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What’s the weekly mettle maker?
Training tips and educational info in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? Mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”
Mettle maker #459:Shirts, Cuddles and Combos
If you’re on top of a grounded thug raining down blows to neutralize a threat, horizontal elbows are delightful. Falling into an elbow smashes through the guard of your aggressor. But if you’re in a stand-up fight at very close range, without gravity and superior position on your side, I advise focusing on vertical elbows. Horizontal elbows will clash at a 90 degree angle with his forearms if his hands are up.
In the video on the upper right, I demonstrate one of my favorite rough ‘n’ tumble unconventional combos. It’s a 6-count, whirlwind, buzzsaw vertical combo: Up Elbow, Up Elbow, Down Elbow, Down Backfist, Down Elbow, Down Backfist.
I know. Sounds weird. But just take a short walk down this lil’ gravel road and you’ll soon get to Smashing Town. Try it out on a headache bag. Put in a few rounds and it quickly starts to makes sense.
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The new shirts are on the left (Olek) and right (Gabe). Both are available in black as well. The pink “Let’s Cuddle” shirt I’m wearing (along with a ridiculous, toothy grin) is not for sale. My wife bought that for me so that I’d look adorably ironic when I’m choking the guys unconscious. Just kidding — they almost always tap!
In other news, the new t-shirts are in. We’ve added a new design that reflects our love of America and its message of unity. Rough ‘n’ Tumble is America’s martial art.. If it hadn’t been for the great melting pot that is America — if people from all over the world hadn’t come to make their way in this great land — the world’s most devastating martial art would never have been born. In sport and in combat, in backyard brawls and pool-room dust-ups; in battles between mobsters and cops, revolutionaries and kings, indigenous and colonist, and even between northern and southern brothers; in wars against foreign despots and genocidal regimes, Americans perfected fighting. Now its up to us to carry it forward, to use it for Good, and to stand for what’s great about our nation.
To get one of the new shirts click here or the pic above.
Holy Eucharist is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 10 am EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy Eucharist, CLICK HERE.
Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Easter 5/25/25 – Father Mitch
Readings: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29, Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8, Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23, John 14:23-29
John 14:23-29 World English Bible
Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words. The word which you hear isn’t mine, but the Father’s who sent me.
25 “I have said these things to you while still living with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, I give to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful. 28 You heard how I told you, ‘I am going away, and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced because I said ‘I am going to my Father;’ for the Father is greater than I. 29 Now I have told you before it happens so that when it happens, you may believe. 30 I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world comes, and he has nothing in me. 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, even so I do. Arise, let’s go from here.
Solving theological questions can be very confusing and difficult for us, just as it was very confusing for early Christians. The first and earliest heresy was Gnosticism. Heresy is just a big scary word that means “making a serious error in theological judgement.” It comes from the Greek haíresis which means “making a personal choice.” Christians don’t make personal choices with regard to theological matters. We talk to our brothers and sisters, we work in councils and synods, read the writings of the church fathers, and listen to the Holy Ghost. ◊
The Gnostics were unable to reconcile the Old Testament God to the New Testament God. They couldn’t understand why God would institute the 613 laws of the Torah through Moses, and then send his only begotten Son to undo them. Their answer was to believe the Old Testament God was actually a demiurge, a foolish and ego-centric creator god who disobeyed the Supreme God and fashioned an imperfect world. Jesus Christ, in their view, was the Son of the Supreme God, not the son of the demiurge. Not surprisingly, the Gnostic’s sophomoric reading of the Bible is shared by many atheists who attempt to poke holes in the Christian worldview by asserting that there’s some kind of inconsistency between the “old God” and the “new God.”
Neither Gnostics nor the atheists are making an effort to be in communication or cooperation with the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost, by its very nature, encourages us to grow into fuller communion with the Trinitarian God, the Holy Trinity. This growth is spiritual and intellectual, it is religious and philosophical. Jesus sends the Holy Ghost to help us grow into greater understanding and fulfillment. So, when faced with the question of reconciling the God of the Old and New Testaments, Gnostics and atheists are disarmed. They have nothing to fall back on for support. But if we call on the Holy Ghost, he will give us the ability to answer.
When someone asks, “If God is unchanging, and his commandments are perfect, why did God put laws in place only to tear them down?” we can say unequivocally that the inconsistency is not in God – it is in us. We are the problem. Starting with Adam and Eve, humanity has lacked the capacity to embrace and embody God’s principles. In the distant past, it was necessary for us to have many rules and regulations. But as our relationship with God has deepened, the need for 613 laws has lessened to a handful. In the Book of Exodus, the Holy Ghost lights up the burning bush to lead Moses off his selfish path and into leadership of the people. Later, the Holy Ghost appears as a pillar of fire to lead Moses and the people through the wilderness.
But in the New Testament, the Holy Ghost doesn’t just appear as an external force outside the people. It settles on the disciples, even onto each and every one of us, to light us up from within – not from the outside, as it did in Exodus – but in our hearts and minds. This is why, in our reading from Acts, the apostles release Christians from the old laws. In the Old Testament, the Holy Ghost operates as an outside force, just the law of the Torah acts as an outside force attempting to push the people toward righteousness.
But in the New Testament, God gives us the Holy Ghost in a new capacity, in keeping with our growth in his ways, so that we can be self-motivated. So that we will seek to emulate Christ. So that we can enter more fully into communion with him.
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◊ The terms “Holy Ghost” and “Holy Spirit” are interchangeable, but this author prefers to use the term Holy Ghost because it (a) implies a personage rather than an abstract force, and (b) it differences the Holy Ghost from the vague modern term “spirituality.” Why do modern Bibles and modern speakers almost universally use the term “Holy Spirit?” The King James and Douay–Rheims Bibles both use the term Holy Ghost because ghost -- which is derived from the German word geist, which means spirit -- was the more common English usage at the time. “Due to its unique history, English is a language that has multiple synonyms for almost everything. In this case, we had the words ghost (derived from German) and spirit (derived from Latin). In recent years, the latter has become the more common term even though originally they were synonyms. Thus, in the last few decades Catholic English translators have preferred spirit to ghost, whether referring to the Holy Spirit or other spirits.” (Web article, “Why Was the Term Holy Ghost Replaced by Holy Spirit?” at Catholic Answers https://www.catholic.com/qa/why-was-the-term-holy-ghost-replaced-by-holy-spirit)