Paul is putting this old crumb up in a hotel in Saint Louis and bringing a couple fighters north from the Ozarks for training.

This is a free clinic, placed in Saint Louis in hopes that Midwest fighters who lack training partners can make some connections and get some work in while the old gimp is still hobbling about.

This is a free event.

Paul will try to get training space in the hotel he is stashing me in. Regardless, he is confident that the depressed local economy will enable his horse shoeing money to rent some space.

We are hoping for a 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, or 12 to 4 PM, slot.

Contact Paul for the details as he arranges for the venue at: 417-671-1369

I will be traveling with saber mask, gloves, and mouthpiece.

We will train:

Boxing

Stick

Blade

Each of the above segments will be structured as:

Forensic Properties of the Methods = brief intro

Light sparring = main section

A quick round for each man interested = brief

Slow self defense scenario drills = secondary section

Q & A review

Bring whatever of the following items you are interested in training with

Hockey or lacrosse gloves

Fencing mask

Boxing gloves

Work gloves, leather fingertips preferred

Rattan sticks

Blunt Training Knives

Dull machetes

Thank you, Paul.

I will aim to arrive in Saint Louis Thursday 24th, which on that train line may mean Friday 25th, and will take the train east from Saint Louis, thru Chicongo to Pittsburgh from Sunday afternoon thru Monday.

I expect to be training with Erique in Lancaster, PA on Sunday the 4th,

with Damien in Gettysburg on Monday 5th [I will need a ride for this session to workout]

and in Towson MD Thursday 8th.

These dates are not yet solid.

If you are interested call or text me at 443-686-0598

Carlo, A long time Myth of the 20th Century Listener, has set up a training session for like minded fellows who wish to be better able to defend their dependents. There, is, no, cost—NONE.

Carlo paid for the time and space, boxing gloves included.

Gloves included

American Gym

Address: 1638 Placentia Ave Suite A, Costa Mesa, CA 92627

The concept of the clinic is to coach novice boxers on ways in which they can better defend themselves, with a focus on variance in size, or catch weight.

If you are a strong man who shows up, you will be coached on defending against evil twerps... and mobs of punks.

If you are a small man who shows, you will be coached on dealing with bully strong men and, also, mobs of punks.

You will all be schooled on using common items to defend against predacious creeps, and, most importantly, on methods for dealing with edged-weapon attacks.

Please bring:

What clothes you normally wear.

A mouth piece.

A pair of gardening or work gloves.

The gym is providing boxing gloves.

The contact exercises will be light, so there is no need for groin protection. We are helping each other out, not beating one another down.

Banjo will hopefully be hitch-hiking from Phoenix to serve as my assistant, upholding the storied martial arts tradition of the dude who could easily kick shit out of the instructor actually pretending to be the victim...!

[Bro, bring the Zen, not the Bren...]

An old crumb can fantasize, right?

I will be bringing my personal weapon training gear.

The Vanilla Gorilla, that is correct, a cold winter blast out of the paleolithic past, has volunteered to bring a pair of sticks and two sets of fencing masks and Easton hockey gloves, for the 4th segment of the training.

Training sections:

-#1: 2:00 to 2:15 Fists, Gloves and Hands in combat

-#2: 2:15 to 3:00 Boxing Sparring Drills

-#3: 3:00 to 3:15 The stick as a self-defense tool

-#4: 3:15 to 3:45 stick boxing, sparring, you hitting this old tramp with a stick.

-#5: 3:45 to 4:00 Defending against edged weapons:

...From the stick-boxing perspective...

...From the boxing perspective...

...By Running, using clothing, and employing furniture...

Carlo, thank you.

MAN WEEKEND 2025

     Arrival: Thursday night after dinner

     Friday: Training

     Saturday: Fight Day

     Sunday: Leave before noon

Those unsure about what this is, please look at the Modern Agonistics videos or read Brick Mouse Speaks, that should clue you in. Man Weekend is free and open to our greater community, a good place to show up and train (and fight!) for newbies and experienced fighters alike. All ranges combat: grappling, boxing, MMA, weapons. Contact Sean Glass or James LaFond for particulars (location).

Any updates will be posted here.

James Anderson has conducted a meditation on what it is to be a warrior and also a curation of earlier efforts by men from the past to define the ultimate masculine value.

I liked this very much.

Thank you, James.

Just uploaded a new article:

I've attached a large font version for you as well. Hope you enjoy.

Respectfully,

James R. Andersen

I would not rate a man worth mention or account either for speed of foot or wrestling skill, not even if he had a Cyclop's size and strength or could outrun the fierce north wind of Thrace; I would not care if he surpassed Tithonus's looks, or Cinyras's or Midas's famous wealth, or were more royal than Pelops son of Tantalus, or had Adrastus's smooth persuasive tongue, or fame for everything save only valor; no, no man is of high regard in time of war unless he can endure the sight of blood and death, and stand close to the enemy, and fight. This is the highest worth, the finest human prize and fairest for a bold young man to win.

-Trytaeus 

This is for men of the warrior class. 

Others may find it disturbing. 

Continue at:

James,

You've probably been sent this quite a few times but in case you haven't:

Two soldiers get to grips with each other and the Russian (Siberian) manages to bite the knife out of the Ukrainian's hand.

They offer honorable words to each other at the end. What a waste.

Regards,

James the Innocent

Yes by all means post it. I extracted the video and attached it to this email, hopefully you can watch it:

The translation of what they say appears to be:

Ukrainian: “That's it, mom, goodbye,” let me die in peace, you opened me up. Let me breathe a little, it hurts a lot. Let me go quietly, don't touch me.”

Russian : "You fought great."

Ukrainian: “Thank you. You were the best fighter in the world. Better than me,”.

7min knife fight between a Ukrainian and a Russian

kiwifarms.st/threads/post-videos-of-people-dying.86179/page-399#post-20226208

-Guilo Girl

I am unable, with this computer and my idiot brain, to access google drives, you tube or bit chute or the other links above.

I don't know if this was an alley fight at a Thai resort or in military combat in Eastern Europe.

It is interesting, that as much as most American service men i know seem to despise Russians based on American news media, as idiot war pigs, that it is the American combatant and non-combatant of today who denies any credit or honor to the slain enemy, our entire USG mindset to piss on enemy graves instead of respect them for fighting against the massive odds we bring down on them. It is so very interesting that the story of these two enemies to the knife shows them closer in soul then American voters and media grogs are to the people sitting next to them on the light rail or living across the street.

I hope both of these knife fighters have a serene afterlife.

Perhaps i will view this with a tech competent friend one day.

Gday James

Not sure if this is automatic or not, but wanted to reply and compliment you and your work.

I discovered you recently on myth of the twentieth century, and am thoroughly enjoying going back through your interviews with them.

I'm a 27 year old NZ antipodean, and am attempting to confront a lot of issues that you raise re masculinity and general civilisational outlook. This is especially the case as it relates to violence, and the extreme pressure on men to not defend themselves, or confront those who insult them in their environment. Both the form and content of your perspective speaks to a part of myself that I've always known existed, but lacked the conceptual framework whereby I could understand it.

I'd returned to writing and begun boxing recently anyway, but your approach to these areas has invigorated my will in a way that is dearly held. Especially the confidence in your writing, and the lack of regard for dogma, or formalized approaches.

You're having an international impact sir, and I'm honored that you'd freely send a piece of your work.

Cheers for your time.

Jack

On Tue, 19 Nov 2024, 2:39 pm JL Bookstore,

Jack, I read this a couple of days back and saved it hoping that life would help back light your comments on boxing, dogma, writing and will, which I sensed at the time were more cohesive than I was picking up at the moment. i simply had an instinct that boxing and writing together are conjoined twins of the soul. A few days later I have returned home from a surprise dinner outing with a man who boxed long before we met and rejoined that fraternity after reading here, on this site. He brought along his absolutely beautiful woman with whom we had a nice ramble of conversation. Such interwoven narratives remind me that each boxing round is a chapter in a story of sorts.

Boxing and writing, for reasons I do not clearly understand, have coexisted in the same will more than any other physical and mental cultures. In both circles, the man from the mirror circle has increased credibility. Boxers have a high regard for the boxer who also writes. Likewise, writers have a higher regard for the writer who also boxes.

There is more here surely.

I will leave the subject hanging for the many boxers and many writers among the readership of this site to consider.

Thank you all for stepping out of time and visiting here.

On Saturday the ninth I was standing outside the temple of the eaters, at a bull & oyster roast in Rosedale, Baltimore, hoping I would not freeze to death in 45 degrees, returning Sean’s call. My young leader, who calls me “Boss” wanted to know If I had recovered from the Fight Brain Clinic on the 26th, and in particular the beautiful long sword thrust from young James Anderson that dented my saber mask, blackened my eye, and squashed all hopes of the Irish dirt farmers against the Danes in our miniature replay of Clontarf. I was only mildly concussed. It seems that my torn hips, by giving out whenever I am hit by a big man, or walk into his waster sword point, save the brain by failing under the strain.

Sean, satisfied that his old heathen thrall might survive the winter to continue serving as a substandard cornerman in May, then said, “I need to know how to up my boxing game. Kickboxing and MMA are too dangerous after having the knee rebuilt. So boxing is going to have to be my thing. What is the next step?”

I had spent the first hour watching the boxing, and coached James for his three two-minute rounds against Sean. When I sparred Sean, I planned on eating a double jab and slipping in, knowing he was going light, but ate, I think 7 in a row. So having seen only his glove and shoulder for 6 minutes, I hope this serves.

Sean is 6’ 1” 215 lbs, and very strong, with most of it in the legs. He is, unfortunately “On Weights!” I hated seeing him suck weight to 165 and 175 for MMA. Now he’s on that iron dope. Oh well. In Boxing, the best fighters from 160 to 195 are 6 feet to 6’ 1”. Staying at heavy, above 200 pounds, as the small man, is the best course here, better than being the lumbering meatshield for devil hands. In boxing, Sean is bottom heavy with wide hips, calves thicker than my thighs and freakish thighs. This can be translated to punching power.

Sean is a southpaw, who comes from kicking, so likes to switch leads.

Stylistically, partly for the lack of tall sparring partners, Sean boxes in a wide Philly shell, a kind of lateral peek-a-boo with a shoulder roll and a good hook pitched into the body off the hip. The double jab is good, the blind jab high enough for MMA.

#1: Elevate the Jab You will be boxing giants. Your blind jab must be elevated. In sparring with six footers shoot your blind jab over their head, into the eyes of the 6 and a half to 7 footers you will be dealing with. Your wrist still blinds them. Your forearm protects against the cross. The glove can then be dropped down on their head, shoulder, arm or glove to stop, check or measure [that last being a foul]. Do not use this dropped lead to stall, but to right away punch with that or the other hand as you step off or steal the angle. USA boxing refs will call measuring in a hurry.

#2: Train As a Southpaw Stop switching guard! You must own being a lefty by forcing your self to stay there. Do not switch guard for defense, ever. You should only switch guard to a left hand lead to exploit an advantage and prevent him from escaping. Watch Haggler versus Hearns for this.

#3: Increase Your Power Do this by bringing your feet in under your hips. Your feet are too wide. Having them closer together makes your punch harder.

You can also increase your power from this taller, more narrow posture in three other ways. a) Use a knee drop when throwing the rear hand, and alternately, b) stand high on the foot under the punching hand by straightening the leg and raising the heel just before impact. So a slight knee bend translates to either a deep knee drop to sink weight in or to a straight flexed lower leg to deploy those cracker calves into the punch. c) From a knee drop, punch up from a half leg and put the thigh muscle into the punch.

#4: New Balance Return to post or doorway drills, the rock slide and push off drills to begin testing your narrow foot position. Then take those drills to the heavy bag and experiment with your new balance equation, beginning with non punching balance drills.

#5: New Punches Lunge punches are some thing you have trained in knife. Boxers have few defense against this. Your blind jabs from southpaw can set of a lunging rear hand, a sneaky thumbs up straight left between the gloves.

The safety hook, a shovel with the thumb up can be used out of a quick full step, to drive over his shoulder as you pivot off weakly on the lead heel and let your left rear leg swing around almost in line to an oblique. [as in the knife defense drill] This is done to set you up away from his right rear hand to mug him. Mugging is to step behind him, with your lead foot behind his lead foot and throw hooks to his back—yes—hit him in the spine. Joe Lewis used it to beat Max Schmeling, breaking a back bone.

As he drifts left to cut you off from worrying him with this, probably in the second round, side step left with rear foot, out of range of his right, and then launch a lunging power jab down the middle and spear his face, then transfer out left with a pass hook. For the lunging jab and many other tips, see Hagler versus Mugabi. Haggler fought Mugabi and Hearns, both bigger men of opposite builds. Return to those two, with Mugabi the best clinic on dealing with a bigger man. Haggler switched leads to exploit advantage.

A pass hook, on a shift step left diagonal, if done with your rear hand in high guard against his right, can set you up for muggings on his right side.

To facilitate you not getting knocked the fawk out by this giant, practice throwing blind jabs with the rear hand. Kosta Tzue—I’m killing this Asiatic Roosky name here, jabbed with the rear hand. Throw that high rear hand lead up at his eyes to draw a blind rear hand or a jab, and then weave to the outside of that drawn punch. Be careful.

Practice side lunge punches, not just pass hooks, but straight punches for him to run in to. This is important as low-skill high-size heavy’s sometimes bum rush. You don’t want to be caught holding his weight up with those Odysseus thighs. Note in ancient Greece, the man with thick thighs was regarded as the harder puncher. This had to do with the high traction of their combat surface.

Make sure the non-punching hand is held high in shield.

Practice the U-hustle to his right side to really piss him off. When he figures it out, go right behind a blind jab and pitch the lunging rear down the middle.

Our next evolution will be fighting other lefties. First, work on becoming the bane of right handers. Thanks to the need for major league baseball switch hitters, ambidextrous big men are mostly in baseball.

Take care of your shoulders.

Your peek-a-boo shoulder rolls are for when you get caught on the ropes and need to get the hell out. Then return to the high handed hunt. You need to be the one dropping the stop hand on his gloves. Do not catch punches from a big man with the glove, but drop your hand on his in a downward parry to juice his shoulders and drop his guard. Drop parries can be dangerous if over done, drawn, or if he has quick hands and knows how to roll the jab back over the parry.

For when you get in trouble against some big mug, watch Duran versus Barkley and Duran versus Haggler.

Dyno Maxim

Tue, Oct 8, 8:04 PM (2 days ago)

to me

I love the idea of the training post/crucifix, but I'm not gonna be a semi-nomadic Jesus-slash-Django, carrying/dragging it with me as I make my way in this world and from town to town... What would be your recommendations for a young guy, who'd be regularly pretty foot-mobile, and wanted to get some post and bag work in on the road (and maybe while out in the bush, trying to learn to trap game...)? I saw your video on the double-end bag, which I've been sold on carrying for months anyway, and that's about it, so far. And don't worry, I'm taking your advice of "shadow-everything, it's literally everybody's weak spot!"

Unrelated - whatever happened to the Training Snake? What even is it?

...

I have made 6 snakes now. Check out Severe/Knox Agonistics channel for a snake I made in May.

For mobile training, a snake to hang from a tree branch, clothes pole, garage joice would be ideal.

Go to Harbor Freight and buy your training tools, from dead blows, wrecking bars, ax handles—no need to ruin rattan in solo training.

Use the sand hammer and wrecking bar for training on stumps and snags while in the bush.

For you ax handle, rattan rod, training knife, etc, you want a snake.

The Snake is a coil of rope that hangs from a loop and has a weight at the bottom to act as the hip. The snake that you hit with bare knuckle or weapon acts more like a human spine and face than anything I have hit, partially due to the big knot of rope ends and duct tape, towels and pool noodles at the bottom, which gives it action and a place to post off of with your checking hand.

You already have that with the paper towel/shirt double end bag.

Buy two coils of rope from harbor freight.

Cut one into 8 ft lengths. Loop these at the top and tape together. You now have an eye-loop above to hang from something. At the bottom tie the double ended bag, which you can make another of, by two central lengths and drape the rest over the bag.

[Electric Dan, i think we need to improve your snake with a third coil of rope after training on it with your boy who loves the tomahawk so much.]

Take the second coil of rope and wind it down from the loop, where it should be tied off, back up, and down again, where it can be tied off/or taped at the bag coil attachment. Now take a roll of duct tape and cover the coil-draped bag at the bottom, making it one padded sinker, which you can use as the hip for checking and for practicing leg and knee stokes. Don't tape the rope.

The rope snake part is great for bare knuckle and weapon training.

3/4 inch heavy arbor rope is the best for a home unit. But on the road the light harbor freight rope coils will do.

Oh yes, related, post work.

Stump tops are great for conditioning with dead blows and bars.

Using any wood on a post, like the stick you like and want to depend on, will endanger that stick.

[As a policy, jameslafond.com does not endorse wood on wood activity.]

I recommend using a tree, post, snag to place a stuffed boxing head gear/coat dummy. Hang the head gear stuffed [with a towel, clothes or your bag gloves] and attached to the coat [with a belt or jump rope] from whatever tree has offended you and strike the head and the arms and body, perhaps tying the arms of the coat behind the tree. If the coat is thick enough it should save your stick from cracking. It will be a good meditation on how much loose heavy clothing interferers with blunt extension weapon use. Also, in case it is a live tree, any tree huggers that catch you in the act might not be moved to attack once they realize you are abusing the vile human effigy hanging before the sacred tree. Hockey gloves can be hung for hand targeting. Again stuff them with socks or rags.

I will see if the web master can video a small snake i made here at the Brickmouse House and append that video to this article.

Good training and wide travels, Dyno.

Nick

commented on

Welcome to Our Site

Oct-6-2024

9:41 AM EDT

Hey man just wanted to ask if you thought I was too old to box amateur at 27. Ive been training for 5 years now but haven't competed yet. Any input is appreciated. I know it's too late to go pro but to do a regional tournament like golden gloves is something I've been thinking about. Thanks.

Nick, that is actually perfect.

Boxers begin peaking at 27 and fade at about 32. Golden Gloves closes to you at age 36. When i was 40 I was advised not to fight in the "masters" because it was catch weight and the medicals were more strict then professional medicals.

You are a sleeper if you have been training for 5 years. Many coaches push for boxers to fight ASAP.

Some tips:

Train in the headgear and gloves that work best for you.

But, once a week, at the time of day you expect to compete, train with the same weight and brand of head and hands you will compete in, the regulation shirt and trunks as well. Any fight you win that you could buy the gloves after the event from the promoter you should and keep those gloves for training.

You should be more relaxed and have better stamina then other amateurs in their first fight.

You will probably be slower than men in their late teens at you same weight, but stronger.

I train a man who i met at a gym 22 years ago when he was 15 and he wants a pro fight before 40. He will be regarded as shark food for up and comers. You, especially if strongly built for your weight, will be suspected of being a crossover from weights, wrestling, boxing or MMA. Knowing his prejudice can help weigh in your mind how the other corner will regarded you before round 1. After round 1, you are, to them, that guy, whatever you made of the fight that round. This process could put you in the lead if you can stay one ahead of your perceived type each round.

It is not too late to go pro, though you will make more money in Amateur MMA than in pro boxing. It is too late for you to be a contender. Unless you have the best trainers because you are rich, to be a top pro you have to start before it is advisable, before puberty. But on a local level, with the thin talent today, you might well be able to amass a single digit winning pro record, unless you are in Vegs or Mexico, in which case don't.

I wish you the best, Nick.

james

Hello James!

I hope you are doing good!

I wanted to share with you and your readers an article I’ve written that I believe is of the utmost importance to anyone on the Combat Sports Journey.

Let’s be honest…there’s a lot of people that get left in the dust in the Combat Sports, and it’s usually the people that need them the most!

This article and the many links within rectifies that situation…get ready to learn your ABCs!

Sincerely,

Richard Barrett

Thanks to Sean and Son from Tennessee, James Anderson from Norfolk, VA, Portland Joe from Oklahoma, Keith, Nate & Erique from Pennsylvania, Scott & Son, The Brickmouse and Charles from Baltimore for joining this old crumb in helping keep Jimmy's legacy alive. We sparred from 11 to 3 with gloves, sticks, machetes, wasters. Only James and Sean really grappled. We then had a good half hour survival circle and then fought with knives. James, Sean, Charles and Portland Joe owned that round. James and i did an LPR machete duel, with the old crumb gaining 2 of the 3 cuts, and earning the one actual blood cut to the right shoulder. We then went 5 rounds, i think, with bastard sword wasters and the Danes went 5 and 0 over the Irish thrall uprising—Clontarf it was not! I think my mouth piece and saber mask will file class action lawsuit against me for neglect. All the boxing we did and the only black eye was courtesy of a sword thrust to my saber mask.

Thank you all.

The Fall Man Weekend has been canceled due to work commitments and logistical predicaments. We knuckleheads, will, however, be meeting up in Towson, Maryland.

Sensei Morgan, my late good friend Jim Frederick’s assistant, has kept Jim’s school open and added numerous punching bags. For a drop-in or “mat” fee per man of $20, Morgan is opening his school to a training activity designed by Sean to help inexperienced men learn how to fight, alongside of veteran knuckleheads learning how to fight better. This is based on our old Agonistics format.

Gear—Bring a cup [if you care] and a mouthpiece. Other equipment you want to bring is welcome.

9:30 AM—Cleaning detail. That’s me, the janitorial maestro.

10:30 AM—Arrival Sign In

Let Sean and I know what you want to work on: stick, knife, machete [1], boxing, bare-knuckle, wrestling, kickboxing, MMA, self-defense applications? The first half of the day will be used to address your skill and function in the areas you want to work.

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM—Boxing Sparring

Two Sparring Rings will be supervised with an eye on light contact. Timed, round robin format.

12:00 – 1:00—Mixed Sparring and Bag Work

While Sean coaches a sparring ring for kickboxing and MMA, James will help those who wish to continue with a boxing focus, in the bag area, in developing solo drills and on bare-knuckle applications.

1:00 - 2:00—Stick Sparring

The senior stick fighters will gear up and stay in the ring while the less experienced men rotate in. [2]

2:00 – 3:00—Wrestling Round Robin

While the gorillas grapple, I’ll be available to help with your stick work on the bags in the back of the school.

3:00 – 3:30—Break & Survival Combat Q&A

How to apply what we trained above against various threats.

3:30 – 4:00—Hard Set

Those who want to try a hard stick fight, a steel blade duel, umbrellas against machete, want to box against a wrestler, etc., the hard set is intended to test us and our tools at full speed. Volunteers only.

4:00 to 5:00—Knife Fighting Round Robin.

Full speed kill bouts with training knives. If you take a stroke without striking your foe within 1 beat, you step down and the next meat stick steps up. Part of this is the ability to know when you have been touched with a light weapon. If you both cut or stab each other, redo the duel.

5:00 to 5:30—Pack up and leave the place how we found it.

If you are old, or injured, or just curious, bring some snacks and give Morgan $20 so you can watch knuckleheads knock each other around.

-1. If you want machete or steel knife work, bring a pair of blunt blades. We will have masks and gloves if you do not have your own.

-2. Sean, Charles, James Anderson and the crackpot, will hopefully all be there. This would permit a coach as a sparring partner and another as a corner man. If we only have two experienced sticks then the rest of the men will gear and encourage their fellow fighters.

     

Between jogo de pau and the above, I could see it. Learn and spar with sticks, ritualistic dances with machetes to get comfortable around them, so on. If you got any insight or guesses about how this stuff might have worked or looked like, I'd appreciate it. I 100% agree with your rationale that the kind of person to become a professional classicist probably doesn't have the tools to correctly interpret combat sports. Same goes for the suckers who get into capoeira on this side of the equator.

-Baron MacBlast’em

…

Sir,

I have seen some such work and it is not without its merits. The inclination to dance rather than contact is implicit in the genetic Bantu condition. This is aggrevated by lack of training gear and development structure. Simply wearing coconut-backed mitts, towels on the shoulder and a hat, and sparring with dull machetes may have been an original form, such as we developed from scratch around 2000. It is, from what is gleaned from these and the other videos I have seen, like Asian martial arts, significantly degraded by lack of contact, stemming from lack of gear and lack of a drive to test the limits of existing method.

Note that the one man is wearing a shirt that claims Cimmeron “runaway” as the school, the same root of the tribal name Seminole, which was a multiracial fugitive refugee system. Keeping in mind that the weapon orginally faced by most such runaways was a musket with bayonet, and that only the officers had swords, it makes snese that wide circling tactics against enemies, and deft disarming tactics against feuding fellows or enemy officers, would dominate such a system. I for, one, would not want to fence with the fellow in the blue liesure shirt.

The back turning is not done well and indicates long separation from reality. One turns the head first, torso second.

What is your opinion on the apache knife fighting system?

Thanks

Best

Pb

[Paul Bing Ham]

…

Robert Red Feather reminds me of my Eskimo Father In Law who spoke Athapaskan, of a different dialect. Note that any such knife fighting system is ging to be forensically absed on horn, bone and stone knives and favor power moves, at the root. But, since the Apache feuded with the Spanish and Mexicans, who favored blade use, and had access to steel for 300 years before American firearms culture began to dominate ther combat space, I expect more nuance and Anglo borrowing than normally found in such systems. The system as presented is sound and is clearly absed on Spanish steel traditions with its focus on use of flat, spine and extented saber grip thrusts. I like it, and do note, that the instrctor’s desciple, is the same kind of man that pays for almost all indiginous blade instruction, from around the world, a cracker. I sense something in our gun culture longs for the honor that we lost when we swtched from crossing blades to man hunting.

The use of the mask is helpful. The blind fold is borrowed from wing chun. But, the use of the reverse grip is sound, though the footwork is very limited. The moving of the long hair back over the shoulders is a mistake, as it could turn the blade on a neck slash. The system is weak on high line and level change attacks, but, again, most sound on defensive doctrine. If a system is going to lack something, when focused on such a lethal close range weapon, I prefer it lack in the attitudes of attack, not in close defense. This seems to me a good sarting point for men who are heavily built and not as mobile as they once were.

About 30 minutes in one can see that the system suffers from the same problems as the Filipino systems, which is reflected in the boxing ring behind them, a tendency to focus on hand work and to leave one’s own hand and guts right in front of the enemy blade. This might refect Filipino influence. No matter, it reflects in any case the fact that blade fighting cannot be learned to any point beyond dressing one’s self as a plated meal for the competent blade for, without sparring. The form of instruction may not abandon the tribal identity, also common to any popular form, and hence the instructor may not be masked in a practical way and also serve the cult of competency that is martial arts formality. Therefor, the instructor’s bare face is not approachable and the student learns to have his face skewered or throat cut.

The back turning is unforgiveable, and is probably cinema based. The non contact sparring sequence that ends at 47 exposes easily killed knifers who do not clear the pocket after a stroke and do not close with a stroke to the hand. These men will have a very hard time cutting without being cut and stabbing clean, with the knife treated with high caliber firearm stopping power, which it in fact lacks. The desperate surge of a mortally wounded man who has not bled out yet, is not appreciated in the illustrations.

This video provides a rational interpretation of Spanish saber applied to close order knife work, but which falls far short of American big knife methods, seeming to linger in the same ciriculmn based mire as most small blade arts.

I was kicked out of the video feed by some economic vector. The old knife fellows seem pleasant in spirit, but, if in front of the men I am currently sparring with, “already dead.”

…

"The top has a hat stand, atop of which rests a tribal work hat with badge—it just occurred to me that I’m sharing a bed with a Fed."

So if I'm reading this correctly, you're the victim of a soft capture by a Tribal Fed?

Keep us informed of any new mind control techniques being applied!!!

And if you're burned at the stake in a ceremonial way, we expect video!

Don Quotays

;

Oh, Don,

The mind control techniques are mostly alcohol based.

I did not realize I was sleeping with a high status babe until I was at the White Buffalo Christmas Powwow and a half dozen feds in suits and indigine chiefs lined up to shake hands with her father, who introduced me as “James, my Son In Law.”

I turned to her and said, “I had no idea I was sleeping with the Chief’s daughter!”

Nine young persons, three braves, five babes and one Blackfoot psychobitch, all threatned to hunt me down and beat or kill me if I abandoned the Lady’s heart. I took this as a compliment.

I will try and avoid the stake! If not, Please, send in Don Alverado and his riders!

A third into this summer’s journey west I have discovered encroaching limits upon physical activity. It seems that anywhere a backpack goes on my back, that crutches need be under these emaciated arms. I can, though, still spar, and would like to give that activity one last year. [1]

There are men who have supported me in the past, who I would like to meet before the journeying is done, and some who I wish to see again. These men are in Phoenix Arizona, Albacore [can’t spell it to save my life] New Mexico, Denver Colorado, Exeter Missouri, Houston Texas and Joliet Illinois. This trip is being planned for March and April 2025. If you are in this travel arc and would like to spar, you need only provide the gear.

I am required back east in May 2025.

I am hopeful that the hips will carry me on a second round of travel in 2025. I would like that to include a final trip to Richmond, Virginia. I have heard that there are stick fighters there. If you are them, or know them, I can take a weekend trip down to Richmond while I’m in Maryland with my saber mask, gloves and training knives and would be thrilled to do some stick and knife sparring. I can still spar boxing, but am so slow you might fatigue of boredom in the target rich environment. I’m still a pain in the neck to get rid of with weapons. So that might be worth something to an active fighter.

I am dedicated to putting on the gloves and crossing sticks in the 62nd year of this misbegotten jeer. If you would like to get in some sparring with the most often hit living stick target, give me a text and a call at:

443-686-0598

-James LaFond, Selek Washington, 6/28/24

…

Notes

-1. The wheelygig suit case carry on that rolls behind you has been suggested, and rejected for the following: it is impossible to use with crutches and awkward with a cane, it weighs more than a back pack, leading something to one side is unbalancing for the hip, both of which have torn ligaments, and is only good on pavement, and is too unwieldy as a shield back in Baltimore when the groes come for me.

Four miles behind Gawdly Lines.

Most of the fighting age men now grew up post-Columbine, institutionalized in a feminized system of zero-tolerance policies towards fighting, but the internet is (for some reason) still filled with videos from these same school-prisons where dorky children are brutalized by mob violence. I went through k-12 and only ever threw a single punch, and me and my attacker were both so shocked he walked away mumbling something humiliating about how his mother hits harder. There’s a legacy of masculine violence we’ve all been cut off from that exists, for so many of us, as a spectator sport. If you follow the rules, you know next to nothing about it. Take a punch, maybe you’ll shatter like glass, you don’t know.

You should find out.

There’s martial arts studios everywhere, but what do they really teach? In a controlled environment, one-two punch, one-two, repeat. The demonstrations are at half speed, and the “bad guy” always throws himself theatrically in the direction they’ve agreed to ahead of time. A lot of the schools are little more than fitness classes, offering false confidence. Others fail to reign in psycho fighters who hurt the other students and scare their developing competition away from the combat sports.

Man Weekend is the best martial arts opportunity in the country: if you’re willing to leave your comfort zone, you can test yourself while learning from experts in boxing, applied weapons sparring, and grappling. People drive hundreds of miles for a day of training and a day of fighting, and that fight day is mandatory.

Mandatory fighting is an incredible filter for quality men. You don’t have to be an amazing fighter (or any kind, really), but you have to be willing to step outside of your comfort zone and into an arena with men you’ve never met before. Every year, about half the men back out at the last minute, including some highly trained athletes. But when you get there, you find some of the most interesting men you’ve ever met, with experiences you’ve never even thought about, and when everyone is exhausted, the conversation really kicks off. This year, the men discussed the psychological damage of horse-riding on women and the fitness benefits of MAZURI PRIMATE BISCUITS FOR GROWTH AND REPRODUCTION, as well as other topics not fit to print. There’s white collar men, writers, working class guys, young and old. Fathers and bachelors. Everyone has been personally vetted, and they all have stories to tell, if you can figure out what questions to ask.

You’re more resilient than you think, but weaker too, and you should find out both. The coaches at Man Weekend may scare the hell out of you, but they’ll pull their punches and let you hit them, so the new guys experience their first adrenaline dumps, and the veterans leave bruised and pleasantly exhausted. The men who come back the next year are more controlled and more sure of themselves. The fights are as real as you want them to be.

This event is a nexus of masculine energy that the Pool Parties, book clubs, drum circles, and fitness getaways can never be. There’s no substitute for the exhaustion of fighting, and it couldn’t be reproduced with lesser men than these. I would never find these friends anywhere else, and the sine qua non of the whole social event is the filter of mandatory fighting. So come out, and test yourself. Life always gets in the way. Maybe next year you’ll be too busy. Now, while you still have time, while your body still works, learn to fight. Your neighborhood isn’t getting any safer. You’ll get out of it what you put into it. There’s nothing like Man Weekend.

IntheseGoingsDown and I were at the neighborhood bar across the street from the gym after our boxing session. Darling Lynn texted:

“There is a video of a hand being taken off in a knife fight. It’s nasty. Do you want to see it?”

My inferior device could not do this. So, my fellow received the link on his X device. Viewing the video at the bar, through what seemed a palenteer in his hands, I was transported to Middle Earth, to Isenguard, looking down from my proud tower over the fluttering white beard to see, two of my Orks battling for my attention, seeking to entertain…

The victor lost his left hand from an inward defensive cut as he was entering. After the other ork, who, I am told, bled to death after leaving in seeming good condition, the victor picked up his own hand and swaggered off!

I spoke with Lynn last night after training the Operator in knife fighting. I sit here this morning haunted by the conversation. Asked if we liked the video, I answered:

“We watched it ten times at the bar—at least! It was a good entertainment, surrounded by wiseguys, whores, drug dealers and characters. Just think, one day, we will be able to look across the street from the bar and see a machete fight! That day is growing near, the machete soon to be the most common weapon in America!”

Lynn than said, “I know you don’t write about this anymore. But a reader wants to know how to use a crowbar for self defense, in the mixed weapon and multiple attacker contexts. I said to get one and hit a tree with it. I remember you rehabbing a wrist injury beating a tree stump with hammers and an ax in Utah while you talked to me on the phone with the other hand.”

Lynn, how callous! A moment of pause for the loss of that heroic ork paw!

Now, while headed to the liquor store the next day for the hair of the dog, we saw a Harbor Freight location. My friend asked what I thought about that, as it is a known Chinese retail outlet across the nation, an affront to Murkan tool supremacy…

“A good arsenal; especially when the drones lock down firearm use and we are all left as orks fending for Sarumon’s approval. This, Lynn, was a message from GOD. I must write of it. I once did a crowbar video which Dennis Dale took down when he ghosted me. I will do another. Until then I’ll skype this to you for Substack.”

The Lady Objected, “But what is the point. It’s so heavy, unless you are a gorilla, how do you use it effectively?”

That is the point. And Lynn, please, more sensitivity for One Hand Bro—the G-word, really!

…

Prybar and Crowbar

I use the term crowbar. But carpenters I have worked with, have informed me that the crowbar is the 20 pound, five foot long, crow-footed octagonal staff I was too weak to use to move the log splitter out of a pothole… which I was qualified to fill in and patch, “That’s right Nige, good work!” said the Captain.

The short steel bar, that is hooked, The Major told me, is the humble prybar, mostly for removing nails from timber. The prybar is hooked on one crowfooted end like a cane. The other end either has a crowfoot or chisel tooth end. The shape is octagonal.

To be Continued on Substack in two parts:

Crowbar Combat.

2 of 3: An X Reader Wishes to Survive Orkocracy: 5/17/24

Limitations and potentials of the prybar as an improvised weapon, for three ascending categories of potential users.

Citizen Prybar

Combatant Prybar

Predator Prybar

Soon at

…

Crowbar Combat!

3 of 3: An X Reader Wishes to Survive Orkocracy: 5/17/24

An exercise in experimental combat.

To be conducted on video on Friday and Saturday may 24th and 25th to be posted and linked at:

hows it hanging

Inbox

Fri, Feb 23, 7:24 PM

to me

Hows it going ol' hobo?

survived your medical procedures?

Since the last time i wrote i got one invitation to a "Mensur", ritual german fencing which entire point is to scar up your face, simply because the guy who invited me is a bit scared of the whole ritual himself, and i already have a scared up face.

And this guy isn't some sissy. Oldschool hool, hard boozer who liked to beat up entire clubs and bars for the sake of it. And now hes a engineer, married, two kids almost teenager age, and daddy can't show up to the parents-teacher conference with a busted mug.

Also i got an invitation to some "self defence courses" with this guy.

[redacted video]

Diese KO Schläge brauchst du Fight Mentality Progressive Fighting Systems

Hallo und herzlich willkommen, dies ist der offizielle YouTube Channel von Fight - Mentality - PFS© Social Media Facebook: Instagram: == Instagram: == Du willst uns supporten? Dann werde ...

www.youtube.com



A student of Paul Vunak, trainer for, amongst others, BOPE. The guy who invited me was so hyped "OH MAN THIS GONA BE BADASS" and then, then he fucked it up, cause his Exwife tells him he has the boy for the weekend.

MORE LIKE THE WEAK END, amiright.

And seriously, i feel old. I am not suppose todo this shit anymore. I have a busted eye, a busted eardrum and my limbs burn. And yet i am for these guys, either married or divorced guys with kids who have their fighting days behind them, give me an address when they look for a gladiator.

You should be honored.

"It hurts when most of my fighters say, "You are done, to old, work the corner, you've earned your beard, you can't fight anymore because Steven Hawkins is dead!"

I don't know your age. You sound late 30s early 40s when most guys pack it in for good.

I am still crippled. I cannot stick fight or knife duel. I can box, but have to bang in the pocket, which isn't so good for an old runt. But, I am certain i can duel with some of the longer blunt machetes and an umbrella against a machete for instance. I am going to use my last days to do some tests of improvised tools against machetes.

These men want you for spirit and method. Become a smarter fighter, change styles to get a little more out of the only meaningful thing we have done.

I want to use my aluminum medical cane against a machete.

Erique has agreed—its on... I just need someone to carry my kit so I don't land in a stretcher before i get to the ring.

Let us know how your training and fighting goes.

I liked Vunak's adaptation of Inosanto's curriculum.

Good Norns.

Why are Frost Giants getting into MMA?!

Inbox

Achilleas

Tue, Jan 30, 4:05 AM

to me

Hi Mr. LaFond! Long time no talk! I hope that you feel better. I've read the blog post you did on your health and mobility slightly improving and you being able to workout with light weights! That's excellent news! That post really did make my day when I've read it. Onwards and upwards!

I wanted to pick your brain once again (you are probably sick of the noisy Greek by now, and I don't blame you!). Long story long, as I've told you before, even though I've been in and out of martial arts for eight years now, when I first started training in MMA and Tai Chi in London I was an MMA fanatic (watching everything from the PANCRASE and PIRDE days). And for some reason after a while I stopped caring, especially after I had seen all of the PRIDE events and, finally, when I've realized that RIZIN was no PRIDE, not even close.

I kept training but I didn't keep up with the sport. I know retards that watch the UFC vehemently, even though they've never taken a punch to the face themselves (which is more than suspect for a fight fan in my book), and when I see them commenting on fights on the internet I don't know ANYONE from any MMA roster of either Europe or America.

I realized that I fell out of love with the sport a long time ago. One of the obvious reasons is that everyone became too good. That made for extremely boring fights. Everyone became so good through training, knowing what works and what doesn't (and highly specific "pharmaceuticals") that every fight, pretty much, looks exactly the same. No more fights between the "wrestler" and the "striker". Now it's just Robot 1 vs Robot 2 with a lot of talking (high-school drama acts before the fights in which grown men, literally, make "yo mama" jokes so that the average retard will buy the ticket).

But I've also noticed something more sinister as our world gets gayer by the minute. It seems that ex-strongmen (or current strongmen) are getting a lot of money to fight in MMA. By watching these people spar I've realized that (if you are not a professional athlete making money off of the sport you are competing in) overspecialization in one sport completely retards your growth in martial arts. By watching sparring, and fighting, footage from these people both in boxing and in MMA, it looks like a guy at their weight with some athletic attributes and six months of serious training could actually beat them up badly... That is a sad realization Mr. LaFond. That the world's strongest men (and it's a fact that these people are the world's strongest men, no ifs or buts) can be KOed by a "nobody" martial artist.

And that brings me to my final point. Why all the obsession with giants fighting? I mean it's not like they are talented, or that their punches are more powerful than the average martial artists (on the contrary these people are so jacked they can only throw arm punches). I think that there is an esoteric element to what's going on. The obvious reason is money, freak-show "end of Rome" fights etc. This is well-known and documented, but I think that the System wants us to get completely and utterly convinced of the fact that we are powerless.

When the average person watches giants get beat up and KOed consistently, he finally "realizes" that he is powerless.

"If the world's strongest men can get humiliated and thrown around like ragdolls by nobodies, what could happen to me?". I actually think that the esoteric reason behind all of the above is mass demasculinization.

"Do you think getting strong will save you? Do you think that boxing training will save you? The Frost Giants themselves are being thrown around! What could you possibly do? And yes, I do want extra Ketchup packets with my fries!"

Does your "Cube" book deal with any of the above?

Godspeed Mr. LaFond!

You fanatic!

Achilleas, you made me grin above the muse addled din.

Tagged above is Cube, which looks at what i think the future of MMA will be if the infrastructure of the West holds for another century.

Also tagged is Last Whiteman, which is a picture of a fallen West that no longer supports spectacles of mass emotive control.

Your observation is correct in intent of the system to emasculate by making fetish bots of our most masculine men. Money corrupts the athlete.

The money comes from the desire of the non combatant to see a combatant fall, to fuel his continued FAITH in the Security State, in which his status is connected to his feminine right to be protected or avenged by third party combatants. Professional prize fighting only exists in decadent civilizations and never in tribal or feudal settings. Strong monarchs suppress prize fighting and dueling.

Most fans are not combatants and what they want to see is a man better than they fall.

The latest craze has been men fawningly watching females being KO'd by females, the most debased fate a male can attain, other then putting on a wedding dress and begging drugs in an ally.

Achilleas, thank you so much for your support—and yes, the DPD Yoga helped me fix the posture of some of my spinal exercises. I intend to have a machet duel in May.

Mr. LaFond writes very little on the subject of firearms, being a poor shot and rightly noting the disproportionate legal response to their use, especially by individuals of the honky persuasion. It is still critical to have some knowledge of them if you want to survive in the mean modern world.

This is for two reasons: one, that they are ubiquitous and cannot be avoided and two, they are the greatest equalizer of men in single combat; bullets know no weight class.

Whether or not one should consider carrying a firearm is dependent on personal circumstances. By carrying, you are opening yourself up, willingly or not, to a much higher potential escalation of consequences to any altercation. Even one in which you do not produce your firearm may end in your death by shooting, if your foe incapacitates you and takes your weapon or manages to wrestle it away from you.

Further, the correct and effective use of a firearm requires frequent training and is a highly perishable skill. At an absolute minimum you should shoot live ammunition once a month, dry-firing (practice without any ammo in the gun) should be done for a few minutes daily, as well as practice drawing, reloading, and manipulating the weapon. Carrying a firearm without training makes you a danger to yourself.

Another consideration is the legal repercussions for the area in which you live, which in some places make the use of firearms in self defense equal if not more severe than if used for murder (do not discount the court of the mob either, who will do their best to destroy you if you shoot the wrong color of person in self defense). Still it is better to be alive and face legal action than dead.

Finally consider the areas you frequent, the routes you often take, the proliferation of firearms in your society and related factors. Are you often in small spaces with ample cover and means of escape? Are you in highly populated areas with greater risk of mass shooting? Do many people have guns (legal or otherwise) around you? Do you interact with the criminal part of the population frequently or are you likely to get in trouble with the law? Are you physically smaller or infirm or otherwise at a disadvantage in a standard fight? These are all important factors to consider when deciding the relative value of carrying a firearm. What disadvantages are you assuming by accepting a greater combat advantage?

Whether or not you choose to carry you should understand the basics of firearms. There is a huge amount of information available on this subject, so much that there is no need to go into it here. If you have access to this article, a simple google search will produce a wealth of information.

A few (curated) video primers on firearms and their use:

What I will do here is briefly list general principles of dealing with firearms and surviving if faced by one. The two keys to remember are cover and distance. Generally, the more solid cover and distance you can put between yourself and an opponent with a firearm the better.

Practice this by scanning when you are out, what routes of escape do I have? What is the cover there like? Are bullets able to penetrate or ricochet around them (remember, bullets can and will penetrate cars, the engine block and wheel wells are the safest places). If cover is sparse, is there concealment? If come upon in close quarters by a firearm, your options are very limited. Situational awareness is your greatest tool. I would strongly advise against attempting to grapple an opponent with a firearm unless you have no other choice. If this is the case, keep both hands on the firearm and maintain control of the muzzle at all costs.

You can also practice looking around for who may have a gun. Is their clothing baggy or tight? Where would they keep it? Do they have a bag? Do they look like someone who would help or hurt you? Do they keep touching a certain part of their clothes, or adjusting their waistline? All things to look out for.

Cover and distance. These principles apply if you are carrying a firearm as well, for yourself and the opponent.

The arguments about which type of gun to use for self defense are similar to arguments about which style of a particular martial art is superior. The answer is whatever you are most proficient in. The best gun is the gun you have and the gun you train with. If carrying is feasible for you, practice, and practice often.

Can you reload it? Can you clear a jam? Can you do it quickly, with your off hand, when you’re tired, on the move, in the dark, upside down, and under water? You have to drill until it becomes second nature. To those that say reloading is unlikely: if you’re drawing a gun you’re in a shitty situation, who says it can’t get shittier?

Further, you are unlikely to be very accurate your first time firing a weapon under duress. You will sink to your lowest level of training. For this reason training accuracy is crucial, but so is training instinctive aiming and extreme close quarters shooting. What if they are so close you can’t bring the sights up to your eye? You have to know how to shoot at close range from the hip.

Another unique challenge with firearm training is target discretion. It is much harder to accidentally stab someone than to shoot them. It is critical to practice positive target ID to ensure you don’t accidentally smoke some innocent bystander. Lord knows they’ll come after you for shooting a criminal; imagine shooting a civilian by mistake!

Hopefully I have not scared anyone off from training with firearms. Yes, it is a big commitment. But one that could save your life. Keep training for other kinds of close quarters self defense and you will be one hard to kill motherfucker.

I can’t repeat enough, as with everything, train often. You won’t need it until you do.

This should post at about the time targeted for a doctor check up and a return to coaching in the Mid Satanic.

It was a long, two month crawl to full crutch mobility, then another two months hanging between those things. My current activity is daily:

20 hours typical fast time.

1 hour prone exercises

2 hours writing/reading

30 minutes upright exercises

2-6 hours household chores or walking

2 hours writing/reading

30 minutes prone exercises

4 hours drinking alcohol [I try and live a balanced life]

8 hours sleeping [Morpheus gets 2 Dionysian hours twice a week]

Now, the shambles that was once an over-aged, under-sized aspiring fighter has the following functional parameters:

The compressed right lumbar spine is up to 30% of pre-injury strength, 100% of pre-injury flexibility. Disc irritation is nearly gone.

Torn right hip labrum has not improved and not worsened. The supporting muscles of this joint are at 80% of pre-injury flexibility and 50% strength.

Abdominal strength has gone from 3 to 30 crunches and from 0 to 30 pullovers [1] and is limited in increase by irritation to the femoral nerve after 30 reps and lumbar distress after 2 sets as well as rib attachment injuries in the left side that inflame after 30 pull overs. [2]

Right inner leg strength remains at 10% of pre-injury.

Femoral nerve pain levels range between 4 resting and 8, doing extreme sports like walking at ½ a mile per an hour with cane, on crutches, or without cane. Strength and flexibility exercises for the inner leg irritates the nerve and decreases strength and stability.

Front right thigh stands at 80% of pre-injury flexibility and 10% strength. Attempts to increase strength destabilizes knee.

Walking on level and down hill is ½ MPH.

Decreases and increases in elevations have to be done in a step drag fashion. The lame leg must lead going down and follow going up. Steps are easier than 10% grades. 25% grades reduce pace to half foot step drags. Grades steeper than 30% require switch back walking.

Pushing off with the right foot or stepping back into a right side reverse triangle, and or doing forward shift marches and reverse shift counter marches bring the nerve to a sizzling 8 pain level.

The left hip and left knee have weakened.

The left femoral nerve is beginning to demonstrate irritation down to the ankle and banging spasms down to the knee, though not with the pain associated with this in the right leg.

Both of what I thought of as small hernias in the left and right, after my experience undergoing nerve conduction testing on both sides by Doctor Park, were, and are, obviously impinged femoral nerves in the lower abdomen above the testicles and parallel with the hips.

I can now carry a 20 pound load short distances or in a backpack with crutches, making visits possible.

Shoulders are trashed from crutch and cane. I hope that access to a speed bag and dumbbells will improve this.

I have been able to do light yard work, such as raking leaves, with no irritation.

Cleaning house interior has been therapeutic, with only the mopping of the floors having to be limited in duration.

Twisting could be a disaster.

Bending to the sides is touchy.

Traction exercises for 1 to 5 minutes every two hours reduce end of day compression.

Seated writing with back brace and pillows under knees can be tolerated for 4 hours daily, about the limit of normal eye tolerance of screen time.

…

Activity Assessments

Using current activity and progress over the past 4 months as a guide, I am expecting the following spring activity limits.

Normal walking on the level at 1 mph without distress.

Women’s work in the house.

Lifting and packing limited to an upper range of 30 pounds.

Weapon training limited to walk up defense drills and step drag pocket sparring. The right knee is a total mystery and does not function predictably. I do not expect to be able to even demonstrate triangle steps, shifts or lunges in slow motion.

Boxing offers more possibilities as shown by recent limited shadow boxing. I can do half the foot work in left hand lead and the other half in right hand lead. I cannot pivot on or push off with the right leg. I hope to be able to coach by staying in the pocket and mimicking a power puncher or counter puncher. Boxing from the outside, even in slow motion, is unlikely.

Sean has asked me to coach and corner at the 2024 Man Weekend. If someone is headed there from the Mid-Satanic, I will drag along.

The medicine I am on to dampen the pain in the femoral nerve, which kept me from sleeping for 7 weeks and prevented exercise with that leg, has reduced my cognition, reaction time and expressive acuity. I expect to be an even more limited coach. I hope access to punching bags will enable me to develop power and pocket drills for training as my ability to demonstrate mobility is on the decline.

As I explore the athletic function that remains, I have targeted the exact time of the initial injury to the right femoral nerve in the groin at December 2016, three months after I tore the labrum in the left hip running to catch a bus down Glenoak Avenue. This showed up when I tried to push a floor scrubber that was locked.

Thinking this was a hernia, I did not pursue more abdominal strength which increased lumbar risk over time. Pain in the left groin, which is now expressing down the femoral nerve to the knee, began in November 2022.

The abdominal surgeon who examined me noted that in men my age, abdominal pain that mimics a hernia is often associated with hip injury. Both of my hips have been torn and are at this time injured and not improving. Therefore, setting my goal for a return to: hiking, ditching, wood cutting, fighting, etc., is hazardous and could result in a plunge back into the pit of shrimping, crabbing, crawling and scooting as a human crustacean on some floor. This state did not permit me to write, as I could not stand, kneel or sit.

Writing is the bargain I made with my mind for remaining in this shambles of a carcass under the Shadow of Uncle Satan. The goal is light travel and writing at the current level, which is more than 8 books and less than 12 books per year: hopefully 4 novels, 4 journals, 2 memoirs and 2 histories.

…

Notes

-1. The pull over is done by placing the head on the corner of the bed, grabbing the mattress corner under the head and pulling the knees over the chest and feet over head.

-2. The highest rep prone exercise, that has helped the most with the lumbar, is alternate cross hip leg extensions.

Apr 22, 2024, 12:35 AM (1 day ago)

to me

James - thanks for what you do. Been a long time fan of your work and looking forward to Shrouds of Aryas.

Wanted to get your take on this destroyer of a boxer named Artur Beterbiev. He holds the distinction of being the only champion with a 100% knockout ratio and recently demolished Callum Smith in their fight:

How does he generate so much power? He generates a ton of force in short-range, quite stiff looking punches but apparently he hits with the force of a sledgehammer, his opponents describe it as bone-crushing. What do you think and see?

Sir,

Thank you for reading and for sending me this video link. I am currently at a place where I can view youtube. I viewed this video and Artur's top 5 KOs.

I have not followed boxing in some time and don't know who the current top men are. My observations are:

-Artur does everything right: touch first, oblique guard, high hands, look through the hands, watch the chest, etc.

-This man is incredibly well knit, meaning pre indexed muscles, easily coordinated, not awkward or lanky, but in line.

-He makes no attempt to get around, he stays in front of his man and is focused in the pocket. This is key as he is a walk down counter puncher and does best when a longer armed man commits to a power shot.

-Artur is more intensely focused, it seems, not because he is more disciplined, but because he is a big human gunsight, his indexed posture, his strict mechanical boundaries assisting his battle game.

Those are not unique, simply excellent.

What is unique is:

-He uses a three quarter fist and vertical fist more than most fighters, is not always turning over the hand to get shoulder power into the punch. This permits him to follow up sooner from the same side with punches, and other things.

-Artur has a priority that is apparent, to touch the other man consistently. He slaps, cuffs, wing blocks, shoulder butts, shoulder checks, cross faces, even taps rather than cracks to keep his man in front, in his wheelhouse, there for the next punch. At 115 against Smith, Artur throws a double left to the body and a third up to the head. One of these first two low lefts was just a touch to bring Smith' right hand down. This is the index first mentality, which is easier to commit to when you have sick power.

-This means, the effect that he gets out of this over these very strong and well knit foes, has more than a genetic basis, but a technical source:

I bet he is gripping the floor with his toes better than his foes,

That he is clinching his fist at the optimal time a fraction of a second before impact, making it whippy and stony. Part of what could facilitate this is him not punching as fast as possible, permitting this clutch clench of the impacting fist.

-He is also using a hand triangle, with the elbows above, and in line with his wide strong hips and,

-He is not doing a Tyson and looking over his hands, but still keeping them high and to the side of his head, permitting him to drop his hands on the foe and index—this man is constantly indexing, touching as much as possible so that his man will be there for the finishing combination. He throws right leads at various angels of pronation over and around the guard. This is very odd and highly effective.

-He gives up initial power with the right hand by not grinding out maximum push pivot on the rear right foot and allowing that foot to shift up parallel to the lead foot. This is technically against boxing mechanics. This puts him in a foot to hip lower triangle, with this power transferred to the hands thru the hips to elbow-to-hand-against-head triangle, with the fists angled in being driven by the whole body. These are where the crushing blows begin, with everything knit to the rest of the body through the hips. When his elbows are out his hands are driving in, being driven by the feet. Look at his heels wing out when he chops inward with punches. Buddy McGirt, the man coaching the first victim I saw, Callum Smith, saw this and would not let the fight continue. His form in the pocket, is of a mechanical pyramid stacked on a pyramid. The inward speedbag training shown in the second video is done to support this.

A man caught in Artur's wheelhouse is going to be punished and needs freakish structural and mental strength to survive.

-The wheelhouse trap, similar to how Marvin Haggler used to shift into a right lead to catch a man rolling out leftward, is here in place with this drag-up, square stance, which is ideal for hooking. But, instead of hooking, Artur chops, which is very hard to evade. He avoids widening arm movement to take advantage of more muscle, and instead uses time and measure, often by indexing with a nothing check, drop-touch, shoulder, even his forearm to in a tactile way maintain contact with an offending glove. This guy could be very effective boxing blindfolded. The alternating knuckle to finger tip pushups shown in the second video are done to support these punch, check and punch methods.

Note how Artur, after he lets a rear right foot drag up, now has the man between his feet and chops inward, both feet turning inward. From here he sometimes jabs with the right, again indexing.

I suggest that this man has some wrestling experience, or was built for that sport. To beat him boxing, a man like the opponent above needs to forget about sitting down on his punches, and instead play a run and gun game, scoring points, worrying the eyes, maybe cutting one, and also, switching leads to escape the trap. The worst thing a foe can do against Artur is dig in for power. This guy is grinding it out and is trained and designed to win wheelhouse exchanges. A man like the one being walked down and wrecked in this video should only jab, and should shift leads thru shifting to slip outside of the opposing jaws of the closing trap.

Artur reminds me of Michael Moorer when he was a light heavyweight. Moorer was not able to hold his weight low enough to remain king of that lesser heap and moved up with some championship success. He uses less speed and more form that Moorer did. His extreme raw power enables him to punch hard with less mechanical commitment at the end of the motion and enables a continued, ever more focuses, follow up.

What a fighter.

I am so glad I am just a very minor league coach. I would hate to have to coach men set on fighting such a guard wrecker.

Thank you.