Man to Man Invitation

MTM
(Of a Serious Nature)

For those of you who have been part of the MTM experience before you may find this unnecessary, but for those of you who are new to this please read carefully the following summation:
MTM stands for Man To Man. (This should be simple to understand.)
MTM is not a club, party, political action committee, church organization, civic group, school organization etc…

MTM is essentially an experience. The "experience" is facilitated by/through a group of adult male sponsors (Men, mostly fathers) who desire to offer an organized opportunity to share, teach, inspire or otherwise communicate real life skills to an openly invited group of younger (13 to 19 years old) Men (mostly but not limited to sons, even though I never met a young man who was not a son).
MTM has had a few of these "experiences". Last summer MTM "experiences" included the following:

1) Forging a functional knife from a piece of concrete re-bar steel on a coal fired forge and then competing with the knife through a series of timed tests. (No one got burned or cut.) One young man actually entered his knife in a county fair and won a ribbon.

2) Building a functional trebuchet by felling standing trees and assembling the device with hand tools and manila rope. The attending young Men were divided into 2 teams and when they had completed the machine they were then allowed to bombard the other team with water balloons. (It is somewhat hard to assemble a trebuchet while being bombarded with water balloons.)

3) Learning how to load and accurately shoot a muzzle loading rifle. The attending young Men were divided into 2 teams and had a shooting contest (no not at each other this time). Scores were kept and the losers had to cook the evening meal for the winners. (Yes, we usually eat at these "experiences".)

For those of you who are perceptive you probably noticed that these are what might be called "manly" activities. You might also say they are fun. But you might also ask "what were the life skills that were shared?" If you have ever watched a blacksmith working metal you could probably guess a few of the more obvious points but we also learned about the chemistry and physics of metal hardening. We also learned some of the history of steel making and the requirement for hardening steel. (For a more detailed analysis please make plans to attend the repeat event scheduled for June of 2016.)
At the trebuchet "experience" we learned the history, uses and physics of the trebuchet. (Some might say we learned some valuable construction principles and also how to work and dodge water filled projectiles at the same time!) If you missed this "experience" watch the movie "The return of the King" and observe the things that look like a catapult slingshot mixed together-it’s a trebuchet.
At the muzzle loading "experience" we learned the history, chemistry and physics (do you see a pattern here?) of black powder and muzzle loading rifles. We also were taught the basics of firearm safety. (If you were there I hope you learned these simple but EXTREEEEEMLY IMPORTANT SAFETY RULES AND THAT YOU WILL NEVER VIOLATE THEM!!!!!!!) If you missed this "experience" we may find time in the fall to repeat this activity. Notice I said MAY, not will.

Now that we have a basic understanding of what MTM is please allow me to announce the immanent return of the "experience". You are cordially invited to attend the latest MTM! Please feel free to invite a friend who might come to mind.

Here are the particulars:
Subject: As most of you are aware this year there was a horrible mass shooting at Virginia Tech. (Yes this is a serious MTM.) As many of you are aware the shooter was a deranged young man who had no intent on living his life to its natural end after he completed his murderous shooting spree. He turned his firearms on himself. Some of you are aware that many of the victims stood still while he shot an entire room full of students. They patiently waited while he reloaded his weapon and then continued shooting. When I heard about this my heart was troubled that there was not one person in the room who took action to attempt to save the lives of the innocent people in the room. Why did they not fight? Was fear or doubt or ignorance that stopped them? The question came to my mind "What would I do in this situation? What would my sons do? What would my wife or daughters do? What would my many young friends do?"
A few months ago a young woman was abducted in Kansas City and brutally murdered. When I heard about this I also began to wonder how one man could do this and if my loved ones knew what to do to prevent this from happening to them. Would my sons know how to protect my wife or daughters or friends in this situation? Would the many young friends I have know what to do?
With this in mind some of the sponsoring men have planned to offer a "Basic self (and others) Defensive Training Course. The intent is to teach you how to recognize potential dangers to you or your loved ones and tactical methods to avoid and defend against these potential dangers.
The intent is not to teach you to whip-up on your enemy or to be the enforcer in a crowd or even to provoke you to be a hero. The intent is to give you the basics if you ever find yourself in a position that requires you to protect your family or your own person. There will be three instructors. Two are US Army Special Operations Personnel. One is a former police officer (They are real experts!!) There may be additional law enforcement personnel if the crowd is big enough.

When: This will be on 7/28/07 starting at 12:00 oclock noon.

Where: This will be at the Brown's home in Strafford, MO. What to bring: A willing and attentive attitude. A note pad might be helpful. Bring or wear sports pants or sweats and a T-shirt. Also, feel free to bring a male friend(s) (13 to 19 years old).

Cost: Nothing. We would like to have some folks volunteer to bring food for the gang to eat after the training. This makes for a more complete "experience". (See list below for possible things to bring. Let us know what you want to bring when you RSVP on or before 7/26/07.)

Food Ideas: Hot Dogs
Buns
Mustard. Pickles, relish, ketchup
Chips and salsa
Backed beans
Potato Salad
Desert of some kind (watermelon?)

A special note to parents
As inferred above the intent is not to produce a tough guy attitude. Many of you strongly believe (as do I) that we should "turn the other cheek". Where this applies to me being slapped I attempt to live this out. Where someone else is being attacked I confess that I am of the opinion that "no greater love has a man than to lay down his life for his friends". While this could be a stretch of the interpretation it still seems to me applicable when defending my family or some other innocent person. Also please note that there will be an obvious spiritual outlook expressed by the instructors/sponsors (these are men of honor and principle who will likely share their core values as they share their knowledge). If you have reservations about letting your son attend this MTM please call me and lets discuss it.

If you have any questions or need directions, call or e-mail Mr. S.