Indigenous Ability

  We will begin our visit with three Warrior cultures in reverse order and get a glimpse into a single attribute valued by all Warrior cultures, everywhere. All three of our chosen Warrior stand-ins valued the attribute but each had a different way of reaching/developing the valued ability. Our reverse order allows us to ascend the ladder of effectiveness/efficiency, that is, to develop an appreciation for the attribute and to see how each culture sought to deliberately develop and hone the razor-sharpening of it. Only one of the methods allows, to my eye, a concrete fast track to development, but the sojourn with each Warrior culture acts as a bolster to this preferred method. The Continental Soldier: Coup D’Oeil Coup D’Oeil is the French correlate of our attribute. It translates literally to “ stroke of the eye.” It refers to the ability to sum and assess tactical situations with a mere glance or glimpse. Its most famous iteration comes from the lips of Napoleon: “...

  My twin studies of the archeology of frontier rough ‘n’ tumble combat and “primitive” indigenous abilities have [and continue to] unearth tasty morsels of violent mayhem that we deliver in our revised RAW/Black Box curriculum. Thus far this material has been manifested as physical expression [the tactics and how-to] and the cognitive side of the game [the strategy, history, mind-setting.] Along the way though, there have been many illuminating ideas in the areas of a more esoteric nature, that we may loosely judge akin to meditation, environmental immersion, awakening practices. These terms “meditation” and the like are abstract Western constructs and do little to convey what these practices are truly like. [ Full Disclosure : I practice the Suakhet’u myself, 365 days of the year, rain or shine and have found the benefits and revelations of paramount use to my life. Take that for a statement of crass salesmanship, or if you know me, you may take it for how I mean it—a fra...