The reflection continues.
If you’ve read “Strength of the Slaves and Strength of the Masters: Secrets of the Strongman Revealed”, then you know all about the two kinds of Strength that are out there.
One kind of Strength is Endurance…the power to take the beating and keep on going. It’s a passive kind of strength, the strength of the Worker Caste.
The Strength of the Slaves.
It’s a vital one everybody needs, but to make it to the Warrior Caste, you’ve got to have another kind of Strength…
And that kind of Strength is Aggression…the power to give the beating, “the power to hurt”.
It’s an active kind of strength, the strength of the Warrior Caste.
The Strength of the Masters.
The Strongman that All Men Follow.
But just how does all that play out in real life, you ask?
BEGINNING A LONG JOURNEY
I’ve been seeking to answer this question for a long time…if we go back far enough, since birth!
My earliest memories are of watching Gunsmoke, The Lone Ranger, Adam-12, and John Wayne with my parents and grandparents.
Knights, Cowboys, Cavalrymen, Redcoats…you name it. The Warrior Caste has been my first love.
In my 2015 book All Men Follow the Strongman: The Forgotten History of the Iraq War, I took a look at how Aggression plays out in the Strategic and Operational arena.
I looked at it primarily through the lens of Arabic Bedouin Warfighting Culture, and how the West could overcome this.
Beginning a long journey that began immediately after finishing the book in 2015, and really picking up steam in 2019, these findings led me to begin studying the Western Warfighting Culture in depth.
This in-depth study led me to the Indo-European Roots of Western Warrior Culture, found in Ancient Arya, Greece, Rome, Germania, and the Medieval Times…heck, even the Hebraics of the Old Testament!
With some observations from my old pal James Lafond, this led me to further develop and refine his pre-existing Confrontational and Predatory Warrior Culture dichotomy, with the basics described HERE and the big picture described HERE.
But while the Strategic and the Operational are all well and good…what about the Tactical…where the rubber meets the road?
Ah!
That is when things start to get interesting!
THE ARMOR AND THE WEAPONS
Over the last 8 ½ years, fitness toward combat sports’ ability has been my mission. This includes testing out my fitness levels with 1 ½ year of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and a 6 month attempt at Boxing.
What I learned is that there are indeed, physical correspondents to the Strength of the Slaves and the Strength of the Masters.
I call these Armor and Weapons.
Let’s be honest…for years I dedicated myself to Armor.
And I’m not the only one.
I define Armor as training primarily for Strength to the Body. I like to do this with Kettlebells and Bodyweight Calisthenics.
I call it Armor because it’s all about protection…protecting the muscles, joints, tendons, and ligaments. Your fighting platform. Because without it, you can’t do very much.
When I started training 8 ½ years ago in May-June of 2016, my Armor was non-existent.
And as Ian Fleming, the Father of 007 and fan of the great Carl von Clausewitz wrote:
“Power is sovereignty. Clausewitz’s first principle was to have a secure base. From there one proceeds to freedom of action.”
But having Armor alone is not enough…to have freedom of action, you have to know how to project that power that is sovereignty.
The Realm of the Strongman.
WHY YOU NEED WEAPONS
This leads us to the second kind of Strength…Weapons.
This is the domain of Aggression, the power to hurt, the Strength of the Masters…
The Realm of the Strongman.
And the truth is…until this past year of 2024, I did not have this!
The Strength of Weapons is all about moving your body in circular, rotational patterns. Moving your body from your spine in a twisting, fish-like motion…not a stiff, stuff lego man.
And it’s all about throwing your head over your foot in those circular patterns, back and forth, back and forth from foot to foot…allowing for fighting power projection.
I’ve covered this kind of training in-depth recently in my articles “ABCs or Hieroglyphics: Whose Teaching You Movement Literacy in Combat Sports?” and “Apollo Slaying the Serpent: The Secret to Patterning the Fight, Flight, and Freeze Responses for Combat Sports”.
This Head Over Foot, Coiling Core type of training is what allows you to punch and kick in Boxing and Muay Thai alike. It’s what allows you to finish takedowns in Wrestling and establish dominance in Jiu-Jitsu
And if you don’t have it…well, your Armor had better be pretty good, because you don’t have the power to give a beating.
Only to take it.
And things go on from there…
WHAT THE HEROES OF OLD KNEW
When we get right down to it, circular, rotational patterns are what Aggression is all about in every arena.
From the circular, rotational movement pattern of the punch, the sword is added as a fine point “force multiplier”, extending its reach beyond the range of the fist. And it doesn’t just go farther…it’s sharper, and far more deadly
It’s the weapon of King Arthur and the Knights and the Warlords of all ages past.
From there, we have the bow and arrow, powered by the same circular, rotational movement pattern of the body. Only this time, that force multiplier can go a lot farther than the sword.
It’s the weapon of that Indo-European Warrior Icon, Apollo.
Add in the spark of fire from Prometheus, and we get the gun, powered by threaded, circular, rifling grooves in the barrel…and stabilized by circular, rotational stabilization patterns in the body. Together, that force multiplier can fly a lot farther than the bow and arrow.
The weapon of the Cowboys and the Cavalrymen of yesteryear.
The Weapon of the Strongmen of today.
THE MYTH THAT KEEPS YOU IN CHAINS
Some think that the Weapon of the Strongmen can’t be trained. They think it’s an inherent gift.
This is the idea of the “Natural Athlete” you see so prevalent today. You know the old routine.
“You’ve either got it or you don’t. You’re either born with it or you’re not.”
This idea prevents Men from training in the Weapon of the Strongmen.
Instead, it keeps them glued in front of their screens, watching the athletic antics of NFL stars and UFC gladiators alike.
At most, very few will train for the Armor…the Strength of the Slaves.
But even fewer still will train for the Weapon…the Strength of the Strongman.
But there is a truth hidden within, a truth that must be made available to all…
THE TRUTH OF THE SIMPLE BIKE
And that truth is this:
Anybody can learn to train the circular, rotational Weapon within their own body…the Strength of the Strongman.
You see, it’s just like riding a bike.
Now some people, they might spend a little more time on the training wheels.
And others?
Well, they might be popping wheelies in a few days!
But whatever speed you’re at, you’ve got to meet yourself where you’re at…
And you’ll learn how to ride the bike, no matter your speed, no matter your pace.
To start learning, you need to do a few things…
BE THE STRONGMAN TODAY!
If you haven’t already, check out my two articles on this topic:
And don’t just stop there…
Follow all the links and sources within, watch the videos for yourself, and test them out!
Put them into practice!
As a Personal Trainer, this is something that I do professionally everyday.
And I continue to refine my techniques at learning and application all the time.
Because at the end of the day, only you can pick up the Weapon of King Arthur, Apollo, and the Cowboys and Cavalrymen of old…
So pick it up, and gain the Strength of the Strongmen, and you’ll be surprised at what you’ll find…
For the Strength of the Strongmen is already inside of you!
Pulp Fiction Power to you, my friends!
Be the Strongman that All Men Follow today!
Sincerely,
Richard Barrett
01-09-2025
Written at 9:16 PM, somewhere in the USA…
PULP FICTION RENAISSANCE 