I sit with Matt Larsen, Seb Levoie and John Valentine to discuss Man Camps and Rites of Passage. We discuss the Modern Day Knight Project, but that is not our main focus. While I believe that camps are beneficial to men, they are not the be all end all to a man’s existential issues. MDKP cannot give that to you. The solution to man’s existential crisis isn’t found at camps, but goes deeper, and those issues are covered by writers such as Van Gennep, Robert, Bly, Robert L Moore & Gillette, Carl Jung, and Joseph Campbell. If a man doesn’t have some kind of meaning in his life he is going to have issues fitting into his culture. Man camps can be good; it’s best that you search for some that don’t posit they are going to provide you all of the skills and experience needed to handle all of life’s battles; it comes from being disciplined daily and not expecting breakthroughs via these 72hr (or longer) camps. We’re not here to attack the man, but the argument and see if the argument is sound.

Seb Lavoie is the CEO of Raven Strategic. He brings a wealth of experience as a retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police divisional Sgt. Major, Combatives and Security Expert, and is a BJJ Blackbelt. https://www.instagram.com/slavccmdr/

Matt Larsen, a career Army Ranger and Black Belt Hall of Fame member who is best known as a hand-to-hand combat expert and the father of the U.S. Army’s Modern Army Combatives Program, served in the U.S. Marine Corps and the 75th Ranger Regiment during the course of a 22-year career in the military. John is a military veteran and instructor in combat skills, with a background in force protection and austere communications. https://www.instagram.com/combatives/

John is a “TOP GUN” graduate of the Rangemaster instructor program, holds a Black Belt in Combatives from Combatives University, a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and a “B” Classification in the USPSA Carry Optics division. As a founding member of the Combatives Association, he organizes the Combatives Association Summit. He coordinates and teaches comprehensive training programs for civilians, police, and the military. https://www.instagram.com/johnv_actual/