The Circus of Mars

Today (5/21/2024), I stumbled upon a wondrous pearl from the depths of my early writing (2010)—a sunken treasure swallowed by the vast ocean of Google Documents. "Monstrous Strength" is a 10-volume series of body-targeted and function-specific strength training programs inspired by fearsome monsters of myth and legend. Written during a time when I was actively pursuing an MMA career and training to be a Circus Strongman, I believed these volumes were forever lost. However, it seems the Fates have conspired to unleash these mythic beasts upon the world once more. Here is an excerpt from my soon-to-be-released Kraken program: --- The original date of writing is 7/9/2010. **Kraken Strength Training Program** Few creatures stir the unconscious mind like the Kraken. This massive, mysterious beast rises from unfathomable depths, feeding on whatever it finds, leaving destruction in its wake. Alien in nature, the Kraken emerges from our darkest dreams only to return to those unexplo...

Below is my original blog post (updated with somewhat better grammar and sentence structure) reflecting my one-of-a-kind early work on "pagan" mythology and strength training. The original post can be found here on my Blog,  Circus of Mars.  The Hercules program was inspired by old-time strongmen like Henry Higgins, Auther Saxon, and Eugene Sandow. These men attained strength, which is still largely unmatched, using highly focused and abbreviated programs. Modeling their example, I engineered an "old-time" strongman course utilizing 12 full-body exercises (or labors) and a heavy dumbbell. Unfortunately, my now-defunct Heroic Evolution never produced this strength program, and it remains an unrealized dream. Hercules, Through works and not grace alone 08/07/11 The name Hercules conjures images of raw, unbridled strength and rugged masculinity. Hercules was born of a union between the mortal woman Alcmena and Zeus, king of the Gods. While divine blood runs through his...

In all of Ireland, the was but one woman who held the keys to true power. A force of nature who made men tremble with both fear and desire. Her name is Queen Maeve. Queen Maeve is a woman who will be second to no man; she is drop dead gorgeous (literally), strong as a bull and said to have slain whole legions of men, both on the battlefield and in the bed chamber… Queen Maeve is 100% Alpha-Female Queen Maeve in Irish myth is not only a heroine, but also a goddess of sovereignty who all the kings of Ireland where symbolically married too. One of her names is the “King maker”, as she could elevate any man, who is man enough, to his highest potential. Her skills and talents are great and many, she is a woman unto herself, a Queen who needs no King to be complete, but knows that Ireland is best ruled with a combined front of King and Queen. Queen Maeve’s feminine charms and sexual prowess are legendary. It is said she could easily exhust 30-40 men a night, maybe all at the sametim...

The name of Hercules instantly summons the images of raw strength and rugged masculinity. Hercules was born of a union between the mortal woman Alcmena and a God; Zeus the king of the Gods. Hercules is first and foremost a man. He is burdened with the flaws and temptations of any mortal man; but, gifted with the strength and near invincibility of a God. The latter part might sound ideal; however, the implications for Hercules’s actions are far reaching and often times tragic. His strength serves as much a curse as a blessing. Hercules treads on a slippery slope as more than a mortal man but less than a God. Much of Hercules’s story is a constant struggle with self control and accepting the responsibly for his otherworldly strength. The examination of Hercules’s life is a worthwhile study for any man, pagan or otherwise. Hercules seems to have all that a man could want. He is incredibly powerful, popular with the ladies and leads a heroic life filled with endless adventure; however, I...

The astrological sign of Aries and the planetary symbol of Mars are rooted in the same idea. A fearsome spear point/set of horns set behind an unstoppable force driving the focused edge deep and further into your target. The sharpened edge of intent behind an breakable and never yielding will-force. Meditation on the astrological sign of Aries can help tap into this awesome and sometimes startling power we all have available to us. This act is a very high level linking of mind with body. You mind will drive your body to continue driving forward and master your "nerve- fore " to contract you muscles harder and harder. Putting this spiritual/mental concept into physical practice will, overtime, defeat a bio-feed back loop that tells the body to release muscular contraction. You will instead show dominion over yourself and force the muscle to ignore that instruction and continue manifesting physical strength... with in turn will be proof of increased spiritual strength....

Mars teaches that sometimes "progress" must be cut back so that stronger and better progress may advance. Jupiter is all about progress and abundance but "too much" and that abundance can become corrupted. Mars cuts away what becomes in excess. Mars discriminates. Mars sacrifices . Mars cuts one but lets the other remain. Its harsh... but their is a beauty in it's brutality. My training program has changed once again and came at a hard but needed lesson. My mentor suggested I go on a program of HEAVY Turkish get ups ( TGUs ) to help train myself to get back up off the floor and get back to living my life. (see prior post). He knew that all my progress in my other goals would be affected, but let me learn that lesson by direct experience . I realised it was my choice whether or not to feel dejected. Instead I decided to view the one area I med progress and see the two opportunities to re-evaluate my other two goals and see where another method of approac...

Nothing destroys weakness better then strength. Strength is apathy’s natural predator. Strength is the destroyer of depression. Strength breeds courage which puts an end to cowardice. Strength lends it’s self to tactics rather than the folly of despair and lastly strength is the will applied to overcome, to achieve, and attain victory. Nothing builds strength like time under heavy iron. Strength is forged in tension, hammered into the spirit and body by sustained force and fueled by a fiery passion only the strong could know. “Hardship conditions men”. Steel sharpens steel. It the great lesson of Mars. To endure in what is difficult is to earn strength. To place yourself under the great iron hammer of the divine smiths and let the beating of it against you flesh out a better, harder and sharper you while the fire of effort causes your body to purify it’s self through the baptism of sweat. This is a spiritual devotion. Your mind can hold no other focu...

De-railed is a bad placed to be. You could argue that inherently comes a chance for reflection and perspective change. That would be true. But lets face facts; derailment is dangerous. Derailment comes often, but not always, as the result of an injury, a hard blindsiding that violently divorces you from you present track. You are not even just off course anymore. You are effectively stagnated. Many people NEVER recover; instead, they embrace their victim hood and allow their derailing to define them. I have been recently derailed. The life I knew changed, caustically and with serious implications. People around me tell me that everything will be " Ok ", that time "heals". I agree with them; but, no offense to Father Saturn, I am not waiting for time to make things " ok ", I am going to MAKE things ok and I am going to actively engage in healing. On the long march home we all are going to collect injuries, all going to get wounded, all going to face ...

I have been through some life-altering adjustments in the last couple of weeks. Lord Mars laid waste to my old life. With a mighty stroke of his spear, he sent me to crawl off and assess my wounds. In hindsight, I intuitively knew it was coming. I knew I required more room to grow than my current situation could afford me. My progress had become stifled. Sons of Mars must always march on. There is only ever forward for us. Without progress, we enter stagnation, and that is death.  A single painful act of compassion, and I was freed. Freedom has a sweetness the weak will never know. The power of Mars has done its work. I am faced again with the lesson of how to carefully select the pieces worth picking up and soldier on. There is nothing left to do but repair.  There is no difference between the physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional bodies. None. Damage to one is damage to all. Healing for one is healing for all. Survival is no longer good enough. My mission is to thrive....

Between the powers of catabolic force and anabolic response lies the grand road called "Strength". Strength is "doing". Strength comes from applying yourself to a task and doing it and doing it better and more with a deeper understand each time you repeat the process. Strength is a practice. The aim to which you diligently apply your will power too will be at length attained in due course; you begin to succeed as soon as you begin to will success. What you will to succeed will succeed. This is the atomic and subatomic. Your will power is the scepter of dominion to bring all your forces under your command and march your collective might without fear down the road of strength and into a heroic destiny. Training 10 60D nails bent in 25 minutes, with a goal of 10 nails in 10 minutes. Front Pull with triple red cables, 8 pulls with a goal of 20.

There is a lot in this world geared to tear you down. In today's society the heroes are empty. The models airbrushed and computer enhanced. Society's reality is based on illusions and illusions can't carry the weight of real humanism. What is tangible cannot be support by what is intangible. In your life you are asked to make sacrifices. You do harm to yourself. That is payment, the equivalent exchange, to assume the role or position you where meant for. The danger isn't in the harming yourself. The danger is the continued harming yourself to fit a mold that does not really exist. In that, there is only tearing down, there is no period of being built back up. Mythology is subjective; however, it is subjective for the sole purpose of being subjective. You and you alone are often the judge of your accomplishments. If you assume the role of Hercules you align your Heroic destiny with a being that contains a body of stories but with whom who you represent that character is ...

Discussion with my mentor: The progress of a Circus strongman is measured in the additive function of centimeters and inches. You start with heavy and you end with heavier. Your mind is now goal focused, feat focus, your sole purpose is to accomplish, achieve and attain victory. You start by doing what you can barely do and train yourself to do it with relative comfort. Once comfort is gain, you thrust that back into the field of great difficulty and begin anew. Mastery over one thing leads to high degree of competence over many others. Few people in this world will ever attain high degrees of competence in even one thing, so mastery means a great deal more and will produce a great deal more then what you could understand. You training should be brief, 45 min, but HARD and with purpose. You have a life to attend too. This type of strength training is not you life, but a great and powerful support to it. This type of training as is the the real job of the circus strongman (woman) is to ...

I am now only training in the methods of circus strongman/woman arts. The fitness world has plunged into insanity. As far as I can tell the only sane thing to do is to retreat back to a time where only one thing mattered; performance-execution of a feat. For all the "old-time" training for all its promises, dismal results with a speck of brilliance to show for it. My mentor tells me that strength is action applied. You get better at something by doing it, not only doing it, but doing it better, longer, and heavier each time you do it, even if progress is by a second longer, one rep or half a pound better then you did before. That is true progressive training because you are better then you where the last time and those "betters" add up. It’s NOT rocket science so don't make it into anything more than it is. You want to one hand press a 200lb dumbbell over your head? Then you get to pressing weight over your head. If your dream is to play high level tennis why ...