Sparking the warrior spirit

By Geoff Metcalf

Last week I announced our intention to establish Operation Restore Warrior Spirit and the response has been overwhelming.

I have enlisted the guidance and support of a network of very senior martial arts instructors nationally who will help in introducing the program.

However the intent of this program is not to create a bunch of “shake-and-bake” trained killers or fix the politically correct indoctrination of decades.

It is hoped this program will serve as a spark, a beginning and a catalyst to motivate people to seek more knowledge and power.

Yes, we will demonstrate and teach certain techniques that can be applied in certain situations; however, frankly, without additional training, motivation and practice our two-day program will be nothing more than an interesting curiosity.

The epic tragedies of Sept. 11 have changed the world. A great deal of what created the environment for what we have suffered as a nation is the product of incrementalism and political correctness run amok.

There has been a reluctance to point fingers anywhere except at perceived bad guys in this tragic transitional period as we still count our dead. However, as America prepares to respond, it is important to recognize our mistakes – if only to prevent repeating them.

At the risk of being called parochial, the cruel reality is that the agenda of the left aided and abetted those who seek to destroy us. The collusion may or may not have been intentional, but it was and is nevertheless very real. One need look no further than the Democratic Socialists of America. This so-called progressive congressional caucus, according to its own website, “share[s] a vision of a humane international social order based on equitable distribution of resources, meaningful work, gender and racial equality, a healthy environment, sustainable growth, and non-oppressive relationships.” If it sounds like Marx it’s not a coincidence. Look at the members of the “Progressive Caucus” and you see a list of “the usual suspects” in Congress intent on undermining the very same Constitution to which they swore a sacred oath to “preserve and protect”:
Maxine Waters, Barney Frank, Lynn Woolsey, Henry Waxman, Alcee Hastings, David Bonior, John Conyers, Jerrold Nadler, Charles Rangel and others.

America has been conditioned and desensitized by decades of indoctrination, socialist propaganda and legislative manipulation. Our rights, liberty and freedom have been mitigated, marginalized and massaged by would-be controllers pursuing an agenda contrary to the republic the framers gifted us.

Take a moment to read the allegory of “The Wild Hogs of Okefenokee Swamp.” That is how we were turned from a country of wolves into a country of sheep. For over 30 years Americans have been indoctrinated, inculcated, propagandized and manipulated into a people who accept evil and tolerate wrong. We have been conditioned to be the antithesis of what our fathers and grandfathers were. That conditioning must be broken but it must not be replaced with a two-dimensional cartoon caricature of the antithesis.

I frequently return to what the late Dr. Robert Humphrey wrote in his “Warrior’s Creed”:

    Wherever I go, everyone is a little bit safer because I am there.

    Wherever I am, anyone in need has a friend.

    Whenever I return home, everyone is happy I am there.

The heroes of Flight 93 epitomize that creed and were sadly the exception to the rule of politically correct passivity.

Masaaki Hatsumi is the founder and grandmaster of the Bujinkan martial art. He has observed, “It is lamentable that our social environment keeps us from expressing the idea of fighting back when being attacked. People should have their own limits as to what is acceptable and what is not, and they must be willing to step up and teach people a lesson when necessary. If not, then what will become of us!” The answer to his rhetorical question came Sept. 11.

Operation Restore Warrior Spirit is a very small spark. There are, and have been, numerous “warriorship” classes and seminars taught from a wide spectrum of perspectives and styles. I don’t presume to suggest our program is anything more than a finger pointed in a direction and a plea for you to seek more.

To that end I have established a national network of instructors to make Operation Restore Warrior Spirit available to those who want it. This is not a money-making venture although I fully expect others will market additional training, tools, videos, etc. I can’t control that and won’t try. Buyer beware.

The initial instructors have been selected from the senior ranks of an organization I have a personal relationship with and because I trust them to maintain and present the introduction consistent with certain life values.

These are challenging times. We must maintain the inherent responsibility to protect and respect life – all life. However, we must also seek, support and aid in destroying evil.

The men on Flight 93 are honored as heroes. They were. But their actions should not have been the exception but the rule.

What Operation Restore Warrior Spirit is not:

  • This is not a martial arts class designed to turn you into trained killers. You will learn things about balance, managing space, and how to disarm and hurt people. However, without subsequent training and practice you are apt to learn just enough to really get yourself hurt.
  • This is not a philosophy class intended to inculcate some new truth.
  • This is not a solution but rather a road sign – a beginning, a start.
  • This is not enough. When you leave the first training session you will have to make some hard decisions. You will have gained some insights into what is possible; however, then you will have to do something.

Dale Seago is an 11th degree black belt in the Bujinkan. He and his network of friends will be demonstrating specifics and explaining key principles in the introductory video we are producing.

Although we are producing a video we hope will outline and explain some very basic and rudimentary necessities, I fully expect that others will use our foreword as something to be expanded upon and developed further.

I will soon be posting a general outline of the program and a list of suggested instructors across the country. You will be able to access any and all information through my site by clicking the Warrior Spirit icon on the page.

    Wherever I go, everyone is a little bit safer because I am there.

    Wherever I am, anyone in need has a friend.

    Whenever I return home, everyone is happy I am there.