Why is this only for men?
We believe that men have important work to accomplish in helping one another and learning to trust each other. The work we do is about helping men step into a healthy and mature sense of masculinity. Through working with each other, we also create the real possibility for effective and productive relationships with women – relationships based in healthy respect, self-reliance, emotional intelligence, empathy and compassion. We do our own work so that we can benefit everyone. Our global society is inherently Patriarchal and this will only begin to change if men are prepared to change first.
We fully support and are supported in the work we do by sister organisations Women WIthin and Women in Power.
Is this some kind of secret organisation like the Freemasons?
No – we have nothing to hide or be secret about – also, being involved with MKP will not preclude your being involved with any other organisation.
Why are you sometimes referred to as “New Warriors”?
The old warrior used machismo, rage and intimidation to get respect through fear. The New Warrior is a man who looks inside himself to do battle with the demons in his own soul and emerges with maturity and grounded strength. He has access to not only his inner Warrior but also his Lover and Magician and most importantly his inner King. To find out more about this see the book “King, Warrior, Magician, Lover” by Moore & Gillette. These “demons” are more commonly referred to as our own Shadow – the parts of ourselves (Golden and Dark) that we typically hide, repress and deny.
It is the part of ourselves that we don’t talk about. It is the part of our personality that we deny to the world, and to ourselves – although we didn’t begin this way. The ManKind Project has incorporated symbols, archetypes and stories from Jungian psychology, made popular by men and women like Joseph Campbell, Robert Moore, Clarisa Pinkola Estes, Robert Bly and many others. You can read about the framework of Jungian beliefs HERE. Archetypal language and symbols are not the only frameworks we draw on. There are many ways to approach personal growth and your Adventure may only be the starting point in a lifelong journey that may include many differing approaches over the years.
Will my beliefs be welcomed here?
Thousands of men of differing faith have attended and greatly benefited from the NWTA. Many ministers and priests have participated in MKP and are still involved in the organisation. There is room for you here. Our core values align very well with the majority of teachings and can augment a man of faith’s ability to navigate the world with clarity, a deep sense of purpose and joy.
Read our Diversity Statement
I heard this group ruins marriages, what about that?
It is strongly recommended that you discuss attending The Adventure with your partner in advance to prevent any perceived threat to your relationship. Some men do come to the training feeling stuck, frustrated and powerless. They may be looking to find the energy to make powerful changes in their lives, and our intention is to empower men to create the lives they want. For some men this may eventually mean choosing to leave a relationship, a place, or a job (though men are strongly discouraged from making any major life decisions for 6 months after the training). Just as likely, a man will rediscover the passion, love and connection that he felt when he first entered a relationship and return from the training with renewed energy to make his relationship work. Men who have attended The Adventure have the opportunity to co-create incredibly strong relationships with their partners, their children and their co-workers. Our goal is to help them clarify their choices, and find the passion to make the changes they choose.
What about Gay, Bisexual and Questioning men?
We positively welcome ALL men to the NWTA whatever their orientation. The New Warrior Training Adventure, and our men’s circles, often gives gay, bisexual and questioning men the opportunity to create strong and supportive connections with straight allies. Straight men have the opportunity to examine their internalised prejudices and take responsibility for their feelings and actions, learning to value differences and acknowledge similarities. Multicultural awareness is one of our core values as an organisation and we take pride in the work we’ve done to create productive cross-cultural dialogues over the last two decades. We will never try to change a man’s sexual orientation.
We create trainings and circles in which all men are welcome to discover their deepest truths. We welcome men of all sexual orientations including those who identify as having unwanted same sex attraction, to do their own work as they define it, to respect the identity and value of others, and to take responsibility for the impact their words and behaviours have on others.
Read our policy on Sexual Orientation
Can I see what it’s about first?
Yes. Contact us with details of your locality and we will try to arrange for you attend one of our open-circles. You may also want to read more about the mythic-poetic background to MKP and we would recommend “Iron John – Men and Masculinity” by Robert Bly as a good starting place.
Why are we asked to carpool?
Our primary reason for car pooling is also to begin to challenge the isolation with which many men live their lives. Great friendships have grown between participants simply by sharing the return journey into self-discovery with others. Many men also choose to attend by public-transport (depending on site-locality) and savings can then also be made by travelling together. We ask all men who come to The Adventure, including staff, to carpool. We take our environmental impact very seriously, and carpooling is a significant way to shrink our environmental footprint.
What if I decide to leave? How will I get home?
If you decide to leave the training, we will either return your keys to you if you drove, help you make phone calls to arrange transportation, or have a staff member drive you home. You are free to go and…..we will ask you if it’s what you really want for yourself.
When you arrive at the training site you will be asked if you are willing to do everything necessary to get what you came for. If you decide you want to leave, one of the weekend leaders is likely to challenge you to stay by reminding you of this commitment AND the decision is firmly in your hands to make.
Many men experience a time on the weekend when they no longer want to be there. Some ask to leave, and then decide to stay. The vast majority are glad they did. This is part of the process; we expect it to happen, just as many of us experience days when we would rather leave our jobs, leave our relationships, run away from our responsibilities. We will ask you if this is one of those times that staying might serve you more than leaving. And then, if you decide to leave, we will help you to do exactly that.
This work cannot be the right thing for everyone and each man will be honoured for making the right choices for himself
Why animal names?
Why not?
Men who attend The Adventure choose an animal to represent and reinforce the learning that they have received from the process. For some men these animals serve as a reminder of what they aspire to in the world. For some men the animal names mean very little, but are almost without fail the source of great fun! Often they change with time as men continue to grow.
Why have people called this a boot camp?
It is our intention to create an experience that jars a man out of his complacency and engages him with a wide range of emotions and experiences – some men experience this as being confrontational and we would not deny them this experience as it often brings up similar experiences which may need to be addressed.
The ‘arc’ of an initiation is in three parts: the Descent – in which a man is separated from his ‘normal’ life, the Ordeal – in which a man discovers his worth by facing a challenge, and the Reintegration – in which a man returns to his life, reclaiming that which he gave up, leaving behind that which he does not wish to carry forward. This is what we create with The Adventure. It is challenging. It can be frightening for some men. We ask men to go for it! To step through their fears and dive into The Adventure – to fully immerse themselves in the experience, to do whatever it takes to get what they came for.
What else do you do?
One aspect of The Adventure is a deep examination of purpose or mission in a man’s life. A man emerges from The Adventure with a clear understanding of his own unique positive purpose in the world, and some first steps toward living his passion. How he will carry this out will be up to him. Missions of Service are common throughout the ManKind Project communities. Men on a mission, who have the resources and support to pursue their dreams, do amazing things. Learn more about Missions of Service.
Are there other trainings after The Adventure?
A wide range of advanced trainings are offered by the ManKind Project and numerous loosely affiliated organisations created and operated by MKP men and their partners. Our members have created trainings to address multiple aspects of masculinity, multi-cultural issues, social justice work, work in prisons, work with veterans, work with teens, non-violence trainings, meditation and spiritual practices, religious explorations, support for elders and young men, fathers, divorced men, gay and bisexual men, advanced leadership training, corporate training, individual coaching and counselling, shadow work, numerous body-mind and healing modalities, wilderness leadership and exploration, sustainability and ecological living, community building and more. Some of these trainings are sponsored by MKP, others are sponsored independently.
Are you just trying to sell me a bunch of products?
No, we have none to sell apart from any follow-up training you choose to take and these are always priced at cost, we hope that you will participate in the organisation at a level that you’re comfortable with. We do hope that you will join a men’s group and learn to give and receive support in the company of other men but there is no obligation to do so and certainly no other cost involved apart from site-rental.
How do you make money?
The majority of our income comes from the tuition for our trainings. We run with a balanced budget to the extent possible. The ManKind Project has no brick and mortar headquarters, although some of the USA centres have done this through private means. MKP UK&Ireland is a registered Charity and it has one full-time paid non-trustee position, mostly everyone else is a volunteer. We also raise money through donations, and through inexpensive membership fees which help to subsidise costs which would otherwise have to be passed onto participants. No one ever has, and no one ever will, get rich from the ManKind Project. That’s not what we’re about.
Is MKP anti-religious? Are you Native American or Pagan?
NO. Men of many faiths are active in ManKind Project communities. MKP encourages men from all walks of life and all faiths to sit together with respect and acceptance. Men are often invited to share wisdom from their own faith traditions in our circles, enriching all of us with the diversity of spiritual practices available in the world.
Some of the ritual aspects of the New Warrior Training Adventure (The Adventure) are adapted from indigenous traditions native to the country in which the training is held. For most men this symbolism is very useful as a way to get in touch with a connection to spiritual aspects of their personality and to create or recreate a sense of connection to nature, the ‘spirit of the land’ and the ‘spirit of the ancestors’ that lived here before us.
You may have read statements that we are a pagan or neo-pagan organisation. We’re not. There are certainly men who consider themselves pagan in our membership, along with Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews and others. There are also men with no religious beliefs. We do not ‘worship’ earth spirits. If you are comfortable in your faith, recognise the valuable role of symbolism in spiritual practices, and are open to the beliefs of others – you will probably find much to appreciate in our organisations. If you have an exclusive belief system that does not leave room for acceptance and tolerance of other paths; while you are likely to find value in The Adventure you may not feel comfortable associating with the diversity of spiritual practices and beliefs in our organisation. There is no room in our circles for active intolerance, bigotry or discrimination. We do not allow any religious tradition to influence our training protocols, impose religious values on other men in our organisation, or proselytise. Men are invited to connect with what is most true for themselves in their spiritual practice.
Is the ManKind Project (MKP) a cult?
Quite emphatically, NO.
There are many definitions of a cult, but most include 1) a single charismatic leader, 2) financial support by committed followers, 3) a unified dogma or mission, and 4) separation from the outside world.
By contrast, the three men who founded what has become the ManKind Project gave away their primary intellectual property – the protocols describing how to run the NWTA – to MKP many years ago and have handed over all control, apart from having a say in discussions just like every MKP Region around the world does when larger decisions are made by the International Circle. The two surviving founders, Bill Kauth and Rich Tosi, each receive royalties of less than $20,000 per year.
There are currently 12 autonomous MKP Regional organisations: Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Mexico, New Zealand, Nordic (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland), South Africa, Switzerland, Germany, United Kingdom & Ireland, and the United States. Developing Regions opening up in Israel, Netherlands, Spain and Romania.
The ManKind Project has a set of core values: integrity, respect, generosity, accountability, multicultural awareness, and compassion. We have a common purpose: to create better men. We have no creation story, no mystical entities, no miracle stories, no icons, no gurus. Rather than offering a single perspective on how to live, a single belief system or mission, we will support you in living your own mission as you define it. Will some of your old beliefs be challenged on The Adventure? We certainly hope so. Our intention is provide an opportunity for you to re-examine patterns which limit your potential, with the goal of expanding awareness and opportunity.
As for separation from the community – the men in MKP are involved in all kinds of communities! We are far too diverse and vibrant a group of men to be closed off from the world. After getting involved in this work, most of us experience an expansion in the level of connection we have to all the people we meet and interact with. We have weekly or bi-weekly peer mentoring groups that we can choose to be involved with. Our circles face outwards as well as inwards. We are united by one shared experience on our respective Adventure’s and our desire to live better lives.
Many of us do feel strong loyalty for the ManKind Project, because The Adventure and the Integration Groups have brought so much meaning to our lives. Our loyalty is similar to how many of us feel about other service organisations that bring value to the world. If you have visited the Rick Ross Cult Forum, you know he refers to the ManKind Project as a Large Group Awareness Training or LGAT. Rick Ross doesn’t call us a cult. The truth is, we do offer awareness training – and we think growing awareness is a good thing!
Are you really as weird as some of your press says?
It would be very hard to be! It certainly seems we are controversial and recently we have even been accused of being somehow “anti-women” which both our sister organisations Women Within and Women In Power strongly refute. We certainly seem to be pushing against the mainstream and just why this is perceived as threatening by some may say more about the organisations and individuals involved than about us – for example – Fleet Street and tabloid journalists. We are certainly not difficult to sensationalise and ridicule but this does not deter the majority of men from being very proud of their involvement with us.
We are proud of who we are the work we do and the positive impact we have had on more than 70,000 men.
I have more questions that aren’t answered here, where can I go now?
Speak to us, we are happy to talk through any questions you might have.
