Welcome
A message from brother Dave.
Please explore the tenets and writings on which I have based this organization. I truly hope you can find a message here that resonates, regardless of your upbringing and background. Our creator, whether it be the cosmos, God, or otherwise, has led us to this point. I am not asking you to give up any specific, prior belief you have in the genesis of our humanity because as you will see, all walks of life share a familiar message in the preparation and preservation of the human body.
I found through reading that we have more in common with each other through strength than we might ever have known otherwise. Too often, the messages we hear are ones of division as well as exclusivity. Here, I offer a message of inclusion, for we all have the capability, whatever walk of life or physical ailment, to be stronger within ourselves and through fellowship.
The journey to be stronger starts with the individual and progresses to the greater community. Every individual who takes the first step, dives into a pool, picks up a ball or barbell shares in the community and spirituality of human motion. We were born creatures of movement.
2020 Activity
A year of helping
The pandemic in 2020 provided communities and individuals with enormous challenges. As per my mission and goal of helping businesses and communities, please find enclosed a list of donations made to both in such a challenging year:
$150 - Reynolds Performance, after the gym was closed due to pandemic
$50 - To help an individual in Florida (name withheld for privacy)
$50 - 6th Annual Bull City Fundraiser, Durham, NC
$150 - To help an individual in California (name withheld for privacy)
Over 200 hours of coaching and mentorship for local athletes.
THE FUNDAMENTAL TENETS
- One should seek to improve the body, which improves the mind and serves in the interest of both the individual and the creator;
- One's body is sacrosanct, and as such, subject only to one's individual will; individual will must not bring harm to those around us;
- As individuals come from different walks of life, with different capabilities, one should strive to empathize with others and be compassionate towards them on their journey;
- Strive to move with passion, purpose and clarity;
- Science is to be welcomed and debated respectfully; there should be no established dogmas, especially in light of overwhelming evidence, as few ideas are infallible;
- Silence, reflection, meditation, privacy and fellowship all have a place; be mindful of those who wish to be alone, welcome those who seek fellowship;
- Be willing to help those who seek guidance in the ways of improving the body and mind;
Mission Statement
The mission of the House of the Blessed Iron is to encourage bodily health, promote empathy and compassion towards others, reject tyrannical authority, advocate the advancement of health sciences, oppose injustice, undertake noble pursuits and promote fellowship through exercise and movement. We hold evident the plurality of scientific, religious, and philosophical manuscripts that extol the virtues of bodily health and movement as our guiding principles and beliefs.
A healthy body and mind involve a self-directed approach to find the path best suited for oneself. Compulsory laws prohibiting the freedom to control one's body, to move and engage actively in order to better the mind and body violate the fundamental civil and spiritual rights of our members.
Statement of Beliefs
Biblical teachings
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
Isaiah 40:29-31 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
1 Timothy 4:8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
Proverbs 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Proverbs 24:5 A wise man is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might
Proverbs 31:17 She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.
Judges 16:28 Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.”
Buddhist Teachings
“To keep the body in good health is a duty … otherwise, we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.”
“Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.”
"Self-conquest is far better than the conquest of others. Not even a god, an angel, Mara or Brahma can turn into defeat the victory of a person who is self-subdued and ever restrained in conduct"
"Better it is to live one day strenuous and resolute than to live a hundred years sluggish and dissipated"
"One should do what one teaches others to do; if one would train others, one should be well controlled oneself. Difficult, indeed, is self-control"
"You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection"
Taoist Teachings
"Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power." Tao Te Ching – Verse 33
"I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These are your greatest treasures" Tao Te Ching – Verse 67
"When you are content to be simply yourself and do not compare or compete, everybody will respect you" – Tao Te Ching – Verse 8
"Trying to control the future is like trying to take the master carpenter's place. When you handle the master carpenter's tools, chances are that you'll cut your hand." Tao Te Ching – Verse 74
Wisdom of Confucius
"When truth and right are hand in hand, a statement will bear repetition. When respectfulness and propriety go hand in hand, disgrace and shame are kept afar-off. Remove all occasion for alienating those to whom you are bound by close ties, and you have them still to resort to." - Analects of Confucious: Book 1
"To learn," said the Master, "and then to practice opportunely what one has learned does not this bring with it a sense of satisfaction?" - Analects of Confucious: Book 1
"Men of superior mind busy themselves first in getting at the root of things; and when they have succeeded in this the right course is open to them." - Analects of Confucious: Book 1
"To govern simply by statute, and to reduce all to order by means of pains and penalties, is to render the people evasive, and devoid of any sense of shame" - Analects of Confucious: Book 2
"The master said, 'In archery it is not going through the leather which is the principal thing; because people's strength is not equal. This was the old way' " Analects of Confucious
"To be tolerant and mild in teaching, and never to avenge nonadherence to the way: this is the strength of the south and the noble person abides by it" - Confucius Doctrine of the Mean
"Archery is like the way of the noble person: if you miss the center of the target, you must seek the reason within yourself" - Confucius Doctrine of the Mean
"If there is anything you have not analyzed, or if you have analyzed without clarity, do not cease" - Confucius Doctrine of the Mean
"However weak you were, you will be strong" - Confucius Doctrine of the Mean
"If others can achieve this with one effort, you can surely achieve it with a hundred" - Confucius Doctrine of the Mean
Wisdom of Mencius
"I exert my strength to cultivate the field; that is the duty of a son and nothing more;" - Mencius
"If amongst a thousand inhabitants a hundred revel in abundance, two hundred live moderately, four hundred have barely enough, and three hundred suffer from hunger or privation, wanting those things which can support their strength and preserve their health, this is wrong which demands rectification" - Mencius
"All who are like-minded are friends by nature. Friendship is only established upon virtue." - Mencius
"[The sovereign] Cares for the physical well-being [of the people], because that conditions the moral welfare of the people" - Mencius
"[National education] Moral culture as well as physical is indispensable to the state" - Mencius
"The mental as well as the physical powers require exercise to enable them to work out great problems." - Mencius