Indigenous Ability

[All based on RAWs 210 & 209.] All are 3-Minute Rounds w/ 30-seconds Rest Round One -Cross. Keep it live, move. Put some stink on it, test that bag’s warranty. Round Two -With partner or without, toss that cross and envision a counter liver-hook or head-hunt on the high-line, so cross and roll with a bread-basket cover, keep those shoulders high—no sure things in the world. Round Three- Cross, Roll, toss another Cross out of the Roll Round Four -Add a rear bark as the cherry on top. Play this one on the drag bag as the true bark is unforgiving to tibias the world over. Rest 1 Minute Round One -On your feet slap and catch and drag to an outside two-on-one. Work both sides like a good wrassler. Head in the pocket, Crew, or I will tsk-tsk you to kingdom come. Round Two -Off of a resisted two-on-one slide as smooth as a viper into an Underhook ride. Again, where is that head supposed to be? That’s right. Round Three -Once you’ve got that ...

[Consider this Part 2 of the offering Move Like a Scout or Indigenous Warrior . You can consume this piece in isolation but to really follow the arc I’d recommend reading the mentioned piece [or even re-reading it] to gather fully where we’re going.] Many of us tout our bona fides as high-speed, low-drag, can-the-noize-boys cuz’ I’m lock ‘n’load from bang to go! It’s a fun little play-acting symptom we see in grown-ass adults who wear the gear, talk the talk, but…do they walk the walk? Before you answer, I’m going to drill down so we get mighty specific with that question of walking the walk. I have zero doubt that there is a squared away cadre that walks a walk some of the time. I wager there is a smaller contingent [not anyone you likely see on the street in the day-to-day] who walk the walk more often than not. I refer to those folks in war-zones, battle-zones, boots-on-the-ground, no time for drill cuz’ this shit’s real. Environment shapes behavio...

As the pandemic lockdown whiles on I have offered in dribs and drabs a few bits of functional knot-tying or rope/line-handling. These little mini-asides are meant to be eye-trivia for the bored or possible spurs to, “ Hell, I got time on my hands I’ll give this tip a go .” At the top end, there may even be, “ WTF! I really needed that tip when…oh, I’ll be ready next time.” Knot-tying, rope-handling, marlinspike seamanship, whatever you want to call the practice is, to my mind, more than just “That Old Man really likes tying knots.” [BTW-I do.] It serves a dual functional purpose to my mind. The First Purpose: The Convincing Argument Broad Based Survival & Functional Utility Able use of rope, cordage, lines, vines et cetera, next to the ability to build the variety of useful fires is THE most universal skill in many survival, extreme sport, outdoor domains. I capitalized the THE for factual emphasis, not mere preference. Where do we see the absolute...

[The following is extracted from our upcoming volume Move Like a Warrior: Recapturing Indigenous Movement .] Spend any time reading accounts of early contact between “civilized” folk and indigenous peoples, or those “civilized” ones who had “gone Injun’” such as early frontiersmen, scouts, the Coureur De Bois [“Runners of the Woods” or “woods runners”] of the North Woods and you find some commonalities. There is in many an admiration for the strength and grace of body and freedom of spirit. There are also more than a few disdainful accounts that still offer begrudging regard for “ stout and sturdy frames ” that “ can run like a deer ” or “ disappear into [the desert/mountain/forest] like the very wind itself.” Undoubtedly, much of these remarked upon characteristics were part and parcel of time, time spent in these very environments and gradually learning that to be a good hunter, one needed stealth and stamina to eat. One needed a general natural cultivated facile ...