The Primal Flow Wooden Mace

The mace is an ancient weapon that over the last 15 years has been reinvented as a modern day training tool. Dr. Joey Cadena, DPT designed his Primal Flow Wooden Training Mace with this in mind. He originally developed this lightweight mace for using with patients at his physical therapy practice to help improve balance, posture, and flexibility. It's also great for those who just want a fun, flowing workout.

Primal Flow Wooden Mace

This Primal Flow mace has dimensions similar to the 10 pound mace offered by Onnit or Set For Set but since it is made of wood instead of steel it weighs in at approximately 4.6 pounds. That weight makes it great for light recovery workouts, mindful/meditational movements, and building a solid foundation of basic techniques before moving on to heavier equipment. You can also make a light mace feel heavy through slow controlled movements and by the way you hold it and/or position your body.

Along with the mace, I recommend getting a hard copy of Dr. Cadena's spiral bound book Primal Flow Foundations. In this text he explains the Primal Flow technique in detail, which draws from his personal study of bo staff, kali sticks, and katana (Japanese sword), as well as his physical therapy knowledge. The basics are covered in detail: how to hold and grip the mace, positions and stances, and footwork. I even learned that the base end of the mace is called the pommel! There are lots of step by step instructions with the medical reasoning to back them.

My favorite exercises from the book include the Figure 8 Strike (inspired by bo staff movements), the 360 Swing (the most famous mace move of them all), the Outside Mill and the Inside Mill (similar to Indian Club swinging), the Shield Lunge (to indulge in your inner warrior!) and the Tree Pose Upper Cut / Rising Extended Upper Cut (incorporating a Yoga stance).

Something Joey emphasizes is to practice with purpose. This includes maintaining proper position, alignment, weight distribution, balance, mechanics, and the application of anti-rotation (converging or diverging force). At this lighter weight, you can practice slowly while maintaining control to create proper paths of motion and establish proper motor patterns. The skills you learn can later be applied to steel mace and other modalities.

Primal Flow Wooden Training Mace specs
Weight - 4.6 pounds (about 2kg)
Overall Length - about 40 inches
Maceball/globe diameter - 5 inches
Handle diameter - seems to be about 37.5mm
Handle length (not counting ball) - about 35 inches

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