Active Club Manual

2023

CONTENTS:

Introduction
PCTB Method

Purpose
Comrades
Training
Brand

Frequently Asked Questions
Recommended Reading
Appendixes

Introduction

In the last few years Active Clubs have been sprouting all over the globe. The slogan “Athleticism, Activism, Identity” has called upon many men in the West who feel instinctively the importance of healthy living, fitness and the strong bonds of Mannerbund1 community.

In this manual we will help guide you through the process of creating and running a local Active Club, whether you’re starting from scratch or reviving an existing group.

Current Active Club members and their dedicated leaders will surely find something of benefit in these pages too.

This manual will lay out the fundamentals to help you create a vibrant community that embodies the ideals of camaraderie, active lifestyle, mental and physical toughness, and steadfast identity of kinfolk.

PCTB Method

PCTB method, developed by wise men for this specific manual, stands for Purpose, Comrades, Training and Brand.

An easy mnemonic (memory technique) to remember the PCTB method is Personal-Computer Tera-Byte.

Purpose.

Start with a purpose.

It may sound simple but in order to build an effective organization the leader needs to not just approximately intuit the purpose, but have it clearly defined in written form. This is not for publication, but for having the inner frame for onself.

Any successful business or organization leader knows that having a clear purpose, with clearly defined goals, vision and mission statement is the difference between a mediocre and a successful enterprise.

You should adopt the same mindset for forming an Active Club.

Having clearly defined goals, vision and mission statement.

By having it written down you accomplish 2 things:

You internalize the information in the process of writing.
You always have a frame of reference for decision making.

The Purpose PCTB element is tied closely together with the last – Brand section, and they create a loop of feedback.

In a sense, the Brand and Purpose section is one and the same.

We have noticed that existing AC leaders run into the following problem:

They have Comrade and Training elements of the PCTB model nailed down, but they have no clearly defined Purpose and the Inner Brand. In other words, they have a community and a training schedule, but over time they become directionless. So even though they have a logo and a name, some great propaganda videos, nevertheless they face inner organizational and management issues.

This is because the Brand is approached only visually and Internal Brand and Brand Strategy has not been defined and developed.

By overlooking this you risk running into trouble holding a strict course for developing the club further in a meaningful way. A club without this framework functions in an inefficient way and gives room for its members to misinterpret and misuse being a part of this inner circle.

Having the goals, vision and mission statement figured out and written down allows the AC leadership, and possibly, even its core members, to identify and address any issues. It also makes it a lot easier to find ways for coming up with direct approaches when it comes to public outreach (propaganda and online posts). This framework functions as a backbone and a reference point for planning and maintaining a healthy internal structure.

The Brand element of the PCTB model feeds back into the first – Purpose element. Always begin with end in mind. We will return to this at the last section.

Comrades.

Find like-minded individuals.

“No man’s an island.”

In order to form a community you must find like minded comrades. If you already have a friend group or just another friend you can start there. It doesn’t have to be a crowd of people. Quite the contrary. Prioritize quality over quanity.

Many Active Clubs have started with just two friends coming together and starting to train and organize together.

Remember that you are creating something more than just another hobbyist club. You are creating a community. Part of a large international de-centralized network. Think big!

Leadership.

When forming an Active Club you must take into account what leadership style best suits your personality and the mentality of those around you. Some Active Clubs prefer stict hierarchies with almost military-like chain of command. Others are more laissez-faire2 or diplomatic, where decisions and organizing is rather negotiated instead of commanded. There are no right or wrong leadership styles – it all depends on your own mentality and those that you wish to lead. It is advised you to research leadership styles as anyone can learn more and benefit from that.

Leaders naturally emerge in any organizational structure. Nature takes care of that and you should never fight it because of your ego. A sign of a good leader is that he aims to raise other leaders. And if someone is better at certain things then it is beneficial for the whole group to let them lead.

Vetting.

The vetting process should be appropriate to your location and circumstances. Again, things vary with vetting strictness - some Active Clubs are very strict, while others are more laid back. But it is safe to say that everyone has at least some vetting process for new members. It depends on the geography and political situation in your country. If antifa and doxxing is an issue where you live, then you will want to implement stricter vetting. For reasons of this manual being public we will not disclose the existing vetting processes in Active Clubs around the world. We suggest you do some creative thinking and research depending on your own particular circumstances.

Training.

Start training together.

Is it necessary for you to be experienced in martial arts to form an Active Club?

It helps, but no – it’s not essential. What is essential is your willingness to grow. You can start organizing yourself and other people for physical activities without experience. You can learn on the way and train each other. In time, you may come across a new friend who has some more experience in some activities.

How to organize your training sessions.

The general training layout should look something like this:

1) Warm up and stretching.

You should thoroughly warm up and stretch all the muscle groups. If outdoors, start by going for a 10-15 minute jog. Include different warm up exercises during jogging. Warming up is important to reduce traumas.

2) Group physical activities. Drills for basic moves and punches, activities in pairs.

3) Sparring.

Sparring should always be left as the last activity during a training session. The main reason is that after a serious training, everyone should be sufficiently exhausted to not operate on fresh energy levels – therefore reducing possible traumas.

Consult the literature to develop your own training blueprint and fill it with activities.

Brand.

Develop a Brand Strategy.

Famous brand strategist Marty Neumeier defined brand as “a person’s gut feeling about a product, service or organization.”

Why is brand strategy important?

Brand strategy is often overlooked by by both businesses and political organizations. It’s taken for granted that a name, logo and a catchy slogan is enough. However, this is not the case. Brand strategists claim that brand goes much deeper than the just the visuals. In fact, visuals should come way after the rest of the brand strategy has been developed, and emerge naturally in process of development and deep thinking about brand strategy.

In other words, don’t start with a name and a logo. Start with a purpose.

Brand strategy is a whole field in business world.

Brand strategy answers important questions, like:

Why are we here?
Who are we here for?
Where are we going?
What are we commited to?
How are we different?
Why should they care?

As a leader, you should think deeply and be able to answer these questions.

However, brand strategy doesn’t stop there. To create an effective organization you will have to go further. We will take the general brand strategy framework for businesses and apply it to forming an Active Club, because all the essential elements apply.

Overlooking these “taken for granted” details and not thinking deeply and writing them out for oneself – will result in a misaligned brand. Building a brand is much like building a house – it requires a strong foundation and certain building blocks in a certain order to ensure strong foundational security.

A simple 14-step framework for developing a brand strategy:

1. Develop your internal brand. Purpose, Vision, Mission, Values. This comes from the leadership of the brand.

2. Define your Target audience. Demographics, psychographics, their emotions, pains, dreams, desires, fears etc.

3. Map your marketplace landscape

4. Uncover your market position

5. Shape your Brand personality. What you say and how you say it.

6. Identify your brand's tone of voice.

7. Develop your messaging strategy

8. Craft your brand story

9. Develop your Name and Tag line

10. Design you Brand Identity

11. Craft your brand collateral

12. Devise your brand awareness strategy

13. Launch your brand

14. Analyse Optimize Evolve

To build an effective brand, a brand strategy should include:

Detailed audience persona’s
Competative analysis
Differentiation & positioning strategy
Human brand persona & personality
Brand voice
Communication framework
Brand message
Brand storytelling framework
Marketing strategy

We have included these frameworks to show you how deep brand strategy actually goes beyond just the visuals. You are advised to follow the links to valuable resources where proper brand strategists explain things in more detail.

Active Club Manual

Report Page