What do you think of when you think "Colorado"?
Mountains, right? Well, did you know there is a part of Colorado, a large chunk, I might add, that I have forever dubbed "Flat Arse" Colorado?! Yes. Yes I have. It'll be on a map one day, somewhere. My little family retro milk truck does not like crossing the Rockies on I-70 through Denver. Since we were in a convenient place to give it a whirl, we decided to use Route 50 to the south of Denver to avoid the mountains that once tried to murder my poor little truck. Turns out, the Route 50 path was much easier on my vehicle than the Denver route, and we dumped out at Pueblo.
That entire chunk of Colorado from Pueblo to the Kansas state line, I forever dub thee "Flat Arse" Colorado. I know many of you already knew this, and you don't come to this blog for travel reports, so I'll move along now.
Our III CQB host this past weekend is a Founder and outstanding Patriot. He and his wife were wonderful hosts, and we left more than mere allies. I won't use his name, because I don't think he comments online much. We'll go with Mr. & Mrs. X - they live on the Western Slope of the Rockies, well removed from the silliness of major cities (and even large towns). Mr. X has brought more than one trainer from our online community to his home, and invited his Tribe and friends to participate in the learning experiences that otherwise simply can't be found locally. He even went to the trouble and expense to rent a large canopy tent for the 2 days of training to keep the unusually warm Colorado sun off us all as we trained.
The people Mr. X invited to train are all wonderful, and to give you an idea of how devoted to the cause of "Tribe" is Mr. X - I'd say a majority of the people in attendance have little or no knowledge of the III, though all are patriotic and see the storm clouds. The group was a mix of youngsters up to 50-somethings, everyone committed 100% to learning, some were white collar and some blue, all were exceedingly kind, smart, and by the end of each day, were in a much better physical and mental place to handle a sudden and uninvited contact.
We have been convinced that a DVD or some sort of online streaming content of the course for students is a "must-do" item, so they can continue to train, refine skills, build muscle memory. H and I are working out the details. This has been a consistent request from each class. (Holly is adamant that she gets to throw Miller in at least 1 portion of the video - that should be great fun for all. ;)
At the close of every class I urge all students to find a Krav studio and commit 6 months - but in this part of Colorado, they simply don't even have a "belt-factory" shopping mall studio - there are - literally - no working martial studios within 2 hours drive. Upside: One gal in our second day of training has 11 years Aikido, and if they treat her nicely, they can learn a LOT from her.
To our hosts (Mrs. X is as gracious and wonderful as anyone can imagine): Thank you for taking the time, effort and trouble to not only invite us to train (and for offering your home to us) and for all that you are doing to build your Tribe and promote the patriotic message to your local friends, family and co-workers.
General note: Folks, Holly and I have not yet had a class in which we have did not leave with friends and allies added to our ranks. I feel as if we are helping to "stitch together" small knots of serious Patriots with every location we visit. That is ONLY possible because of that small number of people like Mr. X, BonnieGadsden, Mullenax, Daniel, and others who are taking the time and investing your energy into building Local, Local, Local, and helping to "weave" all of our "Locals" into what this country once was - joined by common bonds and ideals.
We have work to do. Liberty will not die if you and I do not permit it.
Sandman & Team - here we come!
Kerodin
III
