Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Gates of Brass

This missionary hymn is based on Isaiah 45:2:

I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron.

It depicts the greater conflict into which our King and Commander has called us. It is sung to the tune All Saints by Henry Stephen Cutler.

Lift up your heads, ye gates of brass,
Ye bars of iron, yield,
And let the King of Glory pass;
The cross is in the field.
That banner, brighter than the star
That leads the train of night,
Shines on their march, and guides from far
His servants to the fight.

A holy war those servants wage;
Mysteriously at strife;
The powers of heaven and hell engage
For more than death or life.
Ye armies of the living God,
His sacramental host,
Where hallowed footsteps never trod
Take your appointed post.

Though few and small and weak your bands,
Strong in your Captain’s strength
Go to the conquest of all lands;
All must be His at length.
Those spoils at His victorious feet
You shall rejoice to lay,
And lay yourselves, as trophies meet,
In His great judgment day.

O fear not, faint not, halt not now;
Quit you like men, be strong!
To Christ shall all the nations bow,
And sing with you this song:
“Uplifted are the gates of brass,
The bars of iron yield;
Behold the King of Glory pass;
The cross hath won the field!”

Combat Slap, 2

Continued from "Combat Slap"

Here is a video of Jim Grover (aka Kelly McCann) teaching what he calls the cupped hand blow. I've posted on this strike under the name combat slap.

Watch this video and compare it to the one in the first post. See the similarities? How about differences? By putting both instructional videos together, you get a broader range of application for the strike.



Do the two instructors contradict? If so, which seems best to you? Why?

Continued in "Combat Slap, 3"

Sheepdog Strategies, 5

Continued from "Sheepdog Strategies, 4"

"If it doesn't work, hit it with a hammer, and if it still doesn't work, get a bigger hammer." It is part of the typical American male psyche to think that the 8lb sledge hammer -- as opposed to the 12 -- was made for delicate work.

A little of that attitude goes a long way when you're doing everyday maintenance -- like watch repair. But real disaster results when you use the metaphorical hammer to drive points home to your womenfolk. Especially if they've been hurt by the "women are helpless" message of certain subcultures.

Even a woman with a healthy self-confidence will be put off by, "Me Tarzan; you Jane."

I remember a rather diminutive woman in our jujitsu class. One day, when she was still a white belt, I was working as her partner on wrist escapes. She confided in me a problem she had at home.

"My husband wanted me to show him what I learned in class, so I told him to grab my wrist. He just grinned at me, as I tried to escape, but couldn't."

As you know, any new technique requires partner cooperation, at first. Then gradually, as you learn the mechanics of the technique, the partner ceases cooperating, becoming passive. Then the partner resists, and, finally, the technique is placed in a dynamic give-and-take context.

This woman was still in the cooperating-partner stage, and her husband used her inexperience to "prove" his male superiority. Even a macho jerk is still a jerk.

I asked her if she had snap-kicked his groin or poked a finger in his eye (all Goshin Ryu techniques are taught with such diversions) to distract him. She said, "No," that she would never do that to her husband. In that, he is blessed -- he is a providentially blessed, egotistical moron.

My point (hand me the 12lb sledge) is this: If a woman in your life resists learning to defend herself, it's a better than 50/50 chance that YOU ARE APPROACHING HER ALL WRONG. You can't approach her the way you would another guy and expect her to say, "Okay, let's go." It doesn't work.

Continued in "Sheepdog Strategies, 6"

Sheepdog Strategies, 4

Continued from "Sheepdog Strategies, 3"

What is it that keeps Minnesotans from preparing for blizzards, keeps Floridians from preparing for hurricanes and keeps Californians from preparing for earthquakes? All of them face high likelihood of an interruption of normal services during a natural event.

Some call it procrastination. But I think procrastination is just one form of denial. "The prospect of a life-threatening event that could, in a moment, take away all I've worked and saved for is a scary prospect. If I don't think about it, I won't have to face that fear."

This is little different from the woman who does not want to think about self defense. The prospect of physical -- and especially sexual -- assault is terrifying. Especially if you see yourself as essentially helpless.

One cultural entity -- evangelicalism -- in our society has perpetuated the idea that women are helpless. That fatal and unbiblical idea blossomed with the rise of Romanticism in the 19th Century. It depicted women essentially as weak, not-very-bright ornaments whose twofold purpose was to bear children and to ooh and aah over the accomplishments of the males in their lives.

One of the weaknesses of evangelical churches is that they have unconsciously adopted some of the Romanticists' idea of women into their worldview. One result is that they don't quite know what to do when they encounter strong, intelligent, capable women. Some either suppress or repel these women while others abandon a Biblical stance altogether.

At any rate, I blame Christianized Romanticism in Church and society for the ideas of weakness and helplessness that haunts many women's mindset. And the very men who want to protect them often exacerbate the problem. But that's a topic for another day.

Continued in "Sheepdog Strategies, 5"

Sheepdog Strategies, 3

Continued from "Sheepdog Strategies, 2"

If you live in a Northern region frequented by winter blizzards, you'll know what I'm talking about. The news station announces, "tonight we will see the biggest snowstorm of the season," and suddenly the grocery aisles are clogged with people buying the staple items (including a lot of bread and milk).

The same phenomenon appears in hurricane alley in the Gulf states. People rush out at the last minute to buy plywood to cover their windows. Store shelves are cleared of drinking water.

Doesn't it seem crazy for people who live in areas where natural disasters periodically occur, and who often have experienced them firsthand, not to prepare ahead of time?

Yet, only a tiny percentage of people have the foresight and take the initiative to put away a two-week supply of food and water along with a camp stove, flashlight, radio & some batteries.
All of that would fit under a bed, even in a tiny apartment.

It's a peculiarity of the human psyche that the overwhelming majority do not do it. We dance right up to the edge of disaster before we take note & decide to do something.

Is it any wonder that so many of our womenfolk do not choose to prepare for self-defense in violent situations? They are simply manifesting a common human trait. In another post, I want to explore the mindset issues that I believe lie behind the trait.

Continued in "Sheepdog Strategies, 4"

Warning to Christian Martialist Sheepdogs

You did not want to kill him. He had put you and your loved ones in jeopardy of your lives, and you had no other choice than to take his life. You did everything right, morally and legally.

Now the police want you to make a statement. Just routine, you understand. The officer is a nice guy, and has made it obvious that he understands and is on your side. So, you tell your story truthfully and simply, right? And then, you wind up behind bars.

Oops.

Thanks to G.N. for the links to a class presentation at Regents University Law School. It may change how you interact with the police from now on.

Part one:



Part two:



Part three:



Part four:



The unwarranted assumption, as we are taught in our civics classes, is that the police enter every investigation with an open mind, searching for probable cause that leads them to suspects. Then they weigh the evidence to see if there is enough to charge the suspect with a crime.

The truth is that police officers have all the same limitations and prejudices as other human beings. If a woman is murdered, 90% of the time it's the husband or boy-friend. If your wife dies violently, who becomes the #1 suspect? Operating on that assumption, the officer begins to look for evidence to convict you.

Let's go back to the scenario at the beginning of this post. The very fact that the orc is dead, makes him the victim in the eyes of too many officers. "Police suspect that the killing took place over a drug deal gone bad. Film at eleven."

This because the "victim" was a known drug dealer.

Now, add to the mix the fact that people who carry both guns and Bibles are viewed as dangerous extremists in many quarters of the law enforcement community. Perhaps you are still clutching your own Bible as you say, "We were just coming out of prayer meeting, when this deranged person accosted us with a knife."

"Sir, do you often carry a gun with you to church?" Uh-oh, extremist alert!

And that's not even considering the legal problems of shooting someone armed with a knife. Judges & juries have been known to see that as use of unnecessary force -- after all, he only had a knife. Yep, it's ludicrous, but it has happened.

It isn't what you may have been taught. It definitely isn't right. But your innocence may not protect you from overzealous police and prosecutors. So exercise your right against self-incrimination -- respectfully -- until you speak with your attorney.

And pray. 'Nuff said.

Sheepdog Strategies, 2

Continued from "Sheepdog Strategies"

"She" could be your wife, daughter, fiancee, mother, sister . . . any woman you care about.

You look at your watch. She's never been this late before. You try her cell again, and you get the same recorded voice, "This party is not available . . ." Did she turn it off? Is the battery dead? Or . . . ?

The meeting at church was over hours ago. Where is she? You go over the possibilities in your mind: car trouble . . . a flat tire . . . took one of the other ladies home & lost track of the time . . . .

You deliberately shut out other possibilities. The insistent ones that hover about the edges of your consciousness with a silence that echoes in the pit of your stomach. WHERE IS SHE?

She never listened to you about taking a self-defense class, and she always put you off when you wanted to take her to the range to teach her how to use a handgun. In total frustration, you now teeter between anger and fear.

Then, headlights come into view in front of your house. Is that she . . . ? Or is that a police car . . . ?

We're Christian Martialists, and we are protective of the women we love. That's why we get so frustrated when they refuse to take the proper steps for their own safety.

In a future post I want to analyze why some women seem so averse to thinking about self-protection from possible violence. Today, however, I want to suggest a first, small step that may start that special gal thinking in the right direction.

It's a book by Keith Pascal called Tiptoeing to Tranquility. He calls it a parable because he wrote it in story form. It's about a woman with a teenage daughter who firmly rejects the idea of martial arts, but who does not feel safe, even in he own neighborhood.

Then she meets someone who gives her and her daughter lessons in living safely and tranquilly in the modern world. Further into the story, there is even a soft-sell on taking formal self defense lessons.

As with any book like this, there will be some areas with which the epistemologically (look it up) self-conscious Christian does not agree. Page 40 is a case in point.

On page 40 he refers to Soren Kirkegaard, the father of Existentialist philosophy. In that place he asserts that faith is uncertain. If he had also read Cornelius Van Til, he would realize that without true faith, nothing is certain.

Farther down the page, he makes a comment that indicates he may be familiar with Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. I interact more or less extensively with that work's insights and flaws in my book, Christian Methodology.

Perhaps I'll have an opportunity to discuss some of these matters with Keith, sometime, but for now let me say that the value of this book to you and particularly to the special female(s) in your life is worth it. (BTW, I have often used the areas I disagree with in a book as an occasion for discussion and learning with my wife & daughters. This increases, not decreases, the utility of a book.)

Tiptoeing to Tranquility is just a baby step in the right direction for those you care about, but it is a step, for your peace of mind and theirs, that you want them to take.

In fact, if the woman in the story at the beginning of this post had read, heeded and practiced just the first (non-martial) piece of advice described in the book, I believe the odds would have increased by more than 90% that the headlights in the drive were hers and not those of the police.

Continued in "Sheepdog Strategies, 3"