Awakening the Warrior
(Excerpt from a forthcoming book)
What are Dark Knights?
Dark Knights are a different breed of being, who do not fear the darkness like other men, or flee from their own Shadows. They are creatures of the night, who have faced the dark nights of their own souls and been awakened.
Dark Knights are not evil, but they aren’t exactly good. They are laws unto themselves. They dispense nighttime justice when the daytime justice system fails. They prey upon predators and criminals, and act as models of courage for those who live in fear. They are models of courage and integrity in a world awash in cowardice and corruption.
Dark Knights live for an ideal in order to become more than ordinary men. They are the type of beings many of us long to be, deep within our souls: freer, braver, darker, greater—heroes.
Training for war
In Batman Begins, Ra’s al Ghul tells Bruce Wayne: “Your training is nothing; the will is everything,” but this is not correct. The process of transformation into a Dark Knight is not simply a matter of having a dark awakening and an inflamed will. The world is full of people who have had some kind of awakening, who have a burning passion to do something, but never achieve anything of note. The missing element is usually discipline: the ability to apply one’s awakened will in a particular direction over time to bring about the desired changes in oneself. Disciplined training expands upon your natural abilities and awakens abilities you never knew you had, such as an indomitable will. This is the value of training.
There is a balance to be struck between the wild, passionate but undisciplined wannabe and the “dojo Dark Knight” who trains constantly but never tests himself in the real world. There are many who can beat-down dummies and defeat sparring partners all day, who would flee in terror if they actually had to face down a flesh-and-blood assailant in an alley. The goal of Dark Knight training is to find this balance, by forcing the Acolyte to get out of both bloodless dojo environments and the “howling at the moon” phase of life, into a more vital and powerful path of life training that constantly applies one’s passion in a disciplined, practical and inspiring way. This is much easier written about than done; in the following pages we will outline how we do it at Dark Knight Academy.
League of Shadows
(Excerpt from Under a Black Sun: Scenes from the Shadow Earth)
After the Eclipse, cities that aren’t abandoned will experience severe breakdowns of law and order, bringing rampant crime, gangs and violence. This will inspire the formation of a secret society of vigilantes called the League of Shadows. Inspired by the fictional Batman, many the victims of terrible crimes, League members call themselves Dark Knights, adopt bat symbolism and wage a holy war against crime. They train religiously in fighting skills at dojos called Batcaves, patrol cities stealthily at night and study the arts of criminal investigation.
Dark Knights are an independent faction: pro-System where they believe it is bringing order and justice, but willing to burn it down where it has become corrupt and decadent. Dark Knights are much more ruthless than the fictional Batman, executing many criminals on the spot. In fact, part of every Dark Knight’s initiation into the League is taking part in the execution of a condemned criminal.
The League is organized into cells, each with its own Batcave and each responsible for patrolling a different neighborhood, city or region. Each cell has a leader called a Dark Lord who oversees recruitment and training, guides operations, gives inspirational sermons and passes final judgement on criminals.
Like Batman, Dark Knights employ bat symbolism, costumes and psychodrama to create a mystique about themselves and strike fear in the hearts of criminals.
