Sunday, September 11, 2011

Warrior Training

Training of Warriors began at age of 6 or 7.  Young boys were taken under the wing of a male relative: father, grandfather, paternal uncle and given a bow/arrow and taught how to wrestle. The basic philosophy of Apache training was that even if outgunned or outnumbered they should never be outfought or outmaneuvered.  Training was crucial for survival as it was essential to minimize warrior losses in light of the larger populations of their enemies.  Death was to be avoided.  It was better to fight another day than to die meaninglessly.  Sometimes it was better to end a conflict with two combatants fighting to death than to take useless losses by risking the lives of five or six.  Novices were disciplined by games to enhance their endurance from racing before dawn for ten miles without swallowing any water, or learning to swim in icy water, to activities that increased strength/agility including hand-to-hand combat, wrestling, and developing dexterity in horsemanship.  Apache coordination/flexibility was facilitated by shooting arrows/stones through a rolling hoop or at birds, squirrels, rabbits, or organizing sling shot battles amongst themselves.  From age 10-12 Cochise’s training regimen became more psychological as he was taught to rely only on himself:

“My son, you know no one will help you in this world.
You run to that mountain and come back.
That will make you strong.
My son, you know no one is your friend, not even your sister, your father or your mother.
Your legs are your friends; your brain is your friend;
Your eyesight is your friend; your hair is your friend; your hands are your friends; you must do something with them.
When you grow up you live with these things and think about it.”

Other principles Cochise was taught were:  “You must have your arrows and your bows where you can grab them.  Keep your knife beside you.  Have your moccasins ready.  Be on alert in peace or war.  Don’t spend all your time sleeping.  Get up when the morning star comes out.  Watch for that star.  Don’t let it get up before you do.”

At fourteen, Cochise like others before him became a warrior novice.  The training regimen became more psychological focused on quieting the mind and the importance of obedience and silence.  At this time, under the guidance of a medicine man, Cochise would embark on a four day Vision Quest to acquire clarity about his identity as well as insights into his dark side or fears so that they could be mastered.  Cochise, during fasting, would fall in and out of altered states of consciousness.  Within these dream states, he received insights into his power medicine through the appearance of animal messengers who would instruct him how to prepare for battle and what to wear to protect him from the enemy.  Cochise’s novitiate ended by participating in four raids.  During this time, Cochise invoked the persona of “Child of Water” and reenacted the ancient Creation Story of “slaying of monsters.” Sexual intercourse was taboo!  On the raid, only cold food was allowed, avoiding horse injuries emphasized, and water was drunk through a special straw.  These rituals were established to develop greater self-control in battle.  Generally on these raids Cochise’s role was limited to that of gathering wood, watching horses, and clearing the camp sites.  Cochise, upon successfully completing his last raid, would be accepted by the warriors as a member.  On these raids, Cochise learned never to travel in the desert daylight as it raised too much dust, to approach water springs only in the stillness of night, to rest at night in hollows where the enemy would never think to look, and when caught in the open he was instructed to imitate the lizard by covering self with sand.  Cochise similarly learned how to read track signs as every track is uniquely different in size and weight, and instructed to move away from gunfire by circling around like a hawk.  Cochise excelled with the spear, a symbol of leadership, which was appropriate to his role as leader of Chokonens.