Fierce Enough to Be Formidable.
Deep Enough to Be Free.
There is a deep mission that lives inside of every man.
A man you were born to become.
You know him.
You have met him in flashes.
Moments where something inside you came online when it mattered most.
Moments where your words rang true, your spine straightened, your heart opened, your courage arrived, and the sword of your truth flashed in service to something greater than yourself.
And for a brief moment, you remembered exactly who you were.
The man who keeps his word and tells the truth even when it costs him.
Who knows when to fight and when to soften.
Who can protect without controlling, love without collapsing, lead without dominating.
A man fierce enough to be dangerous.
And open enough to be free.
And yet, for many of us, there is a gap between the man we know we could be and the man we find ourselves being…
Some men have sharpened the sword and abandoned the heart.
Strong. Capable. Disciplined.
But heavily armored. Closed. Lonely.
Unable to fully receive love, trust intimacy, or let themselves be truly known.
Others have cultivated tenderness but lost their edge.
Open-hearted. Self-aware. Emotionally intelligent.
But hesitant to speak hard truths, set clear boundaries, or fully claim their power.
Many of us live somewhere in between, feeling the crushing weight of knowing what we’re capable of, yet never quite able to bring it into form.
Under-earning. Under-leading. Under-loving.
Anxious. Depressed. Or both.
Doom-scrolling til our eyeballs bleed.
Crushed under the weight of the pressure to be something we believe we have to achieve alone.
Men in our culture are suffering.
Quietly.
We have lost connection to the core masculine medicines:
Courage. Responsibility. Steadiness. Devotion. Leadership. Humor.
Discipline. Protection. Brotherhood. Purpose. Fun!
What is to be done in the face of the Crisis of Masculinity that grips all of us?
What is to be done in a world that can’t even define what a man is? Or isn’t?
The answer is not aggression.
Nor is it passivity.
The answer we provide is cultivation.
Because what becomes dangerous in a man is not power—it is powerless power. Untempered strength. Uninitiated masculinity.
And toxicity in men comes not from the cultivation of masculinity,
but from the absence of it.
So what now…?
“All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing".
-Edmund Burke
Men are dropping out. Of school.
Of relationships. Of life itself.
Men are being siphoned and sucked dry by the addictions of our age – social media, porn, phones, apathy, endless distractions.
We have deconstructed the shadows of masculinity — and in the process, lost much of the goodness as well.
Our culture is fixated on what's wrong with men. And men are suffering deeply as a result – without the acknowledgement, honoring, and appreciation for what men have done right, and do well in the world every single day.
What is
HEART & SWORD
Men’s Weekend?
Hear from one of our Founders and Lead Facilitators!
The Work
“Heart & Sword” is a powerful opportunity for men seeking to reclaim and cultivate the full spectrum of mature masculinity.
The open heart + the sharpened edge.
Both online, at the same time.
The fierce devotion required to become capable, formidable, and trustworthy.
Through ritual, challenge, embodied practices, deep conversation, ceremony, experiential exercises, truth-telling, and brotherhood, we will work to bring both HEART energy + SWORD energy online inside ourselves.
Not domination. Not passivity. Balance.
This is the ancient work of becoming a man who can protect without hardening, lead without controlling, love without collapsing, and speak truth without abandoning his heart.
A dangerous man who is no danger to others.
A peaceful man who is open to life, love, possibility.
A man who can train for war and live for peace.
The Method
At the center of this retreat are two questions:
1. What does it mean to be a man?
2. As a man, what is your proper place in this world?
Where do you truly belong?
What are you meant to do and become?
We believe every man has a seat that belongs to him.
A place that cannot be filled by anyone else.
A chair at the head of the table of his life from which a man leads himself, his family, his work,
his relationships, his purpose.
And yet many men spend their lives running from it; disconnected; endlessly seeking validation, approval, distraction, status, comfort, success, or escape instead of asking the deeper question:
What would it mean to fully occupy my life?
What would it mean to fulfill on my potential?
Can a man be deeply ambitious and deeply at peace?
We use what we call “tribal technology” backed by the latest breakthroughs in neuroscience to interrogate each other fully to get to the bottom of it all.
This is the work, the method, and the edge we seek.
Brotherhood, Mentorship, Initiation
Very few men were ever truly welcomed into manhood.
Many of us grew up without strong fathers. Without meaningful rites of passage. Without wise elders, real mentorship, or men willing to challenge us, sharpen us, and call us forward.
Instead, we were often left to figure it out alone – to piece together manhood from podcasts, performance, pornography, hustle culture, self-help, broken relationships, absent fathers, trial by fire.
And so many men remain stranded somewhere between boyhood and mature masculinity, carrying adult responsibilities without ever having been properly forged to bear the burden.
Capable in some ways. Lost in others. Strong here. Avoidant there.
Men are yearning for something deeper: Brotherhood. Challenge. Belonging. Fire. Practice. Ritual. Truth. Ceremony. Celebration.
Not to impress one another, but to sharpen one another.
To be witnessed. To grieve what has been lost.
To remember what has been forgotten.
To reclaim the parts of ourselves we abandoned to survive.
To remember that no man was ever meant to walk this path alone.
Who This Is For
This retreat is open to men of all ages and stages of life.
Whether you are beginning your journey or have been walking this path for decades, this experience is designed to meet you where you are.
You may be here because:
You feel disconnected from your purpose …
You want stronger boundaries, discipline, and direction …
You crave deeper brotherhood and honest accountability …
You want to strengthen your relationships to men of means …
You feel the weight of your unrealized potential …
You are successful externally but restless internally …
You have cultivated inner wisdom but lack external success …
You know there is more to the life you’re living…
No matter where you are, the invitation is the same:
Come sharpen your sword.
Come open your heart.
Come take your proper seat.
Meet the Leadership Team
MIKAAL BATES
founding member of “ManDate”, his mission is to celebrate, accelerate, and initiate the evolution of men and masculine consciousness across the planet while helping heal the Divide between Men + Women through the lost arts of Sacred Union and the Technology of Tribe.
He is a Facilitator, Life Coach, Ritualist, and Ceremonialist
in service to Something Greater.
PJ JAHN
draws forth the songs of his lineage from the ancient line of Persian mystic poets. He walks a path inspired by the Taoist, Indian & Himalayan yogic lineages as a decades-long practitioner of yoga, meditation, personal development, and Men’s Work.
SHIMON MAZOR
is a multi-dimensional teacher of embodied movement, men’s work facilitator, psychedelic-assisted guide, and consultant at the forefront of digital transformation and technology, helping humans connect with their bodies, emotions, & deeper selves.
JÉ MEMMESHEIMER
brings together experience in Vipassana meditation and Ashtanga yoga from years living in East Asia, alongside the wisdom traditions of Mexico, where he currently lives. His work integrates neuroscience, somatics, and sound to create spaces of presence, attention, and embodied leadership. He has been a dedicated member of Mandate since 2016.
JEHIAH BRAY
is a sonic healer, deeply devoted to the art of music and sound as a healing and transformative modality.
A lover of Life in all Her forms, he gives his gifts with an open heart and walks the path of healing
as a man in the modern world.
Get to know the Leadership Team!
Gathering on
Sacred Ground…
“SANCTUARY of the SACRED DREAM”
Hudson, New York.
A 10-acre oasis in the heart of the Hudson Valley.
The Invitation
If something stirs in you reading this…
If you feel the quiet ache of unfinished business…
If something in your spirit has not yet found rest…
Then perhaps this is your moment.
Join us for a weekend unlike anything other.
The work is not easy. But it is simple. It is the work all men were born to do.
The Investment
$850 - $1850
At ManDate, we believe investment should reflect means, integrity, and sovereignty.
In modern culture, men are conditioned to negotiate downward to optimize, bargain, and get the best deal possible.
But there are certain things in life where bargain shopping misses the point.
When buying a parachute, men rarely ask,
“What is the cheapest option?”
This work is no different.
A man earning $500,000 or a man earning $50,000 are not in the same financial reality.
Nor should they necessarily invest the same amount.
We trust men to make a sovereign decision.
Not based on scarcity, not based on what they can get away with, not based on gaming the system,
but a decision based on the truth of what they are claiming for themselves.
What is the correct honest investment for you?
Typical 4-day all-inclusive events like this generally cost thousands.
We are offering it at cost—you can pay for it at cost if that is what fits.
We simply ask that you consider what amount reflects both your means and your commitment
to actually change your life in a real and lasting way?
What contribution could support this work continuing in the world while helping make seats available
for men who deeply need this work but have fewer financial resources?
This is not simply a transaction. It is an investment in yourself, and in the men beside you.
It is quite literally an investment in you becoming the best man you can be.
A man will spend thousands on a truck upgrade, a hunting trip, a watch, a conference,
or a golf membership, yet hesitate when the investment is his own healing, leadership, or freedom.
We aim to help men change that paradigm.
Choose below the tier that reflects both your financial reality and your commitment to this work.
COMMUNITY-SUPPORTED
This tier covers the basic costs of running this retreat.
It exists for men who genuinely need financial support at this chapter of life.
No shame. No story required. If this is your honest number, take it with integrity. We would rather have the right man in the room than have money be the reason
he stays home.
Covers cost + 1 year membership in ManDate Men’s Community, our monthly online men’s group meeting 1st Monday of the month from 8-10pm ET.
MAN-of-MEANS
$1200 - $1400
Supports transport expenses for our entire Leadership Team.
PROVIDERSHIP
$1650 - $1850
For men empowered to spread their wealth, all additional funds go first to covering scholarship participants with any funds remaining distributed equally among the Leadership Team to support future events and facilitation trainings.
“It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.”
— Henry Ward Beecher