The Steel Mace Nation Cause

What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task. As humans we all need a cause to get behind. When I started the SMN podcast my WHY was simple, to bring our voices to the forefront and put together an ongoing discussion about fitness. I was amazed with the depth of the mindset toward strength and simplicity that the steel mace user had.

That’s because I quickly learned that those who train hard with the primal movements do so with conviction and with purpose. The mace, kettlebell,clubs, sandbags, heavy stone lifting anything that would be unconventional all contain powerful proponents that are universal. 

My own personal development was mind blowing. I quickly re-invented myself from a beat up and tired weight lifter to a new being. It hit me after a few months of training with the mace and bells, not only did my body feel better but my mood was better. I was feeling younger and I was thinking younger!

Suddenly a new path lit up in front of me. I was meeting new people  who enjoyed unconventional training and we would talk about mindset and having new perspectives. These people were evolving and so was I. 

We are the phoenix! The bird that rises in the brightest fireball and quickly turns to ash only to be reborn from its own very ashes. There are no mistakes. Only progress. 

There is a truth in strength. Strength doesn’t come from easy. Strength doesn’t just get handed to us. We have to earn our strength and it’s the process of trying to get stronger that makes us who we are. Learning a new skill will always reveal who we really are.

The best part is that it reveals our best selves! I remember my days in the Fire Academy, learning the basics to what is the ART OF FIREFIGHTING. Learning the skills that will help me do my job. One of the main reasons besides wanting to help people was that I wanted a job where I had the opportunity to use my body, to push myself, to test my mettle.

 I always trained with weights and still do, but if I continued to train with just weights I would have lost my mobility. Between fighting fires and weight lifting and getting older I was burning the candle at both ends. I was falling into a slump and I had a feeling of having no one to turn to, a sort of disconnect. When all else fails you do anything out of desperation. I picked up a mace.

Quickly I found the mace helped me in so many ways, for starters I can still train with weights because of the mace. Its important to weight train because it’s important to be big and strong and have muscle. This goes for anybody, regardless of what your career choice is. But certainly for firefighting you have to be strong, have good cardio and be able to move well. Adding in the mace keeps me moving well.

On the fireground I can swing an axe, stretch a hoseline and climb a ladder with a 50 lb air tank on my back. After 16 years I am moving better and do it all and quickly recover. I am ready to go for more work and the best part is I feel solid, durable and resilient and injury free.

Whether you are on the fire department or military or police or any first responder or you are a modern day Viking you understand the importance of the tribe, the brotherhood or the sisterhood. You understand the TRUTH IN OUR STRENGTH. This isn’t about having a six pack or being able to deadlift 800 lbs. although if that’s something you want you can definitely have that, This is about being part of a culture of strength.

Both physical and mental strength. We can get lost in debate over what true strength is so let us instead consider what weakness is. Fear is weakness. Lack of compassion is weakness. Getting lost in bad habits that hurt us is weakness. If We find our strength and our cause by finding our purpose then the fear disappears. So do the bad habits. In our struggle to pursue our purpose we learn humility and compassion.

First we must ask why and keep asking until we get to the Truth in our strength.

Why do you want to exercise?

Because I want to lose weight and be stronger.

Why?

Because I want to move better and have more energy.

Why?

Because I want to be able to do a great job on the fireground.

Why? 

Because I don’t want to let down my brothers and sisters and so I can go home and see my family.

Why?

Because I love them.

There are many smaller reasons to why intertwined in the questioning but this example is huge and it’s a big point. If its motivation that you lack then reframing it to this simple but powerful statement will shed a new light as to your PURPOSE.

Humans want to find a meaning and a purpose. We are searching to have good self-esteem,self-respect, the respect of others as well as recognition for our talents, our capabilities and our behaviours. We want to be heard and understood. We want to be validated. 

There are many ways to use a mace to develop your fitness. I have enjoyed using them all. I started introducing mace and clubs into my clients training anywhere I could. Warming up with flow, hitting the dumbbells for some solid hypertrophy work and then finishing off with metabolic training doing ballistic movements with a mace at heavy weight. Clients doing 360s after a bench press session turned into a normal and expected thing! The feeling of all that tightness slipping away as they make rhythmic swings.

What was once me coaching how to build some muscle or shed some fat turned into SHARING the joy of how to swing a mace and how to move it in a meaningful way. I would teach it for free because it was just fun to do. It was great to see their eyes light up when they perform their first swing. Plus when I taught I would discover new things about myself. How I move and how I think all started to reveal itself in new and meaningful ways. Between my teaching others and meeting already established mace practitioners I kept noticing how the conversation would always start with the mace but then it would lead to a lot more. I saw real friendships arise. I saw that on Social Media we all knew each other and everyone was encouraging and supportive. I kept hearing about how the mace and clubs improved peoples damaged shoulders or helped them lose weight. A light bulb went off. I should do a podcast!

I figured what a better way to have really good conversations with others about how beneficial the mace is. I also knew that the guests would teach me through their lens on life. Their mindset was what I wanted to hear about. I decided to go for it and let this all become part of my mace journey. In order to get right to it I used a professional podcast studio and started booking my guests. At $55 dollars an episode it didn’t seem to be a lot of money.

I wasn’t even sure I was going to be able to book that many guests. I reached out and everyone said YES. Next thing I knew I was doing 2 to 4 episodes a week! It was getting pricey but I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much that I could care less about the money actually. I reasoned that people go out to bars and out to dinner 2 to 3 times a week to have their social time so this was my social time. Plus I get to share the conversation! Luckily I was able to find sponsors and their support helped a little bit. Others would buy a shirt or a hat. Others would write something nice in the comments on YouTube. Every little bit of support was a boost for me.

It seemed serendipitous that I would get a quick message from a listener saying they appreciate the podcast and to keep going just when I was wondering was anybody really listening. That would give me the boost I needed. Now, its not even a question for me, I love doing the podcast and it gives me a purpose. I never started it for money, I started it to help create a community. 

So here we are and the community continues to grow and you are part of this. The passion I feel keeps growing. I want to do more. With the launch of the new website I have my sights raised for really bringing the community up higher than ever. While everyone continues to do their part I continue to do mine, inspired by how hard everyone is working to get this type of training VALIDATED! 

Now here is a question I have for you.

Why is it so important to show the world what we do is the real deal?

Can’t we just go off and do what we like and not even care? But we do care. Why?

Because this isn’t about money or bragging rights. Its not about who has the biggest biceps or who has washboard abs. 

This is about how we discovered a way to move that produce a charge of energy deep inside us. We have discovered ourselves through mindful movement. We have opened a door that leads to more doors and more options and POSSIBILITIES. We have found a connection to the earth and to a tribe.

Before the mace I was a fireman who lifted weights. Now I am a fireman who practices all forms of beneficial movement , who has a podcast about it and teaches it . I know that you have been reawakened too. That’s you are feeling that change and realizing your potential. You have tapped into your WHY. 

The Steel Mace Nation has its cause…… 

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