Being fit has a different meaning for a lot of people. To look good, to win a competition, to beat a personal best, to reach some kind of milestone, or to just keep the demons at bay from day to day. And these are all very valid motivations for going to the gym each day/week. But there’s another reason, and it’s simply to be able to function as a human, as we were meant to be, and how that translates to daily life, both now and in the future. At a base level, it’s all for survival, and thriving.
Lifting something heavy and carrying it somewhere, running and sprinting, rotational movements, all training for the hunt. As we have done for thousands of years. Warring tribes and clans had a level of self-defence and fighting, whether it’s to protect their land and assets, or to take someone else’s land and assets.
But it’s 2023, so why do we need to know this now? We are a much more civilized breed and don’t face the same risks as our ancestors. We don’t need to hunt, we can simply go shopping. We don’t need to defend our land, we can simply call the police, or trust that the government and authorities will protect us. We have grown so accustomed to putting all trust and responsibility onto someone else that we, as a population, have gotten lazy and complacent.
So, what do we do when this all changes? When the science fiction movies we grew up on start looking like pre-made documentaries. If it’s the futuristic slums of Blade Runner where the government looks after us so much that we become subservient numbers that blindly follow and can’t be differentiated from AI, or the post-apocalyptic wastelands of Mad Max or The Road where only the strong and resilient survive.
Strength and being skilled in violence will prevail in both (potentially upcoming) scenarios.
If you can’t protect yourself and others, you will be reliant of others doing this for you. Hunting, gathering, moving weight from point A to point B, endurance, fighting, first aid skills. Equip yourself with survival skills, because one day you might need it.
Inspire others to follow your lead and change for the better. To take control of what they can in their lives.
Achieve what you set out to do. To learn a new skill, to stay on top of your game and keep those skills sharp.
Outlast everyone.
Written by Jarrod Krafczyk
(Instagram: @jarrodkrafczyk)