Goals for 2012

Learn how to ride a motorcycleI did this back in '06.  My advice: find a community college and take the class.  If you've never ridden before, expect to take it twice.  In fact, schedule yourself into two of them (and soon, they fill up by Spring) and drop the second if you get lucky and pass the first.  I don't know the state of play in NY, but in MI these can either be an intense weekend or 2 hours a day for two weeks.  I recommend the latter.  Better for skills acquisition, and more time to get to know classmates, most of whom will be similarly cool people, and a sizable portion of whom may actually be cute women (true in both of my classes).

I agree with all -- the posts on masculinity are what interest me the most. This is esp topical today -- men are finding that they are losing ground. What does it mean to be a "man" in a world where women out earn you, out-school you, etc? This is a brave new world and the idea of men turning into sensitive sissy boys isn't the answer, but neither is the over-blown, fake masculiniy of video games and collections of "Girls Gone Wild". This is a HILARIOUS take from a woman's POV: http://bitchesgottaeat.blogspot.com/2012/01/you-need-to-stop-fucking-dud... . Funny, but the subtext is there

I'm interested to see how you define and approach "unrepentant masculinity".   I've long been a proponent of pride in femininity, but it's extremely hard - impossible even - to define it in a general sense.  There are even some significant differences in how men view femininity as opposed to how women view it - and while I haven't specifically looked into it, I suspect the same holds true for women's views on masculinity as opposed to men's.  It's interesting because the concepts of "masculine" and "feminine" only really have meaning when juxtaposed against one another, and while there are obvious biological predispositions on both, there are aspects of life - food preparation, huge parts of parenting, mate selection, personal adornment, resource appropriation - where the "masculine" and the "feminine" are much more cultural than biological.  It would be nice to see - not telling you how to think here, just putting something out there - if part of being "unrepentantly masculine" was to support and honour women who wish to be unrepentatly feminine.  If anyone has the mindset to celebrate masculinity in a way that doesn't diminish femininity, you do!

Nice goals!Krav Maga is nice. But you might be interested by Systema. It's more a self-defense + health building approach, than a traditional martial arts (no posture to hold, no fancy animal to mimic, no fair rules in combat...; but great emphasis on stress/psychology when you are attacked, breathing, free combat...). It's been created by the bodyguards of Stalin (not the best way to sell Systema, is it?), and transposed to civilians recently. See the website of Vassiliev, his main student, for more informations: http://www.russianmartialart.com/. My trainer is a former student of Vassiliev, and his teaching is always meaningful and useful. But I don't know if there is any Systema association in NYC. 

Nice, I'm excited about the manliness focus. Just out of curiosity, what are your Mayan Apocalypse preparations?

 I concur with everyone looking forward to the masculinity focus. Can't wait to see what you have in store for us! :-)

Every year is the year of unrepentant masculinity.

What about mma?

 i have a different take on maliness than fashion sense.....i digress.  i wanted to ask if you have read   Manthropology: The Science of Why the Modern Male Is Not the Man He Used to Be.   

 Bring on the manliness!  I think you really should devote some posts to style.  I'm a bit mortified by many guys' lack of fashion sense  here in cosmopolitan NYC.  That goes along with their body compositions.  Men need to realize that vanity is healthy up to the point of decreasing returns.