Indigenous Ability

  [One in a series of pieces on Frontier JKD , you can read the initial essay here .] The American Frontier Rough ‘n’ Tumble mindset has a psychology of its own. What occurred in the clash of cultures in the Wildlands of the New World was not a mere transport of ideas and ways from The Old World, i.e., Europe. Be those ideas combat, trade, politics, economics, law, hell, even the sciences took their own doglegged tack in the new land. We can get a broad overview on how this unprecedented mindset manifested in Frederick Jackson Turner’s 1893 thesis, The Significance of the Frontier in American History . The ideas were later developed in greater detail, notably by the eminent Librarian of Congress historian, Daniel J. Boorstein, in many linked works on the uniqueness of this era. Let us begin with Mr. Turner as our guide into this roughshod, pragmatic, self-made mindset, this psychology of pluck and grit. Thus American development has exhibited not merely advance along a ...

  [For background on Frontier JKD see this brief essay to set the stage.] San Francisco’s Barbary Coast received this nickname from its violent rough n tumble nature. The original Barbary Coast refers to the Berber Coast of North Africa where Muslim Pirates held sway for some time. The US fought a series of engagement wars there from 1801 to 1805 known as The Barbary Wars—it is from one of these battles that we get the line “… to the shores of Tripoli ” in the Marine Hymn. With the advent of The California Gold Rush in 1849, San Franciso and its environs went from a population of 492 to over 25,000 people. Most all seeking fortune in the gold fields or…in less savory ways. From overlanders who crossed the continent to get there and folks who ‘rounded the Horn via sailing vessel, importees from the penal colony nation of Australia, a huge influx from China, a notable contingent from the Five-Points Gangs of New York and many other wild mixes of cultures and men and women of...

  Likely we are all familiar with the following Bruce Lee quote…  " Research your own experience; absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is essentially your own." It is a foundational bit of wisdom found in Mr. Lee’s posthumously published collection of combat notes titled Tao of Jeet Kune Do . It is a more straightforward transliteration of teachings phrased more ambiguously in the Tao Te Ching , attributed to Lao zi. For my taste, I prefer Mr. Lee’s iteration to the Tao Te Ching . The JKD teaching is straight forward and allows for no wiggle room for interpretation. But… What if I were to tell you that more than a few Indigenous warrior tribes of the American frontier embraced that bit of JKD pragmatics centuries before the publication of that volume in 1975? There are more than a few Warrior teachings that echo this hard-edged no-fealty to dogma, disdain for tradition, worship only at the altar of efficiency and effectiveness. I have ...

  FIRST- Me and the Missus will be travellin’ the Old Southwest Desert & Hi-Rock Sinagua Canyon Country for a combination Adventure/Research Trip the 17th thru the 26th. You can still query and place orders during that time, I simply counsel patience that I will get to these asap upon my return. Research-wise, allow me to say I have two heapin’ boxes of dusty archival materials awaiting me upon my arrival. Treasures abound!] SECOND —A li’l preview of where The Black Box Rough ‘n’ Tumble Subscription Program is headed in 2026. FUEL FOR MEN OF STANDING • Last year’s focus for The Black Box Subscription service was Unleaded Conditioning to get the Combat Athlete, the Old School Combination Man into the best conditioning of his life, even in Old Dogs like myself. • And, yes, the entire 6-Block Program is now available in the store for those ready to GO! https://www.extremeselfprotection.com/store • This year The Black Box Brotherhood focus will be FRONTIER JKD. • We wil...