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Never stand begging for that which you have the power to earn.......
- Miguel de Cervantes
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November 1, 2024
Greetings all!
I am back. If you have read and studied Musashi, as I have, the link above will speak volumes. If you haven't, and to fill in the blanks for the first group, I'll explain my absence.
At the end of 2021 the missus and I decided to move to be closer to some family. She ran point and came down in early 2022. I stayed to help the friends that had bought our farm and finish up some things at the job I was working at the time. I trailed her by five months. To make a long story short, it's been a good move, with some stutter steps. We have moved twice in three years. Currently we are renting, which has made us adjust some things like gardens. Honestly, I haven't rented in decades, so it has been and continues to be an adjustment. The place, however, is a little slice of heaven.
So, what does all that mean for you, dear reader? There will be regular updates and articles with fewer links. There will be an emphasis on preparedness.
I am part a small group, more sharing, with some good folks I work with. They wanted to learn Kali, one guy is teaching jiu jitsu. I don't have a ground game anymore. I have to say, the synergy is really cool. Took an opportunity to train with Roy Dean at one of his seminars. If you get an opportunity, take it. The man is a wizard on the mat.
Speaking of training, years ago, I wrote a couple articles on training. I may repost them. Now that I am in my 6th decade the training has to change. Training like I was still 25 quickly becomes counter productive. To paraphrase the late Toby Keith, I'm as good once as I ever was. The bottom line is, I want to remain dangerous and to be able to do the things. Beating myself up in training doesn't do that. Nowadays, training looks like this; three days primarily on the weight pile, two days emphasizing strength and hypertrophy and one day for power. Those days, I do skill work between sets (blade manipulations, stick combinations, panantukan work either shadow boxing or bag work between sets, dry fire). and three days emphasizing cardio, primarily in the form of sprints. combination work or hiking. (I don't like to use the word rucking if I'm not under a heavy pack with a rifle)
Todays workout, power emphasis:
Warmup:
Pullups, Plyo pushups, jumping alternating lunges done in circuit 5x
Hang cleans 5x5
Push Press 5x5
Box jumps 5x5
Knife manipulations with footwork between sets, 20 reps each side
Kettlebell sprints - markers set at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 yards sprint to the 10 yd and back, carry a 24K bell to the marker, sprint to the next marker, back to the start and then to the kettlebell, carry to the next marker, repeat to the 50 yd line. rest two minutes and work back to the start line.
And another thing. I was confirming zero on a rifle. The optic was a gen 1 Vortex SPARC. I noted that the dot now was a lopsided figure 8. I contacted the company to see if they could fix it. I was told to send the unit to them and they gave me a shipping label. They couldn't fix the issue, instead, they sent me a new SPARC no questions asked. When these folks say lifetime guarantee, they mean it! I cannot recommend them enough.
Finally, we have an election coming up shortly. There are some on the interwebs that are throwing up their hands saying, we're done, there's no point, let Rome burn. I am not going to preach to you right now. What I will remind you of is this quote from Edmund Burke: The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. My advice to you is to fast and pray for the republic and vote.
So, send me your questions, let's get a conversation going.
W!
November 4, 2025
Evening, it has been a very productive day! I work to improve my and my family's position every day. The only reason I didn't get more done was I ran out of daylight and what I had next on the agenda didn't mesh well with a headlamp.
Take a look at the current article of the month, a review of the Clinch Pick. A new one will be up soon.
Today's workout
Pullups, pushups, alternating reverse lunges done in circuit 5x
Dips wearing body armor 4x8
Barbell squats 4x8
Overhead press 4x8
Hanging knee raises (center, left, right) 3x5
Jun Fan kickboxing basic combinations 1-5 between sets
50 yard repeats 10x
Now for the important part, tomorrow is election day. Yes, you need to vote. This nation's problems, however, will not be solved solely by political means. The problems we see have spiritual roots. I invite you to join the missus and I as we fast and pray for 24 hours during the election. Personally, I will be asking among other things, that we get the leaders we need, not the ones we deserve.
Breathe, stay calm, keep training
November 7, 2024
Well, the election is over, the dust is beginning to settle. Those on the left are casting blame and generally losing their minds. Even though they fielded the one of the worst set of candidates in history.
We still have two months until the new administration can be sworn in and get to work. That is the big picture. Recent events have gotten more people interested in preparedness. The article of the month is a primer on how to start. One thing I will say is this. If you are new to prepping and you have no experience with it, get training. I got a call from a family member yesterday that reinforced this. My relative is very liberal, and was asking for advice on a shotgun. A couple of follow up questions established that they had never fired a shotgun before and had the idea that they could just point it int he general direction of a threat and solve their problem. There were some other things that came up in the conversation that I will spare you dear reader. Bottom line, if you don't know, ask, there are a lot of things in this world that you can figure out with youtube or just winging it. Firearms, power tools and the like can and will kill you without proper training.
November 17, 2024
Greetings all,
Apologies on the lack of updates. Winter is coming, it's deer season and the day job is hectic at the moment, you know, life happening.
Today was spent doing church and building community. Friends down the road decided to have a neighborhood open house, fall harvest feast. Got to reconnect with some and meet some we hadn't until today. Made some good connections and genuinely had a good time. Bottom line folks, we need people around us. No man is an island, so the saying goes. That is the truth. Work on it.
Some have asked what I thought of the two big fights this weekend (Tyson/Paul and Miocic/Jones). I think that Iron Mike is crazy like a fox. Unless I am mistaken, he made 40 million for 16 minutes work. While the writers have called it a sloppy affair, Paul said he was afraid to get close. Bottom line, Tyson is more than twice Paul's age. He is still a dangerous cat but if Paul wants to be taken seriously, he should get in the ring with men his own age. Regarding the Miocic fight, he, Miocic, has always been a tough fighter, but he is fortunate that Jones didn't get more rotation out of the kick that ended the fight. I suspect he still ended up with a couple broken ribs.
One of the things that I have taken to doing is blending skill work into my strength and conditioning program. Partly as a time saver, partly as a gut check. What am I doing you ask? I'll discuss how my training has changed in the near future. I'll also talk about how my training area has improved since our move. Prior to the move my training area, the Forge, was in an old unheated barn with a dirt floor that became mud in the spring and fall. Think about bag work or pullups in muck boots. The equipment was a homemade pull up bar, improvised dip bar, three sets of kettlebells and a heavy bag. The Forge 2.0 has the kettlebells, but the weight pile is unpacked with a rack, 450 lbs of olympic plates and a heavy bag/speed bag set up. Oh, and a concrete floor. There still is no heat or air conditioning, but I digress.
My current routine consists of focused lifting on three days a week, one day of primarily push exercises (dips, squats, overhead press etc) one day of pull exercises (deadlift, pullups, rows, curls) and a power day (cleans, push press, box jumps) the rest of the week is roadwork, mainly sprints. I have begun including skill work between sets. I will pick one skill, say dry fire, and between sets will perform draws, reloads, etc while I'm still shaky from lifting. I know, I know, exercise induced heart rates do not equate to the adrenaline induced rates from a life and death event. It does however force me to work through physical stressors which, in my not so humble opinion, transfers to the real world.
November 21, 2024
I am currently rereading a couple of books on sniping. The books were written from a guerilla's perspective instead of a standard military or law enforcement sniping manual. Some of the sections were standard, long range shooting information. The section on camouflage got me thinking back to things past. Typically when we think of camouflage we think of things like woodland, tiger stripes, real tree and the like. The books reinforced the concepts of camo. Shape, shine, shadow, silhouette, surface, spacing and movement all working together to help you blend into the environment. I tried to explain this to a friend some years ago. I was working in the private sector, the dress code was business casual. I typically wore khaki's and a polo with sturdy shoes I could walk the 25 miles home in. I would occasionally stop at my friends after work and he would tell me I looked like an insurance salesman. I reminded him that camo wasn't just woodland. I had this reinforced recently at a trip to the dentist of all places. I'm currently contracting with the .gov. Most of us dress a certain way and it stands out in the small town next to the base. The hygienist asked how I liked working there. I realized I need to make some changes to my wardrobe when I go into town. One other example. A member of my old group and I went to a meeting of like minded folks. We got there and began ticking off people outside the hotel were in the meeting we were attending. We got everyone based solely on clothing, 'possible bags' and the like.
The point to all this is to ask the question what are you trying to do? If you are in the woods going after turkey or deer you're not going out in khakis and a button down. Likewise, tooling around an urban area in camo will get you noticed. Learn to apply the concepts.
To quote Musashi, you must study this, deeply.
November 27, 2024
Evening all,
First and foremost, I hope you all have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for.
Some advice though. There is much in the current media about how to deal with relatives of different political persuasions. The truth is, these articles are meant to divide us. That is what some in power want, they want us focusing on our differences. They want us at each other 's throats so we won't focus on what they are doing. They are not our friends, they certainly do not understand or accept that they work for us.
So, focus on what you have in common with those you are feasting and celebrating with.
Take some time to get out side, get some dirt under the soles of your feet.
Me? I'll be hunting with my son. The missus and I are testing out some gear for one of our bug out plans.
Blessings to you all.
December 18, 2024
In my not so humble opinion the most useful skill you can develop in martial arts training is ukemi, breakfalls. However, one thing you have to accept is that will be times when breakfalls won't help you and you have to take the hit. I recently had that lesson reinforced. I won't bore you with the details except to say that I was up in the bed of my truck, I turned to finish a task and the next thing I knew the missus was yelling at me. I managed to fall, broke the fall with my head and knocked myself out cold. A cat scan, tetanus shot and some superglue later, she was taking me home. It's been a couple days and I'm not at 100% yet. Workouts are focusing on skillsets, balance work and body weight exercises. I will confess, it took more out of me then I realized. I am here to tell you, I am grateful to the Father that He let me live.
On another note, Take a look at this video from Gabe Suarez. Full disclosure, I was an instructor for Gabe in the Suarez International days. When he shut that down and started Suarez Tactics, I was starting a new venture with .gov and couldn't come to work for him. We are still in contact and I recommend his training highly. Bottom line up front, many self inflicted gunshot wounds occur when reholstering. Gabe does an excellent job analyzing why this occurs. My .02 is this, and if you have or ever do train with me you will hear this again, if someone or something has alarmed you to the point where you draw your pistol, you should reholster it reluctantly. I came up in a time when the prevailing training was to reholster without looking at your holster. The thought was you had to keep your eyes on the threat. This is, with 2-3 seconds thought, stupid. If the threat is still a threat why would you put your pistol away? When it is time to reholster, make sure the threat is no longer a threat first, then make sure they don't have any friends around, then look at your holster and place your pistol back in it. There is no rush and no prize for doing so quickly. 'Nuff said.
There is a short, new article up on my home gym. take a look. Let me know what you think.
December 13, 2024
Quick thought for the day, it really is the little things. I typically carry a fixed blade. More on that in a moment. I have it set up for Drawpoint applications and carry it along the center line, opposite my pistol. I noticed that it was beginning to print, depending on the pants I was wearing. I know it wasn't because I had allowed myself to get fat, quite the contrary, but that is for another time. I tried one of the foam wedges from Tier 1 Concealed. While it made the sheath more comfortable, the hilt would still print more then I wanted. I then moved the belt strap from one side of the sheath to the other, . While it made the sheath more comfortable, the hilt would still print more then I wanted. I then moved the belt strap from one side. While it made the sheath more comfortable, the hilt would still print more then I wanted. I then moved the belt strap from one side of the sheath to the other, problem solved. The new placement holds the blade tighter to my body and doesn't shift as much as before, all from moving it laterally a few inches.
What kind of knife? Spyderco's Street Beat by Fred Perrin. Good design, comes with a decent sheath, I swapped out the tek lok for a pull dot strap. The only other mod was to stipple the hilt to improve my grip on it.
Today's training was D&D - Deadlifts and Dry Fire. I ramped up to a good working weight on the DL's, finished up increasing weight, some ab work and then 15 minutes of pistol dry fire.
Got chores to do, see you soon
December 6. 2024
Whew, it's been hectic, between the Thanksgiving holiday and finishing up winter preparations, it has been busy here. I'm putting the finishing touches on a new article. One real nice bonus was we had an unexpected visit from a friend from back home, who was also the founder of the preparedness group I was with prior to the move. His visit and the conversation, along with some questions from you all and a recent posting from Mr. Mosby, the Mountain Guerilla.
The questions, in a nutshell, are about my thoughts on the presidential election. The short answer is, I am cautiously optimistic. While I don't believe that Trump is the second coming and I disagreed with several important decisions in his first term, the alternative could only be described as a shit show.
My concerns, if you want to call them that, is that many who were getting started in prepping will let it go, because now Trump is going to solve all their problems. That folks is wrong on every level. Second, if he does implement the tariffs, it will solve issues in the long term, but there will be a lot of pain in the short term that the left will try to take advantage of. Am I concerned about losing my job due to DOGE? I am, after all, contracting with Uncle Sam. Not really, I was looking for a job when I got this one. I'll be looking for another when I leave.
So, what am I doing? Continuing to train, pick up skills, improve our position and plan for the future. I recommend you do the same.
Todays PT
37 degrees
Warm up
Pullups
Plyo pushups
Jumping alternate lunges
then
Hang Cleans
Push Press
Box Jumps
Hanging Knee Raises (Center/Left/Right)
Twisting Situps
This weeks reading
Holy Bible - NKJV
Guerilla Sniper II
Foxfire Series Vol. 1
