ABOUT

Mission

To journey as one with the primal mystery of life.

After twenty years of guiding people back to the primal, our mission is expanding to teach and support leaders, educators, coaches, and communities of the primal movement who are called to rewild education and create resilient communities within a coherent network of changemakers.

Goals

01.
– EDUCATe

Education is one of our most powerful responses to the complex challenges we face today. At Tribal Edge we use an ancient approach to learning, training, and teaching that is supported by modern science.

02.
– restore

Healing the separation sickness that is endemic in our society requires the integration of the parts and pieces of our fractured world into a state interdependent wholeness.

03.
– transform

The primal journey is transformative and reaches into all areas of life affecting you at every level. By transforming ourselves we are better able to transform the world around us.

04.
– PRESERVe

As we become more whole and find peace and meaning in our lives, life and the world around us become sacred and something to care for and protect.

“There is only one subject for education, and that is Life itself.”

Alfred north whitehead

How it works

Personal experience and practice are the foundation of the primal journey. It starts with learning the science or practical skills that support life such as tracking, survival, healing, and combat.
Along the journey, your personal relationship with the skills becomes an “art” cultivated by personal practice.
Eventually, as transforming experiences and new perspectives shape your worldview and awaken your primal nature, a primal philosophy of wholeness as a primal human living with the earth in a community with others becomes your guide.
Only you can walk your path, live your vision, and do the transformative work required by that journey. We all have individual needs, gifts, wounds, circumstances, attributes, and resources that uniquely shape our lives and our practices.
It is in personal practice in between classes and training sessions where real growth takes place. Liminal practices cultivate more sacredness and assist you through important transitions in life in the form of ritual, ceremony, and celebration.
Some practices include: sacred area/time (sit spot), meditation, contemplation, journaling, Vision Quest, Initiation, wandering, skillcraft, movement, music, art, martial art, and more.
Sharing experiences, stories, and insights with others is key to the learning process. Training with other people on a regular basis builds strong connections and deepens our understanding by providing new perspectives which help everyone grow wiser.
Tribal Edge provides a primal framework or training with your tribe and the dialogical practices that support your journey as a community creating meaningful experiences and relationships together.
We may walk our path alone, but we do it best within a supportive community. Although practice is personal, it is also social and we discover far more and can grow much deeper in the presence of others.
The Liminal Practices offered at Tribal Edge are designed to give a structure to your personal and community practices. Liminal Practices also assist us through important transitions in life in the form of ritual, ceremony, and celebration.
Some collective practices include gatherings, meetings, council circles, group process, games, wanders, camps, quests, healing, ceremony, and celebrations.
As we grow more connected to our nature personally and as a community, we can inspire others by sharing our experiences and insights with other communities around the world as we move towards a wiser existence together.

Tribal Edge courses are designed to draw participants through experiential, embodied learning to arrive at their own powerful self-discoveries with real impact from real experiences. They are coached and guided through our classes, practices, and programs with age-old teaching methods such as inspirational stories, the art of questioning, and role modeling. As they journey through the lessons of nature and tribe, they face their edges and are left feeling empowered with new skills and insights that they discover for themselves. Participants naturally develop respect for all life as they remember the interdependence and connection between all things. Embodied learning changes the way we see the world and gives us the skills to relate to our life more meaningfully. With training and practice, we begin to naturally transfer this knowledge into our lives and share it with others.

LEARN +

TRAIN +

TEACH

....

LEARN + TRAIN + TEACH ....

Founded by Ben Sanford in 2002, Tribal Edge is a primal arts training center and community which offers a variety of classes, workshops and events such as community Sunday Gatherings. Tribal Edge provides training in natural living skills, awareness, and team & leadership skills for all ages through a variety of classes, programs, and events. Primal arts are the essential skills that are core to our existence as human beings. By training in the skills of fitness, awareness, tracking, survival, healing, the warrior arts, and other life-supporting skills, we can remember our original instructions to be naturally balanced individuals and communities who live with the earth. These “edge” experiences balance body, mind, and spirit as you connect with yourself, creation, and the great Mystery in a natural way. (Find out more about the meaning of Tribal Edge here.)