Coaching MKP Warrior Brothers

My Personal MKP History

I have been active with The Mankind Project since the end of 2001. In the years since, I have:

  1. Staffed 49 NWTA Trainings in the US and Canada
  2. Led or co-led approximately 40 Primary Integration Trainings (PITs)
  3. Led the creation of the 2011 PIT Manual
  4. Created additional trainings including the “Integration into a New Way of Being”
  5. Attended all MKP Leadership Trainings (LT1, LT2, LT3)
  6. Attended numerous Northwest Elder Gatherings
  7. Led the first co-gender Northwest Elder Gathering in 2013
  8. Attended the 2015 World Elder Gathering in Hawaii
  9. Been a Keynote Speaker at the 2017 World Elder Gathering in Calgary
  10. Donated countless hours in support of various MKP activities

And the above is only a partial list of the ways I have supported MKP.

Coaching MKP Warrior Brothers

I have developed several coaching tools that I only use with MKP Warrior Brothers because all of these men will have a common grounding in certain terms and concepts.

The Four Masculine Archetypes (lover, warrior, magician, king) form the structure of each I-Group, but there is little formal training within MKP that goes deeply into the nature and meaning of these archetypes.

Learn More about the Four Masculine Archetypes ==>

I focus specifically on the King archetype. It is the job of the king to make his kingdom safe. To do this, the king must be mature and well balanced. He must be able to listen to his magician, give clear missions to his warrior and protect his people so they can enjoy their lives. If a man’s king is in shadow or somehow deflated, this has an impact on the other three archetypes, and therefore on his entire kingdom. I specifically refer to this as Sovereign Wound Coaching, and I use this only on men who have at least a basic grounding in the archetypes.

Learn More about Sovereign Wound Coaching ==>

That is the work I love doing with my “Warrior Brothers”.  And here are summaries of what some of them have said about my coaching.

I also use the concept of the Hero’s Journey, but not exclusively with men. The Hero’s Journey can be broken down into three major phases:

The first phase is about waking up, realizing that you have been asleep, unconscious, unaware of your own shadows and limiting beliefs. This is the call to action, the beginning of the Hero’s Journey.

The second phase, which involves most of the journey is about growing up, becoming more conscious, mindful and emotionally mature. This is hard work and it can take most of your life. In fact, it may never truly end; but it is the heart of the journey.

The final phase occurs when you have become sufficiently self-aware and emotionally mature to step into the world as a transformed and self-actualized person. This phase is called, simply enough, showing up.

I-Group Structure

I-Groups traditionally have four primary activities or rounds:

  1. The Lover Round in which a circle is formed and men are given a chance to check-in.
  2. The Warrior round where men are challenged to take ownership and clean up any energy that would distract from the rest of the meeting.
  3. The Magician Round in which men are supported in doing whatever personal growth work they need to do, or the group does some collective work or teachings.
  4. The King round in which the men bless each other and check-out for the evening.

The Role of Guest Magician

For the past several years, I have been visiting I-Groups in nearby Vancouver, BC as a “Guest Magician”.  With the advent of Covid-19 and the mass migration to the use of Zoom, I have reached I-Groups in Alberta, on Vancouver Island and around BC.

A Guest Magician is typically a man with considerable experience who visits an I-Group to show them something new and different. My experience certainly qualifies me for this role, so let me also share my motivation.

I have several goals in making these visits:

  1. I know lots of these men already because I either staffed with them, was on staff for their NWTA weekend or I led or co-led their PIT, and it gives me a chance to reconnect with men I know and deeply appreciate.
  2. It gives me a chance to test teaching material and processes I have been developing.
  3. It allows me to build my skill set and reputation as a coach by using some of my coaching skills to process men.

I find myself frequently invited for return visits, and I get a lot of personal satisfaction by seeing the impact my teaching and coaching has had on the men in the I-Groups I have visited. I will be extending my outreach to men in Washington and Oregon soon, and after that, into other states and time zones.

If you would like me to visit your I-Group as a guest magician, please fill out and submit the form on this page. I ask only that I be given at least one full hour to work with. I don’t make any sales pitches, but I do let men know about the existence of this website.

Related Pages and Posts

 

MKP Jargon

Men who have been initiated by the ManKind Project’s New Warrior Training Adventure will recognize certain terms such as “Warrior Brother“, “AHO“, “Shadow” and “The Four Masculine Archetypes” more often than the general population. Given my background and experience with MKP, these terms tend to creep into my vocabulary and my coaching practice, so let me define them here:

  • Warrior Brother – This term identifies men who have participated in the MKP New Warrior Training Adventure. These men are often referred to as “Initiated”, which is overly generic. The more correct term would be “MKP Initiated“. The emotional impact of this term is that men who meet each other for the first time and identify as “New Warriors” will have a common experience to draw upon. This can serve to create a level of trust between them that they may not experience with others.  At the heart of this term is the context that surrounds it. It identifies men who have made a conscious choice to transform themselves from an old way of being to a new, more conscious and emotionally mature way of being.
  • NWTA stands for New Warrior Training Adventure. It is often referred to as “The Weekend”. The NWTA is a 48 hour initiation into adult manhood. It gives men a glimpse of what their lives might look and feel like if they lived with accountability, integrity and self-awareness.
  • PIT (Acronym for Primary Integration Training), the PIT is the training that follows the NWTA and teaches men how to create an I-Group and how to run the group meetings.
  • I-Group (short for Integration Group), an I-Group is simply a men’s circle that is sponsored but not controlled by MKP. I-Groups typically follow a meeting structure that is taught in the PIT.
  • I-Statements – Seaking about ourselves in the first person allows us to take responsibility for our words. When you speak about your experience using “you statements”, your words become confusing. Are you talking about your personal experience but projecting it on me? This is a challenge because it seems that everybody speaks in you statements… except those people who have chosen to be honest, accountable and responsible for the words they use. In MKP, we always use I-Statements..

More Jargon

  • AHO -This term is used in almost every MKP context, but its roots are a bit ambiguous. It has morphed into an acronym for Authentic, Honest and Open. It is used almost as a punctuation mark that means “I hear you” or “Yes”, although it can also be used in other ways.
  • Sacred Space – Most men have learned not to show feelings or be vulnerable. In MKP, we work to undo these cultural teachings and teach men to speak their feelings and be open, transparent and vulnerable. To make this happen, men must feel emotionally safe and not afraid they will be judged or attacked. This is why we use a specific structure in each I-Group. The ritual of adhering to this structure is part of what helps men feel emotionally safe enough to share their deepest feelings.
  • Shadow – This term comes from the work of the famous psychiatrist, Carl Jung, a protégé of Sigmund Freud. The term means “The parts of us which we hide, repress and deny“. In a practical sense, it refers to the energy people still have that arises from traumatic or painful experiences, usually experienced in childhood. In MKP work, Shadow is what can drive unconscious behaviors that cause damage to people’s lives.
  • The Four Masculine Archetypes – Carl Jung also described the concept of Archetypes or universal patterns that show up in cultures around the world. Authors Moore and Gillette identified four of those archetypes that show up and tend to define men and the work men must do to transcend immature and childish patterns.