Why We Train

Criss Jami once said that power without compassion is like a giant that blocks the sunlight. As we all know, it is all too easy to be a giant. 

For many of us, testosterone and youth provided an almost unstoppable urge for power in our young years, without any sense of why we needed to be strong or what we would do with it when we were. Sometimes it was hate that drove us, sometimes adversity, sometimes pride, and often vanity. There was something within us creating a force to act, to change, to take these hints of manhood that nature was providing us and to make them real. We had no sense of where it would take us, or why, and it didn’t matter. We were rewarded by both the process of gaining strength, and for many of us, we were rewarded by the distance it took us from who we were. Whatever we faced, we would never face again. 

But hate cannot sustain. Like rocks in a river, the years can do nothing else than temper us. Over time, we know we need to make a deal with hate, to learn from adversity, and we understand the outcomes of pride. And over time, we lose the drive away from what we were. Our motivation to be strong, to be hard, to be dangerous, changes.

To be strong and old is not a continuation of what we did when we were young. It is not only our bodies that are different, that respond differently, it is also our minds. We are no longer motivated by what we came from. It is no longer about us. We have a new goal, to protect. We protect ourselves, our families, and our loved ones, and we protect the weak. When we feel the years start to pull on us, we react. We lift, we run, we roll, we train, and we create a new environment of safety for those around us. We may not prevail in the worst of circumstances, but we will inflict a toll on anyone who dares cross the line. 

We are all in a process that may never end, of declining and increasing strength, ability and grit. We don’t back down, and we don’t quit. We are old man strong. Join our community.