Indigenous Ability

  Let’s begin with a prickly quote to set our stage. The following is quant Nassim Nicholas Taleb on how systems can become fragile even when the intent is to improve, as is the case with conditioning training. “ Our ancestors mostly had to face very light stones to lift, mild stressors; once or twice a decade, they encountered the need to lift a huge stone. So where on earth does this idea of “steady” exercise come from? Nobody in the Pleistocene jogged for forty-minutes three days a week, lifted weights every Tuesday and Friday with a bullying (but otherwise nice) personal trainer, played tennis at eleven on Saturday mornings. Not hunters. We swung between extremes: we sprinted when chased or when chasing (once in a while in an extremely exerting way), and walked about aimlessly the rest of the time. Marathon running is a modern abomination (particularly when done without emotional stimuli.)” — The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable The above quote view is meant ...

  Ready for an obvious statement? The Vikings were a seafaring warrior people. Obvious statement, Part II. They were mighty comfortable and proficient in and around water. Obvious Statement, Part III. Vikings knew that nothing comes naturally to a man, that to be proficient in anything—from sailing, to swimming, to mastering the flute, to battle, to the art of negotiation, love, and friendship—all require dedicated attention and practice. Obvious Statement IV. As one might expect, a rough and tumble people, did not brook tippy-toe methods to mastery. Proficiency, to Warrior cultures, is often hard-earned via stark ways but such hard-earned knowledge and skill creates confident and able warriors. Let us turn to a passage from one of the sagas to illustrate hard ways. The following passage is from The Saga of The People of Laxardal , Chapter, 40. It tells of a “swimming” competition [drowning, really] between Kjartan Olafsson and King Olaf Tryggvason. “ Kjartan ...

  Just how prevalent and important was this ubiquitous weapon in early Frontier warfare? Well, in a word—it was the penultimate choice for many. The long gun from flintlock to carbine to repeating rifles was the primary choice. We do see wide use of the bow and arrow, and facile use at that, but…if/when access to firearms was on the table the bows became back-ups, if carried at all. What did not fade away was the tomahawk. From the earliest and prolific bloody engagements in Pre-Colonial America to as late as the 1880s, the tomahawk was often the second-tier go-to, in many cases surpassing the long knife and, surprisingly still a second choice of many even after the advent of reliable revolvers as sidearms. The earliest days of continental warfare were termed by many “ The Days of Flintlock and Tomahawk.” And this weapon was not merely an indigenous peoples’ tool, it saw quick and early adoption by many colonists; those who sloughed off Eurocentric ways and experien...

For more such history digs, well, keep browsing this here blog. For my dulcet tones on such matters, try our podcast The Rough 'n' Tumble Raconteur . To jump feet first into the historically accurate and viscously verified Old School Way of throwing hands, twisting limbs, slingin' hawks, slashin' Bowies, well, have a look-see at our Black Box Training Warehouse.

  Let’s start with a definition of the concept of “bricolage.” Bricolage is, and I quote “ something constructed or created from a diverse range of available things .” We find the term being bandied about in art where “found” objects are used in a creative way. The term is also used by sociologists and anthropologists who describe how societies and cultures are formed; it is less by a top-down fiat as in “ We’re all gonna wear cargo shorts and ballcaps, and use the fork in our left hands ” than it is a loose amalgamation of elements that gradually cohere and then concretize into, “ Well, that’s just how it’s done .” We find the concept in engineering where a problem is presented, a mechanical solution is required and the perfect tool or ready tool does not exist nor its constituent parts, so a bit of creativity and tinkering leads to a bricolage answer that fits the bill. How does bricolage apply to combat systems? We’ll come back to that. First, let’s talk Frogmen, the...

  Ready for an obvious statement? Powerful shoulders are vital to the combat athlete and the Life-Warrior who chooses to interact with the planet rather than simply view National Geographic quality photos and allow that to suffice the soul. Combat, survival, swimming, climbing, skulking in a low crawl while on an ambush, what have you, requires not only strength, but stamina and full use of the fluidity that this ball-and-socket joint can provide in its healthy state. Often shoulder power is sought via weight-use only—and this is, indeed, not a bad way to go, but there are a few alternate considerations to ponder to see if old school thought can inform us how to better aid our own shoulder pursuits of the four attributes: strength, stamina, pliancy, and aesthetics. One -Old school iron training can indeed fit the bill exclusively—countless examples can attest to that. Overhead pressing of many varieties are and have been used to do the deed, from see-saw presses, to Arnold...