Indigenous Ability

  Mr. Muldoon Roadwork. That word, to the combat athlete, conjures images of pre-dawn runs, breath fogging the morning air and, to many, a drudgery that must be endured. Boxers, wrestlers, kickboxers the world over use roadwork as a wind builder, a leg conditioner, and a grit tester. The great Joe Frazier observed… “ You can map out a fight plan or a life plan, but when the action starts, it may not go the way you planned, and you're down to the reflexes you developed in training. That's where roadwork shows - the training you did in the dark of the mornin' will show when you're under the bright lights .” Roadwork has been used as a tool since man began pitting himself against others of his species in organized combat. But…today’s question . Has it always been the sweat-soaked old school gray sweat suit pounding out miles on dark roads or, was it something subtler, and, remarkably slower? And if it was, why did we transition to what, and I repeat myself,...

  [The New Year's Resolutions Clock is ticking, if you want to train like a geriatric, well, here's some fodder for thought.] What follows is a summary of how I incorporate the excavations of Old School training into a typical day. A Few Preliminaries ·         The photos range from my 55 th birthday to my 56 th , a scant 5-days ago. ·         No special allowances were made for photos, meaning, no “weight-cutting” or “ Let’s get that bathroom light just right as I bust a gut and choose the non-bum selfie number 17.” ·         The photos are impromptu, on the spot, or playin’ around. ·         They are all walk-around weight. Also… ·         I do not diet. ·         I eat according to Old-Timer’s principles and dropped 16 pounds in the first 2 months of esche...

  Two Gas-Soaked Men Post Demolition Derby: T'SUH!! [An addendum to The Suakhet'u Program. To learn how to engage in this practice see here .] First, to Answer the Question : “ Mark, what exactly is, T’suh!? T’suh! Is a Comanche Warrior word/concept that broadly means, “Ready!” Second Question : “ Mark, why do I always see you hit it with an exclamation mark?” Well, my kind interrogator, that is because the word is always meant to be emphatic. Shouted if the environment and circumstances permit and always accompanied by a gesture. An emphatic use of the body that marries the physical with the word with the cognitive intention. Such tripling of language [word/intention/action] is common in indigenous thought. It was thought to better prime the organism for action and not merely be more drippings of unfulfilled words from mendacious mouths. I have found my own adoption of this language tripling mighty vivifying. T’suh! is not merely a stand-in for our version of th...

  Pliancy vs. Flexibility One Let’s start with a definition, as this strict use of the adjective gets to the heart of what Old-Schoolers meant when they used the word “pliant” or sometimes “lissome.” Pliant : Yielding, as in a willow that bends against the force of the wind and easily returns to its standard posture. [Keep that willow analogy in mind, we’ll come back to it.] Lissome : (of a person or their body) thin, supple, and graceful. We sometimes see this sort of physique or attribute referred to in the old literature as “willowy.” The Two Attributes of a Pliant Physique Attribute One -The concept was to foster a yielding-resiliency, that is, the ability to easily and ably return to posture/base after an applied force [wind vs. the willow, the attempted crank of a poorly leveraged double-wristlock, etc.] Antonyms of “pliancy” include inflexible, rigid, stiff, stiffened. Contrast our willows with tree limbs [or human limbs] that do not yield to the force and ...