Heroes
Mark Hatmaker
In the 1st-Century AD, Greek historian Plutarch sought to chronicle the lives of noted Greek and Roman personages, his work has come to be known as Parallel Lives and sometimes as Lives of the Noble Greeks & Romans. Plutarch sought, in his still immensely readable volume, not so much to provide a matter-of-fact straight forward historic account of his subjects as to outline aspects of their character, facets he considered noble and worthy of emulation.
Plutarch assumed (most likely correctly) that we are less likely to be moved by fine words than we are by fine examples. In other words, a picture is worth a thousand words, here literary pictures of character in action.
Well, let's allow Plutarch himself to tell us what he intended with his work.
"It was for the sake of others that I first began to write biographies, but I find myself continuing to do it for my own. The virtues of these great men serve me as a sort of looking-glass in which I may see how to adorn and adjust my own life. I can compare it to nothing but living daily with them...turning my thoughts happily and calmly to the noble."
I am introducing Plutarch and his intentions here because, I have apparently become an ancient curmudgeonly old man who is continually shocked at what passes, in some circles, for character, for what passes for noted conduct or achievement.
I am embarrassed that I know the name Kardashian and yet can attach no achievement to that name that should warrant my knowledge of the name. This is not a knock at any Kardashian and whatever it is they do and more a reflection of the times in that we now elevate people who apparently do next to nothing to the level of notoriety and, god forbid, role model. I know the names of more celebrities, more bureaucrats, more villains (murderers and predators of all sorts) than I do of real live bona fide heroes.
Now this knowledge either says something about me (and man I hope that's not the case) or it says something about popular priorities in general (and man I hope it's not that either).
I will call your attention to the fact that in response to many surveys about who their heroes are adults will provide lists with a preponderance of names from movies, the music business, sports, and in some cases fictional characters (super-heroes often). Again, these are adults answering the query--grown-ups who name comic book heroes.
Don't get me wrong, I like a good film as much as the next guy (last year's faves: Django Unchained & End of Watch), a good song (Green Day's Uno album), and as for sports, no surprise here, I love MMA, but are any of these folks, heroes?
Have we relaxed our standards that much?
A recent spate of malignant events causes me (like many) to pause and to re-evaluate priorities. My re-evaluation has led me to decide that if my chosen sources of media will be stingy with the details of the heroes of today (and there are many among us) than I shall find them myself and do my best to ignore what is commonly elevated or "honored" with dubious merit.
My re-evaluation, my re-examination has led me to double down on the concept that as heroic as the police, firefighters, and the military can be (notice I did not mention any bureaucrats) these folks are still second responders. The first heroes on the scenes are more often than not the very folks we walk among. They may very well be you or folks who look and behave very much like you. These are the people I want to elevate. These are the images I want to reflect in the Plutarchian sense.
Occasionally, I will turn the focus of this newsletter over to the heroes that I feel are over-looked or under-reported. People who should be on magazine covers as opposed to the celebrity or bureaucrat du jour.
Let's begin with drawing a bead, literally and figuratively, on the concept that we are indeed our own first responders more often than not, and how our initial responses can take many forms--active and assisting.
December 11, 2012, a human piece of trash (no name-recognition for the wicked here) started firing in a shopping mall in Oregon. He is stopped by a 22-year-old CCW permit holder, Nick Meli (that's the name to remember).
Mr. Meli, spotted the loser, drew his weapon but saw that he had other civilians in his potential line of fire, so he did not fire (some half-cocked gun nut, huh?) Our predator scum realizing that he is no longer in a warm and fuzzy gun-free zone turns the gun on himself.
April 10th of this year a loser begins a stabbing and slashing spree at a Texas community college. Steve Maida and a few other students (the names of whom I apologize for not knowing) tackle him and bring him to the ground where the scum gives up immediately.
The recent atrocity in Boston, law enforcement turns to the public for their cell phone and camera footage which is another way to be armed.
The second loser is finally caught how? After a city-wide lockdown and door-to-door search by scores of trained law enforcement failed to find him. Dave Henneberry goes for a walk after the lockdown and finds him hiding in a boat.
It seems to me that not only are we, indeed first responders, but also second and tertiary responders.
We're all in this together. No, I'm not saying we take matters completely into our own hands, none of the above heroes did--they did what they did and then allowed the pros to do their jobs.
Just as we all want the fire department to fight a fire in our home, that does not prevent us from having the wisdom and personal responsibility to possess smoke alarms and a fire extinguisher or two to take care of ourselves until the big guns can arrive.
Occasionally, I will spotlight a hero in the newsletter to correct the aforementioned imbalance where I know way too much about how Johnny Depp prepared for his new movie, or how tough some young scum had fitting in, while knowing next to nothing about every day people who step up.
If you have the occasional hero story that you feel has been under-reported feel free to send them my way.
Here's to all the heroes and potential heroes out there and may we all walk a bit better in our own lives knowing that you are among us.
Let's end where we began with a quote from Plutarch himself:
"Admirable actions can produce, even in the minds of those who only read about them, an eagerness which may lead them to imitate them. He who busies himself in mean occupations is his own evidence that he does not care for what is really good. The bare account of noble deeds can make us admire and long to follow the doers of them. Moral good is a practical stimulus; it is no sooner seen than it inspires an impulse to follow it."
Places to Go, People to See
As some of you know I try to leave the homestead as little as possible, but this year is an anomaly as we have upped our seminar/playtime. Below you will find a listing of some of the most recent additions to the schedule.
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We'll be in Germany in May--details to come.
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Of course we'll be at the Annual Karate College in Radford, VA on June 28th & 29th. We'll teach 3 general sessions + 1 certification course. To register for Karate College http://www.thekaratecollege.com/TheKarateCollege.com/Karate_College.html
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We'll be on the roster at Martial Arts on the Mountain--September 19 (5PM start) thru September 22nd (11AM).
Myself, Boyd Ritchie, Carlos Cummings, and John Miller will be presenting classes in MMA, Boxing, Catch Wrestling, Sambo, (and if time permits) an optional Challenge/Obstacle Run.
Four days of training, feel free to room on the campground (rooms and meals provided, crew--beat that).
Cost: $250
To register or for more details contact Coach John Miller
coach@grapplingsports.com
540-354-9356
http://www.facebook.com/events/126726897501640/
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Of course, we'll also offer our Annual Tennessee Boot Camp in November-details to come.
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We hope to see you at one of these events--if you'd like to have us come to you, check out our Pitch An Adventure info in the side bar and if you've got some adrenaline in your neck of the woods that strikes my fancy we'll be there.
RAW Subscription Update
For our current and considering RAW Subscribers, beginning with volume 123 (January 1st, 2013) we will begin unveiling The Combination Man Home Study Course in which we (finally) present in an ABC/1-2-3 manner the steps from, 0-120 MPH how to become the best Boxer-Pugilist, Shooter-Stuffer, Par Terre Wrester-Submission Technician you can be.
Each volume will tied-in to the inTENS PREMIUM CONDITIONING SERVICE (free to subscribers), will be accompanied by a printed syllabi of drills for gym use, and will then be keyed to a foundation text (The Combination Man) that will be released at a later date. In other words, some good methodical let's get better stuff coming your way.
