July 4, 2020 – CONVERGENCE

244 years ago today, a group of High Impact Men gathered together to found a nation upon the divine, guiding, and self-evident principle that all men were created equal. Without a doubt, these inspiring words of truth were moved towards in their day, but not realized.

In our day, much more progress has been made, and yet much more work remains to be done.  Today, Independence Day 2020, 44 men High Impact Men gathered at Plantation Park in Julington Creek as sons and heirs of that original Declaration.  We gathered together as brothers, as equals, from age 13 to age 63, free men.  We gathered together to get better, and to learn and prepare ourselves just a bit more about leading within our spheres of influence so that all people created equally are also able to live equally. We gathered together to move a step further forward.

Warm-o-rama

“A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.” – The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., March 8, 1965

19 Single Count Michael Phelps

65 Single Count Side-Straddle Hops

The Thang

5 Stations, 9 minutes each. Get through as much as you can!

Station 1 – 13th Amendment of the US Constitution, ratified January 30, 1865: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall resist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

AMRAP

L – Lunge w/ Coupon    13

I – Inchworm      13

B – Burpees      13

E – Escalator    10 Werkins, 20 SSH, 30 Pretzel Crunches, 40 Squats

R – Reverse Crunch   13

T – Travolta Merkin     13

Y – Yurpees    13 (Burpee w/ Clapping Merkin and Knee Tuck Jump)

 

Station 2 – “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you; for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” – Jesus in Matthew 7:12 & Luke 6:31

A – American Hammers   31

N – N’dye, Mahktar    12

D – Dry Docks     31

J – Jump Squats    12

U – Upright Rows    31

S – Surrender Squats    12

T – Thrusters w. Coupon    31

I – Iron Mike   12

C – Coupon Curls   31

E – Escalator   10 Squats, 20 Pretzel Crunches, 30 SSH, 40 Werkins

 

Station 3 – “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on February 25, 1967.

F – Freddy Mercury    25

O – OHNO!, Apollo (Skaters w/ Coupon)   25

R – Run a Lap

A – Alligator Merkins   25

L – LBC’s   25

L – Lt. Dans (R leg Lunge, L leg Lunge, Squat = 1)  25

 

Station 4 – #SAYMYNAME – “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” – James Baldwin

Each of these exercises were done in honor of a person of color who was killed at the hands of police brutality.  The numbers for each exercise represented the victim’s age at the time of their death.

George Floyd – 46 Flutter Kicks – Run over berm and back

Brionna Taylor – 26 Burpees – Run over berm and back

Ahmaud Arbery – 25 Alternating Shoulder Taps – Run over berm and back

Tamir Rice – 12 T-Merkins – Run over berm and back

Eric Garner – 44 Groiners – Run over berm and back

Michael Brown – 18 Merkins – Run over berm and back

Philando Castile – 32 Plank Jacks – Run over berm and back

Trayvon Martin – 17 Monkey Humpers – Run over berm and back

Freddie Grey – 25 Big Boy Situps – Run over berm and back

 

Station 5 – Equality Station – “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love.” – Nelson Mandela

The numbers for this station were selected to represent June 19, 1865, commonly known as ‘Juneteenth’, the day the last slaves in America were freed.  Of course, Human Trafficking remains a huge and tragic problem in America and around the world.

AMRAP

6 Blockees/Manmakers

19 – LBC’s w/ Coupon

18 – Ground Pounders

65 – Mountain Climbers

Run over berm and back, Rinse and Repeat

 

BOM/COT

The men of Boondocks took a moment to say ‘thank you’ to one of the HIMs that not only founded F3Jax, but our AO. As Feud now departs to plant yet another AO, this one on Fleming Island, we honored him with a warrior’s gift, a bayonet blade signed by each of us.

And then Extinguisher stepped in to speak to the men. As he said:

Addressed the Pax on the struggles our country is going through at this time. Spoke to them about the struggles of being a black man in America and that we are at crossroads and it is time for us to create dialogue in our homes and between people of color. I mentioned my son and the things I had teach him being a young black man and how I pray that I don’t have to do this for my grandson. Challenged the Pax to reach out other African American brothers and learn about them. Addressed what the flag and independence means and that we have the principles written down but it is time for us to practice. We are F3 and our mission is to plant, grow and serve to invigorate male leadership in our communities.

Many men later commented that they found the message to be powerful and inspiring, some saying they had black friends or work colleagues to whom they needed to reach out.  F3 is open to all men. We were made for this moment.

We named 4 FNG’s – Welcome Hatch, Frogger, Dundee and Downwind!

We took a knee and said the Lord’s Prayer, then stood and said the Pledge.

We then retired to some sweet 2nd F, complete with Maple Street Coffee and Biscuits, and several gallons of much-needed Gatorade.  It was a great day!