you want to become a great swimmer, you must swim rather than run for training. If you want to become proficient in hand-to-hand, close-quarters combat then you need to train in just that. Training in a martial arts class is great and you will develop wonderful martial art skills, but it isn’t raw hand-to-hand combat. Likewise if you wish to become proficient in hand-to-hand combat then you need to train in REAL conditions, unbuffered by the comforts of controlled environments. Here I firmly believe in training in the elements. That means as a student in a Survival Combat Camp you need to not only learn the skills, but also how to handle heat, humidity, cold, rain, sleet, snow, blazing sun, mud, rocks, uneven surfaces, water, insects and other natural things dealing the body discomforts and unpredictable circumstances. Beyond that it becomes necessary to learn hand-to-hand combative skills in various microclimate structures (clothing or lack of). Hand-to-hand combat varies greatly whether you are wearing a snowsuit or a swimsuit, heavy boots or bare feet, winter gloves or no gloves. How does your body respond and act while wearing heavy clothes in a fight when it’s hot outside or minimal clothing when a cold rainstorm rolls overhead? Has your body been trained to function on flat asphalt, soft sand, a heavily sloped forested hillside, in a river, in thick mud and on lose gravel? Have you trained in both a wilderness environment, and urban areas? All the training in the world, isolating your body in a controlled environment on predictable surfaces (hard flat floors or mats for example), won’t prepare your body and mind for the REALITY of the wide range of conditions a fight might come to you in. Of course to train under such natural conditions means you typically have to “go out of your way” and leave the ease and convenience of traveling to a city or resort. It is true here the Survival Combat Camps run in the remote locations of Central and Northern Vermont, mostly out of doors no matter the season, and take place in the rawness of the natural elements. It may not be the most convenient, comfortable or predictable venue. It may and will take you out of your comfort zone. And it may sound difficult and very challenging. The fact is that the camps are all of that and more. But there will be no compromise, no washing down of the reality concerning hand-to-hand, close-quarters combat training in these camps. Yes it is “out of the way”, uncomfortable, difficult and quite out of most people’s comfort zones, but that is exactly where it needs to be to work. In these Survival Combat Camps students face reality because it is the best teacher, the best school house and the most effective learning grounds. And this is why our camps are small and don’t have lines of people waiting. Most want buffering and convenience, even if it is far less effective. The Survival Combat Camps here are for people who want reality; who want to really get into the depth and meat of who they are. Male or female makes no difference. It’s not about what sex a person is. It’s about what’s inside them, what drives them and how willing they are to learn, grow and experience. So would these Survival Combat Camps be for you? Only you can say. But camps are not run unless there is a minimum of 4 people or a maximum of 16. What and how many compromises do or are you willing to make when it comes to your experiences in this life? Read more on the Camps here: With enough genuine interest I am willing to design and run a Survival Combat Camp that runs 3 weeks. Obviously this takes extreme commitment, so is difficult to find enough people willing. But if you are interested in any of the camps feel free to contact me with questions. (see contact page) |
AuthorElder White Wolf: Archives
November 2021
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