Author: aarontherunningfool

In my plans to bring together a group or Tribe of Masculine men in the efforts to grow and evolve as men, we will be looking for tools to train ourselves in the 4 Masculine virtues of Strength, Courage, Honor and Mastery, as well as the arena’s to train them.

Here is a list of questions I’ve come up with that relate to those 4 Masculine virtues, and should be answered if you are considering becoming part of a Masculine Tribe (I will be adding to it as new questions arise):

Can you understand the benefit of being challenged by men you hold in high regard?

Can you understand the benefit of being held accountable by men you hold in high regard?

Can you imagine functioning at a much higher level than you currently are?

Do you desire more from yourself?

Are you as strong as you could be? As you should be?

Could you defend yourself? Could you defend your loved ones?

Could you be violent? Could you be deadly?

Do you know your fears? Are you willing to face them?

If a group of masculine men knew you, what would they think of you?

Would you be chosen by a group of men, to go fight or to war?

Is there anyone in your life who inspires you? Who you inspire?

What skills and abilities do you have to share with men?
What skills do you want to learn?
What skills do you need to learn?

What do you want more of in your life?
What do you want less of in your life?

What do you want to do before you die?
What do you need to do before you die?

If you were to die, would you leave a mess behind?

What does your ultimate life look like?

Do you know the ultimate purpose of your life?

Your answer to these questions, or lack there of, will determine if being a part of a group of Masculine men, or tribe, is in your best interests.

Any person who values their family, and is unwilling to see their family destroyed on the altar of the invasion of alien, foreign cultural values overtaking our way of life, bears the burden of releasing themselves from the comfortable fantasy that ignorance equals avoidance.

They must take up the yoke of the hero.

~ John Mosby from Forging the Hero

Preparatory human beings. — I welcome all signs that a more virile, warlike age is about to begin, which will restore honor to courage above all!

For this age shall prepare the way for one yet higher, and it shall gather the strength that this higher age will require some day — the age that will carry heroism into the search for knowledge and that will wage wars for the sake of ideas and their consequences.

~ Friedrich Nietzsche

In one way or another, I’ve been training for something for almost my entire life.

In my youth it was hockey and baseball, then track and field and then bodybuilding.

I’ve been dealt a hand in genetics that has allowed me to expect success in every form of athletic training and competition I’ve entered, on the ice, on the field, and in the gym, as a leader, as the captain and often the MVP.

These various forms of training gave me strength, coordination, agility, endurance and confidence.

Then, in my young adulthood, I was exposed to the idea of managing my emotions by training myself to contain and hold the energy of an emotion by breathing through and eventually releasing the emotion while watching its energy dissipate. These types of training lead me to emotional stability and energy management.

In my late 20’s I was exposed to a variety of spiritual perspectives and practices, part of which always included some form of training. Spiritual practice, or sadhana, is a type of training for stabilizing one’s attention and seeing clearly into the nature of existence and reality.

Learning to live life fully present and connected to the reality of my current situation without intrusive thoughts was the result of continuously training myself to do so, through the use of various sadhana, or spiritual practice.

But this is only a small sample of the types of training possible for the masculine male. Being the multidimensional creatures we are, there are countless forms of training we can undergo and engage. In fact, every aspect of one’s existence can have some form of training engaged accordingly.

Eye contact, voice inflection, martial arts, body language, self-defense, story-telling, combatative’s, sexual prowess, flexibility, mindfulness, breath work, voluntary simplicity, renunciation, and death reflection, to name just a few.

Not only that, every interaction, every situation, every experience can be approached while training some aspect or dimension of our being. The workplace, the forest and the mall are all arena’s to train or practice in whatever practice you have committed to.

Today, among the many forms of training I’m engaged in, one of my primary practices is to carry myself with an awakened and alert awareness to the best of my ability, in all situations, as if I’m on point in combat. Little escapes my notice, I am seldom distracted by thought and rarely lost in my experience.

Another part of my training is to be on the lookout for strong men to invite into training with me. I am in the process of building a small tribe or gang who will work with me to build and improve our lives. The training involved and what that will look like is part of the process, but holding each other to account in our training commitments will certainly be a part of it.

Exploring various masculine forms of training, as well as challenging men to practice them will be one of the key themes of MasculineTools.com in the coming weeks

What form of training are you engaged in?

Approaches to Forging a Masculine Identity

Jack Donovan, in his seminal book (heh), The Way of Men, claims that “Strength, Courage, Mastery, and Honor are the alpha virtues of men all over the world.”

I agree, and so do many men I’ve come to respect and admire. Hard to argue against it. Impossible actually.

As he explains:

“Strength requires an opposing force, Courage requires risk, Mastery requires hard work, Honor requires accountability to other men. Without these things, we are little more than boys playing at being men….”

Boys playing at being men. That is god damned hard to stomach.

The purpose of this space is to explore and present a variety of approaches and arena’s for training and demonstrating the masculine virtues of Strength, Courage, Mastery and Honor, as well as some related ideas.

When I look at this shitty, foolish world, I want to vomit. It’s an embarrassment to be human and I blame men for allowing this to happen.

As men, I believe we’ve lost our way, we’ve lost our inspiration, and we’ve lost our balls.

We’ve been feminized, softened and emasculated. I say this will not do.

It’s time to move in another direction.

I’m looking for some men who want to reclaim their masculine heritage, our birthright, by throwing down and stepping up. (And I do not fuck around) Let’s get back on track men.

Spread this word.

Let’s smash this shit.