Indigenous Ability

We’re all high-speed, low-drag, “ Keep your head on a swivel, eyes on everything ” sorts, right?  I’m assuming that because I am bombarded with a never-ending posting parade of “ Awareness Musts!” “Situational Readiness Always!” “Eyes of Jack Reacher” or commentary on shared violence-porn, “ This guy got popped because he wasn’t paying attention; what he shoulda done…what I woulda done ” that sort of thing. We’re all wide-wake great ones from what I read. I’ll give you a super-easy quiz to test that assumption in a mo’ but first, a little tale of one who was always eyes-open even amongst other eyes that were also straining to be open and these allied eyes had use of new technology to assist “seeing.” [The following is excerpted from Biographical Sketch of James Bridger: Mountaineer, Trapper, and Guide (1905) by General Grenville M. Dodge. Mind you, a military man not prone to exaggeration.] “ Captain H. E. Palmer, Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, Acting Ass...

In four weeks we do the photo-shoot for the long-promised volume Boxing Like the Champs, Round Two . Consumers of the 1 st book and the companion DVD-set Boxing like the Champs can expect more deeply researched fistic malice. [All available at our little ol’ website store.] The publisher tells me it will see wide release this Fall. Coming Up Sooner in the Pipeline: The Suakhet’u. First, what The Suakhet’u is not… ·         It is non martial arts or combat sports related. ·         It is not a strenuous physical endeavor. What is The Suakhet’u? ·         It is an audio-visual course detailing a morning enlivening/awakening practice culled from various American Indigenous traditions. ·         Although there is some “sitting” involved, it is not meditation. ·         Altho...

Today’s sermon will weave a tale of housecats, early American colonists’ observations regarding battle-prowess in Native Americans, gang-bangers, good ol’ boy hunters, fox-hunters in the Old West, gamers and screen-users, Afghan Combat studies and, if we’ve done our job right, make a case for making risk part and parcel of cogent combat training. Let’s start with the adorable housecat, Felis catus . Study after study has recorded that outdoor housecats are responsible for an astonishing amount of depredation. Any of us who own one of these “awesome prowling machines” [tip of the hat to Les Claypool] is aware that they can go through chipmunks, field mice, and birds like nobody’s business but…the story is deeper than that. For every kill you see, there are likely a double handful that you were not privy to witness.  If you want the skinny on just how serial-killer-esque the common cat can be, Pete Marra, head of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center authored a book on ...

[The first in a series on Tactical Night-Vision that will take us from nautical warfare in WWII, thru optical anatomy and capabilities, and wind up with deliberate night-vision training from indigenous cultures.] Mark Opens with Four Obvious Statements  One -Awareness is the key to survival. Two -The key to awareness is willful directed use of the senses. Three -The primary sense in the curious biped called humans is sight. Four -Human sight does not operate at optimum capacity under low light conditions. But…we can use a series of tactical hacks to improve low-light acuity. Let’s delve into a bit of wisdom from Captain Peter Dickens, D.S.O., M.B.E., D.S.C., of Britain’s Royal Navy. Captain Dickens commanded an MTB [Motor Torpedo-Boat] during WWII. MTBs were small craft [70 footers] and mighty primitive…no radar, and, get this, no voice-radio. These wee boats were essentially electronically blind and had to rely on good eyes and unflagging...