Pax Got Schooled

21 pax, including 1 FNG, posting in the gloom as the bell rang at The Pound- it’s Q-school time in St. John’s County.  Eileen and YHC were invited as the keynote speakers for this “train the trainer” event.  Unfortunately (or is it fortunately) for the pax, YHC doesn’t like to use a lot of words.  He’d rather demonstrate than talk.  Good thing Eileen was there to help prod things along.  Here is how things turned out:

5 and 1-minute warnings provided. Welcoming consisted of disclaimer, welcoming of FNG, review of mission and global explanation of what to expect for FNGs- starting with how exercises are called out in the Warm-o-rama aka COP

COP – throughout COP, explanations provided for counting in cadence, OYO, and calling out demonstration

• SSH x20 IC
• Hillbillies x10 IC
• Flutter kicks x21 IC
• Don Quixote x10 IC
• Apol Ohno x5 OYO
• Carolina Dry Docs x10 IC

The Thang I

The Mission of F3 is to plant, grow and serve small men’s workout groups for the invigoration of male community leadership.  YHC hoped this first thang will help these HIMs remember this.

DORA style routine- partner 1 runs while partner 2 performs exercises.  Flap jack once partner 1 returns. 

• P- Presses (Overhead with Cindy) x100
• G- Goblet squats x200
• S- Seal Jacks x300

Pick-up the 6 performed and explained for the pax.

Thang II

There are Five CORE Principles of F3.  These are the only “rules” to F3.  As long as your beatdowns match these 5 principles, you can be F3.  Just like his Mission Q, YHC put these in a beatdown to help the pax remember them:

• Pax runs across parking lot and performs exercise “a”, returns to baseline performs exercise “b”
• All exercises x20 reps
• 3 burpees at midway point each way

1. Always Free
   • Alternating shoulder taps (count 1 shoulder)
   • Flying squirls
2. Open to All Men
   • Apolo Ohno (count 1 side)
   • Merkins
3. Held Outdoors, Rain or Shine, Hot or Cold
   • Ranger Merkins
   • Scorpion dry docks
   • Hillbilly Squats
   • Crunchy Frogs
4. Peer Led
   • Peter Parkers (count 1 leg)
   • Lunges (count each leg)
5. Ends in a COT
   • Copperhead squats
   • T-merkins

 Hero rule and subsequent 10-count called and explained. 

Thang III

F3 mission is about developing male community leadership:

• Q had pax return to COP for Dealer’s Choice.
• Any pax who had not been through a VQ were chosen to call out an exercise to be performed IC
  • SSH (called twice)
  • Flutter kicks
  • LBAC forward
  • Reverse lunges

Constructive feedback provided to these future VQ’s

COT/BOM

Our mission is to plant, grow and serve, small men’s workout groups for the invigoration of male community leadership.  This coming April will be 9 years since the first flag was planted in Jacksonville.  Since then, we have grown and planted 10 Saturday flags in the F3 Super Region of Jacksonville.  We keep this special by making the beatdowns hard, yet inviting.  And we hold firm to the standards.  It’s easy to let a few things slide, especially if you develop a core group of regulars, but that is when standards start to fade, and then this thing we call F3 develops from a group of HIMs to, as our fellow OG Jumanji would say, a bunch of JAs working out.  We are a leadership development program disguised as a workout.  Our real goals is out there in the community.  But before we can get there, we have to make sure we are right here.  Our Core Values point to the mission:  the workout groups are always free, open to all men and held outdoors.  They help invigorate male community leadership by providing men the opportunity to lead a workout, without any special training or certification.  We come better men when we share our failures and our successes and things that weigh heavy on our hearts in the COT instead of letting them weigh us down.  YHC encouraged those who haven’t Q’d, or those who haven’t Q’d in awhile, to take the opportunity to do so.

Prayers/Announcements

• Donut Ruck March 16^th
• Vanguard launch April 6^th in St. Mary’s, GA
• F3 Jacksonville Anniversary Convergence- April 27^th @ Boondocks
  • New F3 sub-region, Boondocks officially launches this date
• New AOs being initiated within St John’s County- check Slack for details
• Prayer
• Pledge

It was an honor and privilege to lead you today.   

Other post-beatdown Q-school pointers provided:

• Plan for more (routines) than needed- easier to cut than to make things up on the fly
• Watch for 6 and adapt for them
• Watch for the pax and adapt as needed- its about them not you
• End on time- announcements/prayers should be short and sweet; we gots things to do!