Girls Teach the Boys Some Chivarly

Speaks for itself.

from hotair.com

“Put That Thing Down, Before . . .”

A good Encampment post.

Remember, blades not more than 3 inches long.

Chesterton on knives:

Let me explain a little: Certain things are bad so far as they go, such as pain, and no one, not even a lunatic, calls a tooth-ache good in itself; but a knife which cuts clumsily and with difficulty is called a bad knife, which it certainly is not. It is only not so good as other knives to which men have grown accustomed. A knife is never bad except on such rare occasions as that in which it is neatly and scientifically planted in the middle of one’s back. The coarsest and bluntest knife which ever broke a pencil into pieces instead of sharpening it is a good thing in so far as it is a knife. It would have appeared a miracle in the Stone Age. What we call a bad knife is a good knife not good enough for us.

Man to Man Education (Update: New Video)

Slightly crass language, but an illustration of a common problem.

Trouble.

Watcha think?

Udate: New Video

I am not changing my mind on much of what I said, but all that considered, the man does seem to have an anger problem. Mind you, I have no issue with non-negotiable law enforcement, but the man has a bad habit:

No Youtube video yet. You’ll have to go here.

New Radix Website!

Doug Barry is up and running with a new redesigned website. He will have regular vlog posts there under the heading “Take the Hill.” Perhaps we can get some of his work up here and on AirMaria!

The Painful and Glorious Truth

Hat tip to a mom who is resigned to the reality of men for this:

Males and females really are different, I have discovered. Especially when it comes to steel-bladed weapons. I first recognized this innate difference between the sexes years ago when Dan and I were newlyweds. Flipping through the television stations one evening, we happened upon a shopping channel selling knives. Hundreds of them.

Tree stumps were carefully lined up before the camera, and each of these was stabbed chock full with the good stuff. Survival knives, I think they called them. Fillet knives, skinning knives, and buck knives with lockback handles. Camo-knives, rubber-handled knives, stainless-steel knives, and some with serrated edges.

The sheer volume of gleaming cutlery was overwhelming. I took one look at the scene and laughed out loud. I turned to my husband, though, and found that he was mesmerized. As he looked past me, toward the flickering screen, it became quite clear: I had married a man. He wasn’t wondering whether we should buy a set of these knives. He was wondering if one set would be enough.

Comming Soon: Longsword

At the last Knights of Lepanto meeting we discussed the possibility of the men and boys learning some kind of martial art for the sake of cultivating the chivalrous and competitive spirit. We had a thrilling time with the Boot Camp and will continue to develop that side the training in the encampments and throughout the year. The boys have already been exposed to fencing, but I thought something a bit more from the period of Lepanto might be more interesting and fun.

Hence the Longsword. In the following clip, notice how the competitors are not worried about period costume, and how they are protected (face mask, padded clothing, protection for forearms, elbows and shins). If the men and boys want to go period, fine; however, I thought this might be a way to have some fun more cheaply. Oh, and by the way, wooden swords would be just fine. Okay, moms?

Update:

Some of the guys already know about the Higgins Armory Sword Guild in Worcester, Massachusetts. There are other organizations as well, such as Arma, the Association for Renaissance Martial Arts. Someone will have to be serious about the study of the art of longsword, in order to teach it to others. I am not suggesting we get carried away with this and loose our focus, but these organizations provide us with a place to start in our research, so as to come up with something appropriate for us. The Arma uniforms with the period flavor without being too meticulous, I think, are pretty cool.

Dying in Never Land

A new book by Diana West, The Death of the Grown-Up documents the cultural trend of perpetual adolescence. Prolonged adolescence is a phenomenon noticed by both those who study human behavior and by any parent or grandparent who was expected to behave responsibly at an early age. The problem now is not that kids grow up later and later, but that they don’t grow up at all.

Not surprisingly, West’s viewpoint is conservative, and so she is praised and criticized by the usual suspects. That our culture is youth infatuated and thus stuck perpetually in an adolescent rejection of authority should be obvious to all, regardless of political persuasion. It should also be needless to point out that such an attitude is immature and bad for society. But of course, that’s the problem. Peter Pan has dug his heels in:

‘Cause growing up is awfuller
Than all the awful things that ever were.

I ask: where have the fathers gone? The inability to come to terms with authority, especially within the Church, is symptomatic of the dysfunctional family. Fathers are often not doing their job, or are not there at all, and the children are angry. That dysfunction has found its way into civil life and into the Church.

Ahem. Might I suggest a little chivalry?

New and Improved

Or we could just have manufactured boys do all the  dangerous stuff at the encampment.

Couldn’t resist.

Or I could put Fra Roderic on this one:

Boys Are Not China Dolls

Murmurs in the in the wind have drifted through the windows in Griswold. I understand that some are under the impression that we are planning some kind of torture/work camp for the father-son encampment. This could not be further from the truth. What we are actually planning is to provide, in addition to the many other fun things we do, a grueling challenge course that we call the Crucible.

Before I say more on that, I apologize if I frightened anyone by the “Slingshot” post on September 9th. It was a joke, as I noted at the bottom of the post. I wish some of you would have my number by now.

Most of you know of Doug Barry and his effective way of engaging young people. He has been here before, and the boys had a great time. Doug is full of energy, funny, spot on orthodox and extremely motivating. He pushes the boys to their limits, and they have a fun in the process. Our challenge course was designed and will be run by him.

The father/son encampment is an apostolate of the Knights of Lepanto, and from this event we hope to formalize a committed group of Squires. We encourage all Catholic men and boys to come. No one is expected to become a Knight or Squire of Lepanto; even so, the encampment does bear the charism of the Knights. Perhaps it is not for everyone; however, personally I think our structure and organization is very effective to bring about both top notch formation and fun.

I also want to remind everyone how eager we are to provide a safe, Catholic and friendly environment for Catholic families, both homeschooling and otherwise. This we have done and will continue to do; however, we are not principally here for that. We are here to provide Marian formation to men, women and young people. This we will do. We are looking for believers in what we are doing. We are looking for commitment. We are looking for people to get on board and support what we are doing.

A great deal of prayerful thought has gone into the encampments and everything we are doing with the Knights of Lepanto. Not only the friars have contributed, but also the Knights themselves. For this reason the encampments have been successful, and, please God, will continue to be so.

In any case, the boys will not break by having themselves pushed both spiritually and physically. It is the characteristic of the male sex to take some risks and to find joy in facing and overcoming obstacles. As long as those risks are reasonable and controlled and as long as the obstacles are accompanied by fatherly support, training and encouragement, only good things will come of it.

Mothers, don’t baby your boys. The feminine characteristic of chivalry is to expect the highest standards of men and settle for nothing but that. The encampment is designed exactly for this kind of formation in an age appropriate way.

Here is a video of the boot camp (challenge course) that Doug built on his property in Nebraska. Our course will be virtually the same.

No Moms Beyond This Point

Heh, heh. Watch this. Just what every encampment needs.

Have this. Highly recommended.