The ManKind Project�?/STRONG> (MKP) is a 501(c)(3) organization with certified organizational centers in 27 different communities in the United States, Canada and England. Its stated mission is to assist men in "reclaiming the sacred masculine for our time through initiation, training, and action in the world." Interaction with the MKP begins with an experiential weekend "training adventure." The weekend is followed by ongoing, supportive and self-led "integration groups" formed from the weekend participants which help integrate the men's changes and new choices into their daily lives. In addition, there are numerous workshops offered throughout the year to further assist men's development. Since 1985, more than 10,000 men from diverse races, faiths, nationalities and sexual orientations have completed New Warrior Training Adventure weekends.
The ManKind Project�?/B> is a progressive and non-sectarian, non-partisan alternative to other men's organizations. The Project has two goals. The first is to initiate men into a mature masculinity, to lead lives of integrity, connection to feeling, and a renewed responsibility for their personal mission in the world. Through weekend "training adventures" and continuing on into post-training "integration groups," men are challenged in deeply personal ways to look at who they are and how they make choices and live behaviors which work and don't work for them.
The second goal is to be of service to the community. Both as individual men with a reinvigorated sense of compassion and personal responsibility, and as communities of men who share a close-knit bond, The ManKind Project�?/B> has racked up more than 300,000 recorded volunteer hours. The service focus that has particularly emerged is mentoring. The Chicago and San Diego communities have developed programs ("Young Warrior" and "Boys to Men") which mentor boys 12 - 16 in experiential mentorship programs. Men in the Milwaukee community have developed a program based in Kenosha-area schools for mentoring youth of color. Whether it's working with emotionally disturbed boys in Philadelphia or mentoring at-risk youth in Virginia, providing alternatives to incarceration in Houston or counseling for domestic abuse in Washington, D.C., the Project has been making quiet and important contributions to improving the quality of life for families and communities throughout this country and in England and Canada.
The New Warrior Training Adventure
In the mid 1980s, three men -- Ron Hering, Bill Kauth and Rich Tosi put together the first "New Warrior Training Adventure" (NWTA). Originally it was called the "Wildman Weekend."
The NWTA is a traditional masculine initiation, but geared to the modern-day man. Like all initiation processes, the NWTA characterizes three distinct parts or passages. There is "The Descent," "The Ordeal," and "The Homecoming." Also, like all traditional initiations, the actual events of the NWTA are kept confidential. All of the processes are honored for the impact they have on the man, not for how they actually occur.
Two words best describe the NWTA:
There needs to be such a departure if the training is to be effective. Men are asked to "pull the plug" on their mainframe computers (heads) when they reach the training. Everything that occurs takes place in a totally different realm. The man is challenged by a staff of 25-35 men to unshackle his belief system and step into something new.
The best analogy is in nature, where every plant that grows comes from a seed. In order for the seed to manifest a plant, whether that plant be for our consumption and nurturing, industry, or simply something beautiful to look at -- that seed has to "burst" open. It doesn't just "become" a plant, the seed literally has to shatter. Most men are walking around with the seeds to their lives in dormancy. The NWTA is designed to help the man break open his seed and allow it to grow into whatever it is for that specific man.
Whether the man is on a life upswing, or down the trenches of his existence, the NWTA will help him take a good, hard look at his life–to see what's working, and what isn't. The man will get a clear sense of what it is he needs to "work" on in order to effectively change his life and become more potent and generative in his family, work and community.
MISSION is what sets the NWTA apart from other men's experiences. The NWTA offers the man a pathway to live out his truth through his own personal mission. All of the men spend time on the weekend finding their own life's mission and articulating that mission into one clear, concise statement. The mission itself will change and grow as the man changes and grows, but is stays with him forever. It is the way the man will bring to reality all that he envisions for his life and his loved ones.
The weekend takes place from Friday evening through Sunday evening, running roughly 48 hours. Tuition costs vary from center to center, typically averaging around $600.00 per training. The cost covers all materials, room and board, and administrative fees for the training. There are 27 centers around the world, in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
We are an order of men called to reclaim the sacred masculine for our time through initiation, training, and action in the world.
Canada West
Chris Sobczak
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