The Mankind Project and Its New Warrior Training Adventure: A Journey to Elevated Masculinity & Positive Impact

In today's troubled world, the quest for authentic masculinity has become more important than ever. Men are thirsty for more elevated and fulfilling ways to be men. They are seeking to understand and take responsibility for themselves and to connect more deeply with others. And they yearn to live more meaningful, fulfilling, and impactful lives of purpose.

Even though I have been blessed to live my highest purpose, I grew up around two types of men. The first type was outwardly successful but who were controlling, shaming, and angry. The second type was talented and sensitive but outwardly unsuccessful and easily dominated. Although I did not want to emulate either type, as a child and teenager during the 1950s and 1960s, I didn't find real-world alternatives to embrace as role models. So I scanned television for possibilities. I resonated with what Superman showed me about healthy masculine values and I learned about aspects of mature masculinity and leadership from watching the original Star Trek TV series when it first aired. But I still didn't have a real-life mentor who I trusted to help me learn how to emulate them.

As a result, I ended up adopting a "New Age Sensitive Guy" version of masculinity. While that brought me a measure of approva from others (mainly women), it didn't feel fully authentic. It also created blind spots in my leadership style and contributed to the ultimate demise of my first marriage.

I first heard about what would eventually become known as the ManKind Project and its New Warrior Training Adventures in 1985. Back then, all that it offered was what the founders originally called Wildman Weekends. Even I was intrigued, I didn't enroll in a New Warrior Training Adventure until my life fell apart in 2002 and I at last committed to finding a vision of healthy mature masculinity that fully spoke to me. I was 48 years old at that time. By then, Wildman Weekends had matured and been renamed New Warrior Training Adventures (NWTAs), and these were the flagship program for what had grown into an international nonprofit called The Mankind Project (MKP). Attending my first NWTA as a participant propelled me onto the journey I had always sought. One that would help me more fully become the man I had always wanted to be but hadn't known how to access or embody.

I've written this introduction so you can discover the essence of the Mankind Project (MKP) and its foundational values, valuable benefits, and key components, including its flagship program, the New Warrior Training Adventure.

• If you're a man, you might find that MKP is a crucial missing piece in what you've been seeking.

• If you're a woman, you might find that you know a man who is seeking what MKP offers.

• If you're a helping professional like me, you might have male clients for whom MKP could be a great adjunct to the support you are providing to them.

• If you're a manager or supervisor, you might have male employees for whom MKP could be a valuable development resource.

Here's how I describe MKP in a single sentence: an international nonprofit of men mentoring each other into mature manhood by dealing with whatever stands between us and living in full integrity with who we truly are and with whatever our own unique life's mission happens to be.

The Mankind Project (MKP) stands out as a beacon in catalyzing mature masculinity by offering powerful programs and other resources that can bring men into a fuller embrace of their true selves, higher purpose, and capacity to collaborate in truly constructive ways. Its intention is to be the premier men’s fraternity devoted to creating a safer world, one man at a time and one community at a time. Since its inception in the 1980s, it has touched the lives of over 80,000 men worldwide as of early 2025... and those number continue to grow each month.

MKP challenges the two most widely held notions of masculinity: the macho dominator version and the overly sensitive passive version. It does this by providing men with "safely dangerous" ways to explore their vulnerabilities, strengths, aspirations, and growth edges.

What do I mean by "safely dangerous?" Men grow by being challenged to take risks. Taking risks is inherently dangerous. Being safely dangerous means empathically and nonjudgmentally challenging men to delve into aspects of themselves they have avoided facing, dealing with baggage they have not known how to get free from, and stepping more courageously into having greater ripples of positive impact.

In providing this, MKP can become a pivotal part of a man's journey toward becoming more authentic, loving, and impactful in today's highly disrupted and stressful world. MKP is a vibrant tribe of conscious accountable men, locally and internationally, who nourish the emergence of each other’s healthy masculinity, so each man can live in ever-expanding integrity with his own unique life mission to elevate himself, his communities, and our world.

The Mankind Project was founded in 1985 by Rich Tosi, Bill Kauth, and Ron Hering. It emerged from a growing need to reimagine masculinity in ways that are self-empowering, authentic, and have positive impact. The founders recognized that stereotypical male roles often leave men feeling isolated, emotionally stunted, and disconnected from their true selves. They envisioned an initiatory experience that followed the architecture of the timeless Hero's Journey; one that could help men rapidly begin to break free from these constraints and embrace a more holistic and elevated understanding of masculinity. That initiatory experience was ultimately named the New Warrior Training Adventure, through which each man's warrior energy focused on undergoing an arduous inner journey toward ending his unintended damage in the world and beginning an ongoing process of self-renewal and elevation. (You'll find more about the Hero's Journey and NWTAs further below.)

At its core, the Mankind Project blends personal development with community-building and missions of service, to help make the world a safer place that elevates the wellbeing of others. It offers men opportunities to explore their identities, confront their fears and the parts of themselves that they learned to hide, repress and deny, and develop a deeper and fuller understanding of their inner life and higher purpose. It is built on the understanding that true masculinity is not about dominance or control, or about being indulgent wimps, but about authentic empathy, connection, and empowered impact. It focuses men on living in integrity and accountability with whatever their life purpose and values happen to be.

Members are also encouraged to take on leadership roles within their communities and to use their upleveled expression of masculinity to help create positive change in the world. This focus on service is a key component of the MKP philosophy and reflects the belief that mature masculinity includes giving back and making a difference.

MKP members share the following core values and support one another in living them..

MKP's Key Components

The Mankind Project is built on several key components that work together to challenge conventional notions of masculinity, encourage men to explore their identities in "safely dangerous" ways (refer back to the definition of that earlier in this document), and spark life-uplifting experiences.

The local and online programs and other resources through which MKP supports men include:

• New Warrior Training Adventures (NWTAs) -- MKP's Flagship Program: Accelerate your journey toward becoming the man you want to be through a profoundly powerful 48-hour in-person immersive experience (NOT a class, workshop, or psychotherapy) that gives you elevated tools to step into fuller integrity with your authenticity and your life's mission. These weekend-long onsite retreats also serve as an initiation into mature manhood that far too few men have experienced in today's world. After men complete their NWTA, they have the opportunity to participate in a free followup program, called a Primary Integration Group (PIT) and to staff future NWTAs. You can read more about NWTAs further below, where you'll also find upcoming dates and a way to enroll.

• Integration Groups (I-Groups): Experience the blessings of being in a free ongoing in-person or online circle of maturing men who are building on their NWTA experience -- or are preparing for their NWTA experience -- by effectively supporting each other in living in increasing integrity with their authenticity, vision, values, mission, and healthy personal power. These provide men with powerful opportunities to explore and elevate their masculinity, and are also a great way for uninitiated men to dip their toes into the world of MKP.

• Circle of Men (COM) Events: Attend a free half-day Circle of Men -- in-person and online opportunities to discover what you didn’t know you’ve been missing in your attempts to become the man you want to be. If you’re unsure whether to enroll in a NWTA, attending a COM is a valuable way to decide if it’s right for you.

• Introductory, Specialized, and Advanced Training Programs: MKP also offers an array of introductory, specialized and advanced programs covering a variety of topics. These include, but are not limited to, leadership, intercultural dynamics, conflict resolution, and how to spot and intervene with group forms of shadow. Some of these programs are open to women and to men who have not yet attended their first NWTA. Others are for men who have been through an NWTA.

These resources work together to catalyze powerful lifelong development in men. By growing beyond stiflingly stereotypical notions of masculinity and providing a "safely dangerous" space for self-exploration and multicultural enrichment, MKP offers men ongoing opportunities to increasingly embrace their true selves, elevate their collaboration with others, and facilitate positive change in their lives and communities.

You can learn more about all of these programs, locally and worldwide, here: https://www.MKP.org.

The New Warrior Training Adventure (NWTA) is one of the cornerstones of the Mankind Project and the very foundation from which MKP was born. These immersive weekend-long onsite retreats, held around the world, serve as an initiation into authentic and mature manhood.

Through the architecture of the Hero's Journey (see diagram below), and enhanced qualities of mutual support that are unfortunately quite uncommon in the world, NWTAs blend masterfully designed sequence of processes, ritual, and ceremony, to facilitate participants in connecting more deeply and fully with their inner life, higher purpose, and each other, so they can more fully embrace their most authentic self.

The purpose of NWTAs is to enable you to:

NWTAs are not lectures, classes, workshops, or psychotherapy. Rather, they are a magnificently tied together sequence of experiences designed to challenge participants' perceptions of masculinity, of themselves, and of their unique purpose. NWTAs are "initiations," meaning that they start men in a new chapter in their development.

If you've already heard of NWTAs, you might be aware that MKP does not publicly discuss the specific processes used on NWTAs to facilitate the Hero's Journey. This is NOT because MKP keeps secrets for the purpose of controlling or manipulating anyone, but because when men know beforehand what to expect, many tend to rehearse what they'll say and do. This kind of preparation waters down the potency of the experience. This is a big reason that details about an NWTA's specific processes and experiences are not publicly described. (The reason big is that trying to describe these experiences out of context of the overall arc of the adventure tends to not make much sense!)

However, as someone with decades-long expertise in the architecture of Hero's Journeys that we take throughout our lives (whether deliberately or not), I will offer my diagram that illuminates the phases of a Hero's Journey that you go through during your NWTA.

As mentioned earlier, most men describe their NWTA experience as a powerfully transformative turning point in their lives, and as a starting point for stepping into deeper ongoing inner work that leads to massively elevated next life chapters. This is what NWTA attendees are encouraged to continue their journey through a follow-up program called Primary Integration Training, participation in an I-Group, and more (depending on their own interests).

You'll find links below to learn more about NWTAs, discover upcoming dates and locations worldwide, and register.

The Mankind Project is more than just a program; it's a movement that equips men to embrace their truest selves and make a more positive impact in the world. Whether you're seeking personal wellbeing and purpose, stronger relationships, or a deeper connection with your community, MKP offers tools and lifelong support that men need to succeed.

Your Best Self, Your Loved Ones, & Our World Are Thirsty for You to Take Your Next Step Now

• Learn more about MKP: https://mankindproject.org/

• Find a MKP Men's Group (I-Group) near you or online: https://mankindproject.org/mens-groups

• Learn more about NWTAs and view dates and locations worldwide where upcoming NWTAs are scheduled: Click the flyer below or this link -- https://mankindproject.org/new-warrior-training-adventure

Dr. David Gruder is a clinical and organizational development psychologist who attended a New Warrior Training Adventure in 2002. Since then he has staffed approximately 25 New Warrior Training Adventures and has been part of the Leader Team roughly a dozen of those (including the upcoming February 2025 NWTA above). He has remained in an ongoing Integration Group (I-Group) since his initiation, served as a local board member, is certified as what MKP calls a Ritual Elder (they help safeguard wellbeing in the organization and mentor leaders), has given keynotes at a number of MKP national and international constituency gatherings, and is one of the architects and senior trainers for MKP's Shadow Watcher Training Program. His main website is https://www.DrGruder.com and you can also click here to learn about his Transcendent Male Leadership Resource.

• King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine

• Iron John: A Book About Men

• The Mask of Masculinity: How Men Can Embrace Vulnerability, Create Strong Relationships, and Live Their Fullest Lives

• The Way of the Superior Man: A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Women, Work, and Sexual Desire

• Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead

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