EP115 - WARRIOR MISSION - AIDEN LEE | WHOLE MAN ACADEMY

Okay guys, before we jump into the podcast, use your reminder if you haven't already, to sign up to a game changing weekly E letter goes out to hundreds of men all across the world on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Just hit the link in the show notes or be slightly more inquisitive and go and find it on our website wholemanacademy.com and sign up and start getting our content as soon as humanly possible. Right, let's jump in.

Home Man Academy. Because the world needs strong men. Wholeman Academy is changing the game for men around the world. It's for guys who want to live an epic life of fun and adventure. No matter what we believe, deep down, all men want to go on their own hero's journey to becoming resilient, confident, fearless and fulfilled. Listening to be inspired by guys who don't settle for living a life of mediocrity. This is your call to action and call to adventure.

Are you ready? Foreign Academy podcast episode 115. My guest today is Aiden Lee, martial arts fitness coach. This is round two, no pun intended, because we had a bloody power cut last week. We were trying to do it, but we're going to talk about the war on men and this guy knows a lot about physique, power, performance, breath, work, barefoot shoes, fatherhood and plenty more. So, young man, how are you and where are you?

Awesome. It's great to be here and thanks for having me on the whole Man Academy. So I'm great. Thanks and hope you are too. I'm based in Slough, so not out too far outside of London.

Not too far. And what's it like for you? Because I know you've got your gym. So are you, are you based around the area and just working in your gym or do you go further afield?

Yeah, so I can actually share it now because we announced it yesterday. But yeah, I do have a martial arts school. We're actually closing it to focus on our online. We only shared it yesterday so whenever this goes out. So yeah, we're focused on helping busy men like you said to build their physique, power and performance levels. Because I found that's my calling is to help men, you know, like the people you speak with and they're the people who need the help in the world the most right now. I believe to lead people properly going forwards.

I love it. I think it's so important, an exciting time like that that the timing is right and I see the, how can put it, let's just call it the men's space. There is so much desire for support for men. That hasn't got to be mental health, but just like not just your normal fitness, but a slightly deeper level of what guys are cooking with, what they're wearing, what they're, what they're painting their house with with chemicals in it. All these different things that can make up such an important part of kind of, you know, a man's health. It's not just about what you eat and whether you do some press ups or not. But take me back to. So guys can get a kind of a, what's the word for like handle on how you've got such information. What gave you the kind of push to want to learn this stuff?

Yeah, 100%. And I agree with what you're saying because I, I, I'm 30 now. So I started when I was about 4 or 5 years old. My late father, he ran one of the main martial arts schools called Warlords Kit Waiting academy since the 1980s in Slough. So I learned from him pretty much for my whole life until he passed a few years ago. And then I also learned Muay Thai boxing, wing Chun from a great sifu, bits of mma, excuse me. And at the moment I do bits of BJJ and so on. So I learned martial arts in that sphere my whole life. But key thing is I figured out quite early on that I wanted to be that the aim was to be like a world champion. And I thought, all right, so I want to be world champion kickboxer. And then comes to crunch when I, you know, finish uni. I'm like, cool, time to do it. And then I realized something was missing. It's like, all right, cool, I can fight like this and cool, I can keep going like that. But mentally, spiritually, there was something that was missing. And lucky for me, or unlucky in some sense, at uni I studied philosophy, so I was very lucky to already start to think critically about some of these things and that, and how that relates to what's going on the world today. We'll talk about shortly. I realized there was a big part missing. So I had to give up on my lifelong dream of becoming a world champion because it didn't sit well with me. And that doubt when you're fighting, you can't have that doubt. Yeah, because you're gonna get hit, you're gonna get knocked out. And that's not how fighting works. You have to be savage and ruthless and be ready to go up there and, you know, go for the kill. So I had to drop that and then I realized, well, what do I really want to do is basically blending body and mind together. And for me, that's where philosophy and martial arts is like the perfect harmony. If you look like the key, the key iconic martial arts figure who comes to mind is probably someone like Bruce Lee. Right?

Bruce Lee, yeah, I was gonna say.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And everyone's mind, even people of the new generation, because he, why blended perfectly the physical or the mental and even the spiritual into one space. And he even studied philosophy at university and he realized that this is what true martial arts is. It's about, as he said, honestly expressing oneself. Of course, expression comes from your physical, your mentor and your spiritual self. So that's a short, short bar of how I got here.

I like it. I think it shows how much you can be on a journey where you think many years ago that, you know, you're like, right, my big goal is to become world champion. You know, I've, I've interviewed, we said just before we start recording, like Salah Khalifa, sorry, who's a, I think three time champion. He's fighting, I think this week. And then Greg Wootton who has, you know, fought now out in the States. And you realize, like you say you can't play at being a great fighter. It's, it is a bit of an all or nothing thing. I just wondered what were the people around you like when you kind of after having that dream for X amount of years to say, you know, what, that's not really meaning anymore?

Yeah. So do you mean like, what were their, like what I gave up or.

Yeah. Or were they like, yep, you're making the right decision or did they think, I mean, like a lot of guys, often when you take a, you know, go off on a tangent even if you know it yourself, it's sometimes hard to convince the people around you who care for you.

Definitely, yeah. I think, of course those like, around me, like my mom, were happy. She, she didn't want me to fight, of course, but other people, like, I kind of like did it in a gradual way. It wasn't like, I'm stopping now. And so it's kind of spaced out over a fairly long period of time. And I'll be honest, when you build up your identity like that over such a long time as a man, for me that was, I don't really like the term depression, but that was like the period of my life where I went through a most depressive state because I basically had to rejig my whole identity that I've Built up throughout my whole life up until that point. So because it was gradual, I wouldn't say I really had much input on it. Even my, my coach at the time, it would be my dad, my cousin and some other people. I didn't really have, I would say too much input from it. I just had to go through that hard patch that a lot of thinking, a lot of time off made me realize, all right, well what do I do from here? Because I can't be like this forever. I've got to do something about it. So eventually, after however long it was figured out, all right, gotta drop that. But I could share how it came about, like how I really dropped off. But I don't think anything's off, off topic here. Right.

So not at all.

Good. Yeah. So I basically went through to do some ayahuasca, if you know what that is after Some. Some wow. Because it's something I've been wanting to do for a long time.

And was this in this country?

No, I went to Holland to do it. Yeah. So I went there on two different occasions, but the first occasion I went was two days. And you know, you already know something in your mind subconsciously about. Right. I know I need to give this up, but you need to have some transformative experience. So for me, that was the big transformative experience just to give you an insight into that particular scenario. Like what happened was I basically saw myself in this visual inside a ring. And if you've done ayahuasca, you know what it's about. Basically have very vivid visual and emotional physical experiences. So I could see myself inside a ring and a big like lifelike scissor like this came along and chopped the. The ropes and then it just vanished. And then that was me it telling me like, that's your time is done, time for you to move on. And as soon as that happened, then it's just a big sigh of like relief. Like emotionally, physically in the body just, just got lay out. And it was that. That point for me, that was, it was done.

What a cool story. I'm so interested in, you know, you could say let's just call it mind bending drugs for a. For a. Not very technical term, but the more I've understood and some friends who have done ayahuasca, obviously some of them have had amazing experiences, some have had less amazing experiences. But I do find it's so interesting to speak to people, especially guys like you, who will have had that. And it kind of maybe reaffirms something that you knew inside so did you then finish and literally, you know, say come around, but, you know, come out of the ayahuasca kind of ceremony, be like, right, that's my decision.

Yeah, pretty. Pretty much after the whole thing was done, I was like, yeah, I can't go back on that. Like, when you have an experience like that, like you. It really re. Affirms and reaffirms to you. Like, yeah, this is now you need to take a new path and it's time to do something different.

I think that's so important, knowing different guys that have worked. I mean, we use the city as the example because I went through that, but, you know, different guys that have had careers or businesses and then one day just something happens. And it doesn't have to be something, you know, like a thunderbolt from the sky, but something happens where you just go. That was the moment where I'm like, okay, I'm done with that. And I'm. And I'm on the new path and. And I was going to ask you, because I know your dad isn't alive anymore, but what age were you? Because I'm sensing that your dad was a big part of your life if he was running the martial arts school prior to you taking over.

Yeah, definitely. So he was a big part of my life in 2020, April. So like just two and a half years ago. But he had his school and then I. I started fit routes. I decided for various reasons to like rebound and kind of start again. Because he started his in the 80s and then had a break because of issues growing up and like, divorce and various other things. He decided to stop the school and then there was a big break. So for me, it was like I was starting fresh, even though people in the area knew of the name and reputation and stuff. So, yeah, massive part, I think, you know, just like you guys are doing for other people. It's like the. We didn't have the best relationship in many ways. But what he did give me, the greatest gift he gave me was the gift of martial arts. And I can't. I can't take that away from him. But really, it's not just martial arts. What did he give me? He gave me, like, the ability to. To be focused, to be disciplined, to persevere, to push through things, to build physical, mental toughness and not to ever give up. So for me, that those gifts are invaluable.

You know, you just said the word mental toughness. I've got a list of questions which I know will never get onto all of them. Because that would be a three hour podcast. But mental toughness is one of the big things for the whole man academy. And you know, I would say one of the common themes when I speak to guys on the podcast is that you feel a lot of men are lacking mental toughness today. Whether that's because society around us makes things so easy for us. You know, none of us have to go out and hunt our food anymore. You just press some buttons on your phone or not. Out in the country you don't, but countryside. But I wonder for you, like, where, where would you begin with helping a guy with mental toughness?

Yeah, it's a great question. And you're right. It's something that we all need to do. And hence why you guys are putting at the forefront of your program as well is, gosh, where do you begin? I think, you know, of course, we all recognize that ideally people would change mentally first and then that would transpire into their physical self. But what I found is typ, people need to have a bodily experience which then transpires into the mind and vice versa. It's not one or the other. I find that they both work in synchronicity as, as we are with the synchronized being. We're not a mind in a separate body. So when you look at it like that, I think one of the best ways to do it is to just get people involved in their physical self. So get themselves involved. If they want to do a transformation or transformative experience, great. But unless it's something like, you know, ayahuasca or something like that, I think the physical is a great way to start. It doesn't have to be martial arts. There are some other good things which are functional as well, but something which is accessible, easy to do, you can do at home. You, if you want to go to the gym or go to a class, great. But getting into your body, getting into sweat, getting to work hard, getting past your excuses in your head. And of course it should be functional and effective and not dysfunctional movements and so on. But you do want it to be something which pushes you out of your comfort zone zone and puts you in a, what I like to call like a positively induced state of stress. Because it. Exercise training is stressful, but it's a positive stress. And as long as you're not overdoing it, which most people aren't, then that's going to help build that toughness.

I think it's so important. I mean, you've just said, you know, getting your, getting your heart rate up Getting a sweat going on and doing some exercise. I'm trying to think where I heard it the other day, where I think it was from someone who's a real divisive character, a chap called Andrew Tate who you may have seen online. And, and one, one of the things, I mean, we could do a podcast about him. One of the things I've learned over the years is don't judge people until you've listened to many, many hours of them talk. Because you can take snippets of what you and I say or anything and be like, oh, I don't like that. And I'm like, I've listened to quite a few hours of him and he sure does get how the world works, whether people like that or not. And they might not hear it. But I think it was him that said, and it sounds harsh, but again, we're here to deal in real talk and not Snowflake City is. If you're thinking of, like taking your own life, then don't do it. Go and get a six pack first and see. And I see, I'm not saying that just because you got six pack, you don't have, you know, couldn't have depression and mental health issues, but I've seen so many guys that have transformed themselves by saying, you know what I'm going to pour my energy into. And like you say, maybe it's martial arts, maybe it's football, maybe it's the gym, but something that gets you, quite frankly, away from these, he says, holding up a mobile phone, away from screens, hopefully, and gets you doing something that's, you know, physical.

Exactly. Yeah. And that's, that's a great thing. As you say, he's divisive character, but he speaks the truth. And, you know, I, I agree with a lot, not everything, but a lot of what he says. And I can see why. Why is he doing so well? Because he speaks a message which people are resonating with. And as you said about the six pack thing, it's like, it's not just the end product. It's like, what did you have to come to get there as a person? Like, what did you have to do mentally and physically? And by the end of that process, you've become much more disciplined, stronger, healthier, you have a higher level of self esteem, self awareness and so on. So you're not exactly going to be the person who after that period is going to think about committing suicide. It may not be impossible, but at that point, but we're far less likely than if you didn't bother to do that in the first place.

It's a big one because I'm sure you have your thoughts on this, but I think it's very frustrating slash sad when you'll see guys and I know several of them, I've worked with some myself, who aren't going through a great time, but they're not necessarily like clinically depressed, they're just having a bit of a shit time. And of course people say you should go to the doctor. And the doctor, whether rightly or wrongly, has got 10 minutes to listen to them and be like, your options are take these pills. And of course then you're a customer for life. And a guy feels like, I can't. I mean, what's the greatest product to sell is something that people think they can't do without, they can't exist without. I just wonder what your thoughts are on, you know, the, the massive push of antidepressants which basically they still don't prove actually work.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Basically what you said is all bs, isn't it? I think when it comes down to it is you have to think before. So if you look historically, before these times, before these pills were invented, what did people do? And, and then also what were their states of mind like, did they have depression in the way that we have it now? Like was it even a thing? And when you look at it like that, you think, well, yeah, we live in a different time. And if those medicines and tablets were as pure hearted from an intention point of view as well as what they actually do to the body and the mind and your physiology as a whole, and they were beneficial, great. But as you just mentioned, they're not. And I think something, I don't know the particular, so I can't share, but came out recently saying that it was basically, it didn't really have that much effect, all these antidepressant drugs. Anyway.

So yeah, I'm trying to think, I shared it, I mean, weeks and weeks ago on the whole Man Academy letter when I spoke about that and I, I didn't take me like more than about two minutes to find an article in. And again, it's funny because people, people seem to think that unless something's in mainstream media, they think that that must be true and might not consider anything else other than that. So I thought, okay, well I'll find you something in the mainstream media which was a report which basically said they didn't really know how antidepressants work. And even with one of the talks I do for through the whole Man Academy for corporate events, I love to kind of screenshot things like the NHS website where it actually says. And I put, like an arrow when I did a presentation where it says, we don't actually know how antidepressants work to help people. People are like, what? And I'm like, I've only been saying this for a while, but it's just a reminder to guys, you know, if that's an option, fair enough, but there are other options out there. Now let's get on to. I mean, we've got a long list of things. But I wanted to talk to you about barefoot and kind of, because I know with martial arts, to state the obvious, that's always better, I'm assuming, because you want to be able to feel and balance properly, you know, on. On the ground. And in theory, you're on a mat which is soft and flat as opposed to being outside. But talk to me about that bit.

Yeah, definitely. Just personally, before I share, like, some particulars there, ironically, when I was learning martial arts with my dad when I was a kid, we used to wear trainers and kick each other in the head motion stuff. And it was like bloody and tears and all that because we were in this boxing gym which had the tiniest thin layer of carpet. It was concrete underneath. And then you had a boxing ring for a small part of it. So I'm very much used to not, like, wearing gum shields and all that stuff, but now, of course I do. So since I. Peru was only about. After about 10 years of martial arts, when I started to really train barefoot when I went to other places. But all you have to do is, if you look at the. The structure and the anatomy of the body and you look at the ankle and imagine your foot here and the ankle below, basically 25 of your whole body's bones are in the ankle. So what does that. What does that tell you from a structural point of view, from your ligaments, your tendons, your bones and so on, is that it's whatever you believe, whether it's designed or evolved, is basically a very complex piece of equipment which serves a very important function. And if you take that function away from wearing shoes which make your feet go like this, and which has been compared to Chinese foot binding and things like that, you literally sever your connection with the earth. And not just in the earth in like some bougie way, but what you're doing is you're basically disabling yourself from functioning properly. And in martial arts, of course, on the street, you may not be barefoot. But I'll tell you who's going to have the better balance, the better awareness, proprioception, which is where you know where you are in space and time and so on. Who's going to have a better development of that? The person who trains barefoot and has better anatomy and posture or the person who is cramped up in shoes.

There's so much to unpack there. Because I would guess that, you know, for every, let's say 100 guys that listen to this, probably 99 of them wear, you know, shoes all day. And, and I used to. So I'm not here to kind of preach that I used to do any different, you know, especially working in the city again, I, I put pointy, pretty much black, you know, like smart but slightly pointy shoes on at about two minutes to six in the morning. And I would take them off at the earliest at 6 o' clock at night. If not, you'd go out all night to a nightclub, whatever. And then, you know, you realize hundreds and hundreds of hours you wore shoes like per week. But what I noticed recently now I've been wearing the Vivo 5 fingers, right? Yes, that's it. They're not to hand, so I won't hold much the camera, but people can see them on Instagram. But a couple of things for me, one was I learned about like you say, the loss of connection to the earth. And we know how important grounding can be and if people don't understand it's important, then you just need to go and spend some time. Even if you had no technical scientific knowledge, how good does it feel when you go and stand on the grass with your bare feet? You know, that's one of those things. But what I noticed was for me, I had some back pain, which I've had for years and years and years, which I'm not saying it's gone, but it's got a lot better since I've been wearing these because I haven't got the heel. But I noticed the other day, like our boys wear barefoot shoes as well. I mean, they're only three and five, but you know, we've got friends that got little toddlers and of course the toddlers are trying to, I mean, get their balance. But of course the parents put them many like Nike trainers which have got like a half inch rubber and suddenly the kids are going around like a dog with shoes on, you know, that are clumping because they can't feel anything underneath. So anybody listening, like if you've got kids especially have a look at getting, you know, barefoot shoes for them. Because I just think it's such a big. A big part of it.

Massively. You're right. And, you know, people serve that connection, but they also forget that there's only two other places which have as much sensory nerves, and a nervous ending at the end of that is basically your genitals and your lips. So if that's basically the case, what does it mean that the feet are meant to feel? Yeah, they remove the feeling. And like you say, you artificially elevate your heel. It. People need to think of the structure of the body as one unit, not as loads of separate muscles and things like that. And that's why if your back pain is reduced, that's a great sign.

Yeah. I mean, it's one of those things where maybe years ago, if I'd have. If I'd have been working the city now. Well, I'll tell you. So I went to a wedding in Manchester on Friday, and I went in my black, you know, barefoot shoes. And it's funny how, like, even some of my own family were like, what are you wearing them for? I was like, what does it matter? Like, if you want me at your wedding, if you don't want me to wear these, then you can shove it. Because, like, you either want me at your wedding, you're not. It doesn't matter. And no one else even noticed. But it's so funny how you'd be conditioned for people to be like, well, you have to wear black pointy shoes, you know, smart shoes, to go to a wedding. You're like, well, I just wear what I want that I'm comfortable in. See how we go.

But. And they're the funniest ones because I've got these five fingers as well, but I've got these. I've got a couple of pairs, but these hemp ones I've got because they're slightly brown, and of course I'm brown, then some people think I'm. I'm barefoot outside. So. But that's it. That's great. But actually, as you say, it's more other people who project their insecurities onto you rather than the other way around.

It's another reminder for guys listening, you know, it's another little thing like that that gets you out of your comfort zone because to start with, you feel like you have to explain to people and, like, everything in life. You'll have some people that like it, some people that have no interest, and some people that hate it. And you'll have some people Being like, oh my God, how do you wear those? And others like, oh, can I touch your toes? Like that looks so cool. I was like, yeah, it's a good point. Now more importantly than that, let's get on to talk about testosterone because we know, and I bang on about it on this show and on Instagram, blah, blah, blah, that the testosterone rates are dropping massively in men and have been for many years. So I'll let you kind of step into the arena and tell me your thoughts on it all.

Yeah, well, 100% the same thing. It's like, well, what's happening with it? It's radically dropping. And I was doing some research the other day which basically identified if you follow the trajectory of the plummeting testosterone levels in men, I think I can't remember the exact year, but I think it's 2040 or 2045 latest, that it will hit zero. So what does that mean? I'm not saying that will actually happen because of course that would be crazy. But if it's trajectory is to hit zero, that basically means you're as men, we're infertile, we're unable to reproduce. And amongst the depopulation agenda on the other side of it is what does that make you as a man? It basically makes you closer to a woman. Being a woman, of course, is a great thing, but it's not great to be a man who is nearly a woman from a testosterone and hormonal perspective. You won't be able to build muscle, you won't be able to feel like a man. You won't have any drive and have any, you know, dedication, focus. And beyond that you just, you won't feel as you should naturally speaking.

There's lots to unpack there and I, I don't think I'd realized it particularly until I really started looking into it. And my partner's a naturopathic nutritionist. So the energy protocol course that we launched a year ago, I mean that focuses on mind, body, morning routine, mindset, etc, but one of the big things we talk about the deliberate manipulation of men's testosterone levels through the environment around us with the food we're eating and stuff. And you can even go as deep as when you look at like the way men are portrayed on TV these days. Like look at the cartoons for men, like, for kids, like Peppa Pig's daddy's big and Fat, Homer Simpson is stupid, Family Guy is a dumbass. And you realize that kids are growing up seeing those men as a joke as well. And, and you look around that even when I look at magazines and some of the men are so like. What's the word? Like asexual. And you're just like, you wonder now again, there's nothing wrong with it, but it's like it's being pushed further and further in front of people to, to normalize it. I don't know if you've seen that yourself.

Yeah, I have. And it's, it's everywhere around you, isn't it? Because the, the message has to be ubiquitous. It has to be everywhere to infiltrate your mind to the point where you may not even realize you have an opinion on it, on it or not. But basically, subconsciously you believe that, right? This is what the ideal picture of what a man should look like. This is what men, as you say, are based upon how they're portrayed in the media. Whether they're dumb and stupid or whether they look asexual. There is. That's not how we are or how we should be as men. And as men, it's also our responsibility to think for ourselves naturally.

Ridiculous thinking now, crazy.

What's wrong with a little bit of critical thinking these days? Think for yourself and then lead yourself, lead your family and then of course lead your community eventually once you've mastered those two things prior to that because they're basically prerequisites to you being able to lead others. You need to lead yourself first. So once you figure that out, then you see all the bullshit around you is like, well, this is rubbish. This is, this is whether it be money, taxes, yeah, this, that. It's all bullshit. And you know when you look, when you truly look and see, I forget what that film is basically where he. And wearing these blue light blocking glasses. But basically you might know the one, but he's got the glass. Yeah, I think so. And he sees all the advertisements and underneath what the actual advert is showing him, the message is there saying, for example, if it's a hot woman, it's like you need to be attracted to this or you need to wear this lipstick if you're a woman.

And yeah, obey isn't it is one of the main ones. And you know what I mean? We could, we could clearly go off on many tangents on this. I tell you what made me laugh in the last few days it's so we're recording this on Wednesday, but you know, this week it's mental health awareness day and, and quite frankly I get lost on because it's like I've said before, you know, it's Slim Badgers awareness week, one week. And, you know, women who like knitting weeks. So I, I get lost in it. And we talk about mental health all the time, so I don't need to, like, raise a flag and tick a box. But I find it funny when media companies who push, you know, push fear daily and daily and then are like, oh, we really care about people's mental health. And you're like, I don't, I don't. Not sure if you do, but it's.

Just signaling, isn't it? It's just getting some brownie points, massively.

And that's what I see with, you know, when you talk about testosterone, I think that the more people like us talk about it to talk about raising awareness, sometimes I get bored of that term. It sounds a bit wonky. But, you know, a lot of guys might be like, oh, I didn't even think about it. But I know guys I can literally look at now and I'm like, I can bet your testosterone is low and you should be doing X, Y and Z to, to help it. So tell us for you, like, what a couple of things that guys can do to, like, help their testosterone. I mean, number one is knowing that it's not right.

Exactly. Yeah, as a, as a man, you need to, as much as anybody does, man or woman, but you need to be understanding of how your body feels. Like, I'm all for science and having a quantitative approach, qualitative approach as well, but you also need to anecdotally just feel, is, is there something within me that just doesn't feel right? Like, do I feel like low energy? Do I feel like I can't get things done? Do I feel like I don't have the strength to do this and that? And yeah, they're signs. Your body is telling you something. And then also your mind. Do you not speak up for yourself? Simple things like that. Do you not stand your ground? Do you not voice your opinion? Because guess what? That's all signs of people who are low testosterone. Not to say everyone has to be massively vocal, but you have to stand up for injustice and you have to, for example, protect your family and whatever it might be in any circumstance. Which makes sense. There's physical, physical ideas, but also mental ones. And you need to know how they all interrelate together so how you can fix that. And you know what the signs are? Well, for guys, body composition is the simplest way to look at it. Like, do you have the tire? Do you have a gut? You know, do you have man boobs? Do you Basically have moisture, estrogen in your body than you do testosterone. So you can do the test to get objective data. Of course that's the best way. But you don't, like you said, you can just look at someone. You don't really need to know your testosterone is low. But yeah, it's nice to know if there are other things which are interacting with that as well.

And I always think it's. For a lot of guys, maybe they might think, oh God, it sounds quite complicated. But actually trying to go and do the basic things of like going to lift weights, you know, is one thing is eating like a good diet. And again, we're not talking diet. I hate what term diet. As you know, for me it's like I eat loads and loads and manage to stay with a, what I consider a good physique because there's lots of healthy food and, and good quality stuff as best I can. But you know, there's. It's like there's a war on, on men eating meat at the moment.

Yeah.

And I, I'm sure, I don't know if it's a week or two ago which organization, like another bunch of clowns who had put. I mean, sometimes I see stuff in the press, I'm like, surely someone's with us here. Like, this is a joke. Like, no one really thinks this is true. And it was one of the organizations that said something about, you know, basically, men just shouldn't be eating meat and etc. Etc. And you're like, that is one of the cornerstones of the men and testosterone. And also just if I was meeting guys, I love, like things like steak. So if you're taking all that away and you want us to eat bugs, basically I'm not interested in that stuff. And slowly people need to realize that they're being again pushed in that direction.

Yeah, 100%. And in this perspective, I do understand what the other side is because you probably don't know this about me, but what the other side is saying. But I used, I used to be, believe it or not, vegan for a while. So I say for a while. It was actually for about seven years. So it's quite a long time. So. I know, but just to give you a little backstory on how that relates to this is when I was younger, came from a Sri Lankan predominantly. So a lot of meat, a lot of fish and good healthy food cooking in good oils and stuff like that. And then I went vegan, boss. I think it was about 1890 to about 26. So not that long ago. And I saw a massive difference physiologically within myself and then also mentally as well. And I don't think there's any coincidence when I was going through those depressive periods that I was happened to also be vegan. Because the thoughts that align with those that way of thinking are also in line with that way of being as a person physically and mentally as well. And even simple things like my jaw structure had reduced because I didn't need to, I wasn't chewing any meat and stuff. So now over the last few years since I've been eating more, my jaws increased in size because I'm working the mass to muscles and so on to yeah, and so you know, people, when you look at that agenda and you say, yeah, well you can believe what you want, nutritionally speaking in terms of like, oh, we're, we are built or designed to eat this or that, but what do you feel best upon when you eat? And also if you really want to check it, check the blood levels before and after someone who was like that. I've been on both sides and I know 100, I'd never go back to being vegan again.

That's so important for guys to hear because I know people, basically it's like a similar story to you. It might have only been one year or something that they've gone and said, you know, I'm cutting it out because they've been fooled into thinking that meat is bad for them and they really think they're saving the planet. Which is, which is comedy. When you're like, well you'll end up being ill yourself. You know, I think it's good in a way if people have experienced it to say, well, I personally went through this and this is how I felt. So it's not, oh, I, you know, I read it in a magazine and stuff. And often, let's say a guy comes to me when we talk about mentoring. One of the things you generally say, even if they want to work on business and mindset and etc. Is you'll be like, what kind of stuff you eating? What's your, what's your diet like? Because often you'll say people that are not eating meat will be like, or even not having, you know, eggs and stimulate that they're always trying to replace it with scrambled tofu, which is really bad. And you know, and, and different things that are replacements for things like butter, you know, grass fed unsalted butter if it's, you know, good quality stuff. But so many guys will see what's on the TV and just be like, well, they tell me it's bad, so I don't. And you've got to do your research.

Exactly, yeah, that's it. And if you don't do your research, you'll be subject to their imposing upon you and you choose which. Which one you think. If you think the government, the media and this and that are benevolent, benign and so on, then of course, power to you in, in that ignorance, I guess. But if you have even the slightest bit of skepticism, which we all should, especially as men, we should be skeptical of, of powers that exercise too much power over us, and you've got to wonder why they do that, then you've got to analyze everything that's being fed to you, literally, about the food, the media, the news, everything.

It's a massive rabbit hole to go down. And I, I find in is the more guys I surround myself with now that, that have similar thoughts to me or at least, at least being, questioning, you know, of just going, looking around and being like, this doesn't make sense. Or this messaging, you know, to do with men and confusing men and women over what they should be doing, what they should be saying. One of the big things, I spoke to two or three podcasts ago with a guy called Ken Rusk who's out in, in the US who's in construction basically, and runs a big business out there. But he's very much about the advocacy of like, you know, the, the lost art of men. Big, not just men, but men becoming, you know, plumbers and welders and things. Because everybody seems to want to just do stuff on the, on the computer. One of the things we spoke about was like, with social media, because one thing that drives me nuts is that people, you especially youngsters that will grow up with that just want to be like, I want to be an influencer. And you're like, what, what is that? And what that really means is that they haven't necessarily got any talent, but they just want to get paid for just sharing their life. So what's your relationship been like with social media?

Yeah, that's a great point. And that is the youth of today. And that's one of the reasons we can go to it, if you want me to. A bit later, we stopped the martial arts school. We only announced it yesterday. We're having to teach these kids and even adults things that really we shouldn't be teaching. And like, whether it be basic matters, basic etiquette, you know, basic hygiene, whatever it is. But back over to, you know, that it's like, well, I always struggled to post on social media. Now I use. I have to overcome that because of what I do, because I don't like it. Like if it wasn't for what I do, I personally wouldn't have it. That's just me personally because it would be a distraction to my life. But because this, this is the path I've chosen, I have to embrace it and look at it positively to say that, well, even though the platform may inherently have many, many flaws and censoring and this and that and crazy content on that, we have to use it for good. And as long as I do that, then I will do so in my best control. But the platforms are there to, I think people, they look at the structure of them and always look at how something has been constructed and built and then how it's going to be used. And if you look at that, then of course it's there to garner your attention. That's their business. Even if you don't believe in some of the malevolent side of the theories, that's fine. But of course, just from a pure business point of view, you need to be on there as much as possible so they can make more money. Yes, as simple as that. So it has its place and there are some value to it. But you should curate your social media to be. If you're going to use it to be a place for you to learn from. But don't, you know, even I use it to learn certain things. But you can never use this to replace that.

Books.

Books, no. You know, writing is the purest and most in depth, concise form of learning there is. And if you're a man, you don't like reading, well, good luck to you, I think.

Well, well, I've got books on my list so let's come on to that things. We're there and I know when we spoke on the on episode or the first episode that got got canceled because of the power cut and I said I'd seen some of the books in on your shelf. So I think was Ben Greenfield and Dave Asprey were some of the authors. So if you had to pick. I know, I know it depends on what a guy's looking for, but if you had to pick a couple of books that a guy might read and it doesn't have to be specifically on one topic, but what were the ones you would kind of chuck out there?

Definitely. Do you mind if I literally just pick some up for it? Yeah, because I've got some here which.

I think would be useful because I'm not in my office now, but when I, when I am and I turn to my right, I've got a bookshelf which is, I don't know, has got a couple of hundred books on it and I must admit, something I haven't actually read, which is quite embarrassing because I, I dip into books and you think, oh, I must read this one and that one. And then I don't get it.

That's always the way I, I do the same. So, you know, I think also because.

These days there's so many other ways to consume things. So I say to guys, you know, if you've got audiobooks or I listen to a lot of podcasts, unsurprisingly, but you know, so you could look and be like, why haven't you read some of the books? I'm like, because I'm consuming lots of other stuff.

Exactly. You're learning different ways. Yes, you know, not just that.

And it's hard to, it's hard always to be sitting still with a book because I can listen to podcasts when I'm driving and exercising, what have you.

Yeah, exactly. You, you can multitask in a functional way. Normally multitasking is a bit dysfunctional, but the way you're doing is the right way. So, sorry, I thought I'd pick something to be better.

Good.

And just explain them. So like you, there are some I haven't actually read. So I've got lots more reading too. But some different ones, not hard, philosophical ones. I think most people haven't really got to that stage yet. It's best to start a more simple but engaging things. So this book called Be Like Water is great. You don't even have to like martial arts, but it's basically. It's called Practical Wisdom from the Martial Arts and it applies to everyday life. Like how you can use martial arts concepts of like basically channeling energy, aggression, focus, discipline in your day to day life as a man. So I think that's great. I'm sure most people have heard of this, especially lately with the rise of stoicism, Meditations by Mark Aurelius. Because the good thing about stoicism, I think compared to like general philosophy, like say Plato and all the other stuff, it's more accessible. I think that's why it's really increased in popularity. So. And it's applicable state to their life. So that's great. This book, I don't know if you've read this. I just finished this recently. Raising a Monday Night. If You're a dad. This is, this is an amazing book. I'm not Christian but this is, it has a Christian ethic and like backbone to it. But you don't need to be religious in that sense. I think you just need to try and apply the lessons. Basically it's all about how knights of the past had ceremonies and structures in place to raise a boy all the way through to knighthood. So powerful, powerful stuff. Way of the Superior man by David the ada.

I think that's really good. Yes. I haven't read it but it is on my list. I haven't even bought it yet. I realized I had to stop buying books because you're like, people would say hey, you should read this. And I'm like yeah, I'll buy it, I'll buy it, buy it. And then at some point Emma's like, you know, you have to read some of them.

I was like, so yes, now more I have to say, did I do the exact same thing? So don't worry. This is amazing. Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi. He's basically the most respected samurai history. He, I can't remember how many, I think about 50 or 60 samurai fights he had and he never lost. Well at least that's the idea of the story and it goes into his way of thinking about if you're going to be an elite samurai back in. I can't remember the exact days but 1600s or whenever it was like this is how you need to think. So.

So there's a challenge for guys is because I think a lot of guys will end up reading a lot of the similar books. That's why I like it when I hear like yourself, if you ask me one they'll be like oh this one. And I'll be like I've never heard of that one. And that would be my challenge to guys. Pick one of the books we've, you know, we're talking about and maybe you've got one or two more as well but. And go and read it. You know, read it cover to cover. You know, even if you do a chapter a night before bed or something like that on the train or whatever it is and see what comes up for you.

Exactly. Yeah, just try it and see. Like I'll just show one or two more but on the warriors path it's about martial arts but again about how you can apply it to real life because it's about the modern day warriors path and especially the rise of Jordan Peterson. 12 Rules for Life.

Yes people.

And then the final one, very common. But the art of war.

Yeah, of war. Well, well, funny, you said Jordan Peterson about 5 minutes ago whilst you were talking. I've come what we talk about. But it popped into my head a vision of him saying something similar. And I, and I really enjoyed Jordan Peterson. I tell you what I would say is there's, there's plenty of guys who. What it's taught me in the last, especially the last couple of years is that no one gets everything right. And I won't bore you with the details, but Jordan Peterson, as much as several other people who I think are amazing have dropped the ball in various ways in the last two years. There's another guy called Dan Pena who I, I love listening to his stuff. I don't know if you know who he is and I love his no attitude. And again it's, he's very much like, you know, old school. And again, it's Marmite, isn't it? It's like Andrew Tate. You either love them or you hate them. There is no. Well, I. Not really sure what they're about. But with Jordan Peterson, I think he's riding the, the wave of, you know, the social media and, and a lot of his stuff is so good in little bite sized chunks. And I know when he was on the Joe Rogan podcast, he spoke about how you, you know, you slowly impede on someone on their rights as much everything else by coming fairly close to them and then letting them get used to it and you back away a bit and then they move back and then you come a bit closer and a bit closer and before you know it, they've moved you three miles down the road and you haven't even noticed. Which is exactly what's going on in the world today with people letting go of their rights and freedoms and stuff. But I just wanted your thoughts on not just Jordan Peterson but that kind of, that new wave of like. Because he will be so followed by a lot of men.

Yeah, definitely. So do you mean my thoughts on that wave of people like Jordan Peterson? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, no, I think, I think he's great. I haven't actually read his second book, but I've got it. I'll say second book because he's written other ones, but something about beyond order. That's it. Yeah. So I need to read that. But yeah. Amazing, amazing man. And as you say, like, some people maybe drop the ball or weren't too vocal on a few things that happened over the past few years, which they could have done a bit More on. But that's their, their path. And he has basically brought a lot of young men, and even men like us to a realization that, oh yeah, if an academic like this is saying it and is willing to lose his position, tenure and so on to he. I bet he didn't know what was going to happen to him. And all of this limelight that he's received and so on, he didn't account for it. But he's willing to basically just speak the truth. And that's the most important thing, is that the truth is told and it's shared and it's not censored. Then on the other side of that, you have to be willing to accept the up and the downside. So I think it's an amazing thing. More, the more men come together, it's like an avalanche, isn't it? The more of us come and have these kind of conversations, even if just one person listens to this and one man gets something from this, he's willing to change one part of his life, then that's an amazing achievement. But then that needs to snowball and increase more because what society and people who are in power or whatever, who want to keep us men here, whether it be having low testosterone, bad physiques, bad mental states and so on, these are just symptoms of the bigger picture. Like what's the bigger pictures? If men are here and they're voiceless, then order and main and can be basically maintained.

So no one's rebelling when they're sitting on the sofa eating chips and playing PlayStation.

Exactly. But if I'm like strong, muscular, I'm ready. And there's a million other men just like me within, say, the city of London, then that's one out of 10 who are ready to do what it takes for truth to be the highest esteem and not to be pushed down there.

I think that's so important. There's two things that came to mind there. One was in, I think it was in New Zealand, which as I'm talking, it should be because they were doing the haka, but there was maybe 100 or 200, you know, let's call them Maori warriors. But guys out there who were doing like the haka in front of one of the government buildings and it was, I think it was raining and you know, that added to it and some videoed it. But what made me laugh was over here, you know, no matter what your thoughts were on lockdowns and stuff, I. I found it interesting that a lot of guys will happily have their freedom taken away and just said, oh well, we'll just stay in until I'm told I can go out and that's fine. But I thought, it's funny that as soon as they tried to change the football, the Premier League, we can do the Super League, suddenly you had hundreds of men all out. They'd forgotten that there was supposedly, you know, something, some, the Covids in the background and they were all out, you know, rebelling at their football club. And you're like, ah, so you don't care about your freedom but your football club, you'll, you know, you can, you can destroy my freedom, but you can't take away my football club. And that, that for me showed in reverse of it's like bread and circus of guys will spend. And I used to do it. So I'm not, I'm not saying I didn't, but I used to spend like three, four, five hours a day watching football. Now I had gone to the gym beforehand, but I wasn't, I could have spent that time reading, I could have done stuff in my community, seeing my family going out, doing anything, but I would sit for hours, probably quite hungover as well, just watching men kick a little bit of football around four hours at a time. And these days I look and I'm like, there's something wrong with that.

Yeah, there isn't it? If, as you said, I think that's great, we explain it is that their freedom being taken away wasn't what they considered their freedom. Well, they considered their freedom was their football being available to watch to go and see or whatever or whatever it might be. And as soon as that was taken away, that was basically equivalent to their human rights and freedom. That's an amazing thing, isn't it, as a man to be like, my freedom is associated with this ball being kicked around a pitch. And like you, I, I used to play football a lot when I was younger. I took it quite seriously at one point, one point I stopped martial arts do football and came back. So it's, you know, I do see the value in it and same. That's exactly why I stopped martial arts because fighting is just basically a spectacle where you beat the out of someone and vice versa for the appeasement of others who are also distracted by the other events going on in the world. And if you had to weigh up what's more important, your freedom or this entertainment? Well, hopefully it's the former, not the latter. And you know, I, I, I'm happy to share but I had a unique experience over these Last few years with all this Covid stuff and everything. And even when I tell people what I went through and what my thoughts are, they still don't believe me. And if you want to share, I can.

But, yeah, you go for it.

Yeah. So. So basically, like my. My late father, he. He passed away in April and on his death certificate, he's. He's died of COVID but I don't believe it. But basically he got a lung infection of some kind or whatever and he was one of the first people to be admitted into the hospitals and so on. He was on a ventilator for three weeks and so on. But because he was married to. Not my mum, other women, he. I'm not the next of Kim. Yeah, dramatically. So I wasn't able to make the necessary medical decisions and so on to potentially see what the best thing was. But basically as soon as it went, in their opinion, without any data too far, it was just, no, it's going too far. He has to be put on a ventilator.

Yep.

Any real rationale was like, yeah, okay, you have to give me some rationale. Not you got to put him on. But basically I was. Oxygen levels too low, but without giving me an actual reading, without doing this, without doing that. So obviously there's a lot more to it. But basically, all right, through all that, I was also. My wife was also pregnant with our first son at the time. Have a lot of complications. So we're in and out of hospitals, various hospitals, going to also see my dad in another different hospital. And all three hospitals were basically empty apart from the ICU ward awards. I didn't see the other ones. Yeah, my dad was in. I was like the main person in the family going in and out. So I saw exactly what was happening. And when I tell people that I think. I think it's because of their cognitive dissonance and so on, they still.

It's just.

Yeah, there's just nothing. It's like I told them about details and so on. They ask and it's like, oh, no. Like, yeah, no, it's got to be true. It's on the news. Okay. But I'm just telling you a direct experience of what I've had with someone. I wouldn't. I don't need to lie about that. You know, it's crazy. And there was a lot more to it, but it's a real. A real crazy time.

I think more and more people are at least questioning the validity of. What's the word? The severity of it, if that makes sense. And you're, you know, you'll be pleased to know or saddened to know, but it won't be no surprise. You're not the first person I've heard that have said that, you know, that, that the copays was allocated on death certificates when it clearly was not the case. I mean, instances of someone dying in childbirth and saying, then finding out a few days later that put on there. And it is a deep, deep rabbit hole to go down. But I know that in the States that the hospitals had financial incentive to put people on ventilators as well and huge incentives which as people I've read have said, you know, sometimes that person didn't need to be put on one, but the hospital would say, well, on you go. And that would end up blowing their lungs out basically. So it's a, it's a very interesting one. And you know what, so much of what's going on in the world at the moment. And my last question for you was about spirituality, if you've got time to cover that as well. Because I see people in this last two years who've had their mental health destroyed by the government's messaging. And if people don't realize it's been, they've been deliberately manipulated, it's in the government's own documents to say we need to increase the level of perceived fear in people. And we've covered this before. But also you've seen people have their again mental health, but then their business is destroyed through no fault of their own. And I know probably a year or two ago I was listening to a podcast and it was a guy whose father was, and I think he had Greek restaurants anyway, restaurants and he was very proud man who had a couple of restaurants and lockdowns obviously destroyed his business and he was trying to pay people and etc and he lost all his money and ended up killing himself. And as the guy said, his dad before then was, you know, a businessman, vibrant, doing well in the community, blah, blah, and just couldn't take it. And I can, I can see why. And I think a lot more people in his last years where things have got worse and worse are starting to question life and spirituality and what, what that is to them. So tell me about you because I'm rubbish with spirituality. Let me, let me be clear on that.

Fair enough, fair enough. And no, I think you're right. It's what happens in a time when people are pushed to the edges, their, their backs are against the wall. You have to at some point start to think differently even if you Believe in it. Well that's, you know, whatever. Even if you believe in it, you still have to think about what's going on. And even if you don't think clearly about what's going on, you still think about it. And basically what, when you're thinking in any form, rightly or wrongly, what are you doing? You're basically questioning what you're here for, why you're here, what's happening, is this right, is this wrong? So already even just by the act of thinking, you're taking in, even if it's done ignorantly, you're thinking about things like moral philosophy. And then with things like all this co stuff you're thinking about political philosophy. And then on a deeper level you're thinking of philosophy. Why are we here? You know, what's the point of life? And it becomes an existential, existential, you know, question in your head. So I, I never really used to be big on, big on spirituality. I was very much a logical, logically minded person. But now I see the value for both and that's because of my, my, the way I think upbringing. I studied like Western philosophy, which is fairly analyst analytical and logical. And then also I was raised as a Catholic, so. But when I was about 10, 11, I decided to go to church. I didn't want to do it, but my, my late father, he was a devout Christian. But my biggest thing for me, and I still go, I go to church sometimes, here's one. Because I see some value in it even though I'm not Christian. But the biggest thing for me is that when I did ayahuasca, I realized that you cannot deny what that was. Now whether you believe this or that, whatever, you cannot deny that there was some experience there which meant that there was definitely some forms of whatever you like to call it, universal power, higher source, God, same thing. It for me became, became undeniable. So when you have that in place and you've had that experience, then how can you think otherwise? That it's just a plain and empty and this we're born, we die and that's it. Yeah, I think we, we're also quite naive as humans to think that you've, you've been produced and you've been born as a human when you could have been anything. Why like what's happening and are we the only life here or elsewhere? Who knows? I don't have all the answers, but more to it.

I don't know if you've ever heard of a guy called Neil Kramer.

Name rings a bell, but no, because.

He'S, I would say he's someone that I started listening to about two years ago. Ish. And he will do where he'll just literally like walk and talk for like two hours and I could listen to like 10 hours of it because he. I'm trying to unpack in my own head. Like what, like you say, why are we here on the, on the deeper level. Not just like, so I can serve my family because they're the most important thing to me in my life, but the over, over the top of that. And he's really helped me just, just think differently. And if you'd have said to me a while ago or even still if there was one person in the world, and I mean, absolutely. That I wanted on the podcast, it was, it was him because. And, and I've reached out to him months and months ago and he's like, I'm so busy, but come back to me later in the year. And he's agreed to be on. And I'll be releasing that for International Men's Day and he will go deep into the topics of how men are being manipulated, etc. Etc. And, and it makes you realize it's such a, it could be a 10 hour podcast in itself talking to guys about spirituality of what it is for you. You know, maybe, I think maybe coming from a martial arts background, I think there's a lot more thought about spirituality than there are just the normal, a normal family growing up. Which led me on to last thing about, for you is about fatherhood. So very quickly, if you can, I've got all the time, but it depends on how long you've got. Tell me, tell me about fatherhood because it's, it's for any of the guys here that either want kids or have got kids, they'll kind of smile because like fatherhood is. It's like someone drops a grenade in your fan, you know, in your life and just like shuts the door.

Yeah. It was the best thing ever as. You know, isn't it? I mean, it's as crazy as that scenario. You just pictured it. But also it's like the best thing simultaneously.

Yeah.

At the same time. And you know, for me growing up, I was, I was the kind of guy who was like, no, I don't want kids and you know, I want to do this, I'll do that. Actually, no, I don't want kids. And you know, again, that was something I experienced during Ayahuasca is that it told me to let go of that belief because that was not serving me and what, what my mission is and what I can do to help people. And for me, having a child is not just simply a biological process of having sex and having a child. It's all right, cool. That's how you get there. But what. Why are you doing that? For me, it's, it's very much about, I want to raise my son and if I have daughters as well, to not just have a better life than me, but be a better version of me.

Yeah.

Because I've. I've taken. Say I'm 30, I'm 30 now, but really it's taken me like I've had some great things from, in some ways from my mom and dad, but not, you know, the best upbringing in other ways. Take me say, 20 plus years to figure something basic things out. Now if he can start off by the time he's 3, 4, 5 years old with basics in place.

Yeah.

I have this idea that, you know, it's not about money or about this or that, but really, if he learned how to do this or that, he could be a millionaire by the time he's 10. You know, something like that. Whatever he decides to do. I think if you have the right coaching guidance, the child can be the vessel to create an amazing amount of change. So I think in that sense, that's a spirit. The. For me, the spiritual understanding of why you should have a child is that you brought something into the world which shouldn't be a burden, but it should be a gift upon itself to you guys and also the rest of the world as well. So it's an amazing thing. What else is there? Like it.

It's a great way of putting it because you're right, you know, it should be. Maybe I laugh when you say that you're 30 because I'm like, in my head, I'm like, hell, he's so wise compared to me. When I, you know, that was 14 years ago, I was your age and it. And it then. And I was a totally different person back then. But as you say, when you have kids, hopefully for most men have kids, you realize that it's your responsibility to, for want of a better term, like raise a little warrior. And warrior as in that can take care of themselves, the people around them, you know, don't let the. That's floating around everywhere distract you. And very much with our kids, you know, they're only five and three, but we are so indoctrinated ourselves to, to, to teach them how we were taught. And you realize so much of that is wrong. Even with ours. Like, we let them grow their hair. Whereas even for me, to start with, I was like, they've got to have the haircut. And it's like, why not? Because they'll. They'll look like girls. And then you're like, okay, well, hold on. You know, the knights and warriors of old and gladiators, a lot of them had. Had long hair. And why is it that you feel like you have to tell them that? Having your haircut is one of the most, I think, realized, you know, it's one of the most personal things. So we're trying to raise them to think for themselves and make their own decisions, and we explain it along the way. But I'm not. I'm not saying it's easy.

No, it's definitely not. I feel your pain. By the way. My son's only two, and we haven't. He hasn't had a haircut yet. And everyone thinks he's a girl because he's got, you know, he's beautiful. He's got a pretty face. Yeah, everyone thinks he's a girl, so. Okay. But you're right. We don't need to project those things onto them because. Because that was what was projected onto us.

Well, you just said about projection. Great example for guys who are listening about how you have to look at what you're scared of in life. And I don't mean that you have to be, you know, like, you're scared of a spider. But the fears of taking action, doing things can often be passed on by other people, often parents. And. Great example. The other day, my son said to me, they'd had an argument, my two little ones, about, you know, some toy and. And Hudson, who's the oldest one, said, well, I'm not helping Bowie clear up because he did something to me earlier or he wouldn't help me earlier. And I said, hudson, just because he didn't help you early, it doesn't mean that you can't be the better person and help him. I said, if there was a sick animal outside in the road, would you go and help it? He said, of course I would. I said, yes, but that hasn't helped you at all, so you've decided to. And he said, okay. And I was trying to give him a good, you know, analogy, or whatever you want to call it. And then he came back a minute later, and I was. I'd forgotten our conversation. He said, not squirrels. And I said, sorry, what? He said, I wouldn't help squirrels. I said, why is that? He Said, well, because they bite you. I said, do they? Where does that come from? He said, well, my sister's gardener had told him, like joking that squirrels will jump down and bite him. So now he's got a vendetta against squirrels. And I was trying to explain it. Just because someone's told you something, you've now got a learned fear, no experience of your own. And I see so many guys, especially ones that were working in a. In a city job or have you that have got fear of maybe rejection, of doing something new, being laughed at. The Tall Poppy syndrome. And a lot of it is, you know, false expectation appearing real, basically.

Yeah, exactly. And that's a great story with your little one as well. So you have to really assess and analyze what's being told to you. Of course, he's a kid and he'll learn that as part of his mistakes. But yeah, it's amazing. You have to take an honest picture about what's in front of you. And that's. But that's really hard to do for most people. Like you said, we're very warped by all of the teachings, perceptions, programming, indoctrination, blah, blah, all the things and experiences and so on that were given to us or bestowed upon us. And that's how we view the world. So how, how you even. How we've. We seem fairly similar, but how we look at things in some regards may.

Be different, but it's an interesting. I'm not. I've loved talking to you because I, I find that I, I'm trying to get around more guys that have a critical way of thinking of the world, which is why with the last, you know, we did a whole Man Academy dinner obviously last Thursday and had. Well, we could have had 14 guys there, but because some guys had to drop out and had issues and stuff. We had eight there, but it's still really good. And then we're having one up here in November and I. It was one of those things where you go, I tell a few guys without announcing it because maybe we might get a couple of guys. And like, literally every guy I've told has been like, I'm coming along. And I'm like, like, we've. We've got about 11. 11 guys want to come along. I haven't even got a venue or anything yet, so I'm. So state the obvious. It's okay to just make things up as you're going in life somewhere.

Good problem.

That's it. It's a good problem to have is that being over subscribed on a dinner. But I see that guys got that hunger to get around other guys that are going to have no nonsense conversations and just honest appraisal of where we are in life. So tell us about. So your, your plan. You said you obviously closing the gym. So what's your kind of. What does the next six months look like for you?

Yeah, no, that's amazing. And I think we, we closed the school literally we announced it yesterday. So it's closing a martial arts school closing at the end of the month for a few reasons I mentioned earlier. So we're just going all in on our modern warrior transformations. That's basically our, our online program where we help busy men to build their physique power performance levels in as little as 90 days. So we do mix martial arts in their functional strength training and the philosophy as well. So it's a body and mind approach. So that's my, my focus is to help as many men as possible over the next six months whilst we make that transition. We're helping some at the moment of course, but to really build that now that we're going all in. So yeah, I really, I really felt it was not just a calling to me but also my more of a purpose in my path as I go. Excuse me. As I've gone through my own kind of transformation, not just physically but mentally, I see the world and I think what's the biggest problem that we have right now? And it probably something that resonates with you and what you've done with the whole MAD academy is that what's the biggest problem we have right now is that we don't have enough men who are leading themselves, their families and their communities. And if we fix that then a lot of the other problems which I like to consider as sub problems will be fixed because that main problem is it's being solved. So that's my idea of what I like engage that then we could do much more than if we change those smaller things.

So this would be me if we were working on mentoring but I love it when guys have these new ideas or new directions and stuff. One of my questions always like what scares you about what you're about to do? Like what are you afraid of?

That's a really good question. I wouldn't say I'm afraid of it but it's just like newer territory because we've always had this I say always fit really started with but I was doing personal training in person and then the school and we've done online alongside it but not just That I think not having like an in person community element to start with is a big thing because I think as men, like a perfect example of what you're doing. It's better to come together and then supplement with other things. So that will be something I'll be looking to build later. But I think the probably that. But I won't say I'm scared. I think it's just. Yeah, it's something that you just have to confront. Like it's a different path for me now and I'm. I'm very content with it. For me, it feels like the right thing to do and that's the main thing as men, like not just talking about myself, but for the men listening. It's like you need to be content. You don't have to be happy all the time. Of course that's not possible, but you need to be content with what you're doing. And if you're not, it's a sign that there's something wrong.

Yeah.

It takes them then some self analysis and some self awareness to figure out.

What'S wrong, I think. And you touched on it earlier when you said about testosterone. But you know, like, we all know if you kind of spend a moment to like look inside and see how you feel when things are right. And I knew that from my years of work in the city, you know, the last two or three years, I knew that things weren't right and I was starting to look for something else. And I can see that in other guys now when you talk to them and you'll be like, what's going on? Like, tell me, tell me what's really going on. But it reminded me, as you said about that, the term which I'll probably get wrong, but it was, you know, a ship in a harbor is a safe ship, but that's not, not what ships are made for. And I remember hearing that when I was about to leave and start kind of before the whole matter, but kind of start my own path. And I was like, I felt like I was that ship being held, you know, in a harbor somewhere and I needed to kind of get released. So I. So I understand, but I have a few ideas as well. So perhaps we'll talk about that some other time.

Yeah, no, I definitely love to connect with you guys and even come to dinner at some point and.

Yeah.

You know, see what we can do to help each other. But you're right, like there's no point having this amazing ship if it doesn't even move. So that's it. That's what we're here for. We have one life, let's live it. We don't know what happens next, but we think there's something. I think there's something, but we don't know what. So.

Yep. And food shortages.

Yeah. Yeah, that's it.

I got bored of telling people about that and people go, all right, yeah. And you go, no. Like, you need to be prepared for that stuff. But it's. It's trying not to have a fear mode of be. Like, I'd rather be prepared for what comes, or better prepared. But so just quick. How can guys get hold of you? What's the best way?

Thank you. So, a few ways. So my website, if you can read this, or it's backwards, but fitroots F I T R double o t s.co.uk I'll be revamping it because we are changing towards the focusing purely online. So there's some info there how you can contact me, but otherwise Instagram, I'm on as Aidan, which is A I, D, A N and then L, L, E E, which is Aiden L Lee and that's my username, so you can find me there. So if you've been listening, you found this useful. Yeah, I'd love to connect with as many of you guys as possible. Just send me a message or follow me. It'd be cool to connect.

Perfect. I'll make sure I put it in the show notes. So, guys, can I try and make it. There's. There's. I've got a friend who lives close to me now called Barry who's really great with, like, creative design and he talked about a book called Don't Make Me Think and it was like, you know, make it as simple as possible for people to have to execute what they need. Like, you know, follow me here like this or click on this. So. So I'll make sure I put the links in so guys don't have to use their precious brain power to look for it. But, Aidan, I appreciate all your time. This won't be the last time we talk, I'm sure, and we will speak to you soon.

No, thank you so much and thanks for having me on. I'm really happy to be here and yet to see what the whole man academy is doing, so thank you, man.

It's a pleasure. Cheers.

Thanks for listening. Remember to sign up to our game Changing weekly E letter that's read by men around the world. Sign up at homeanacademy. Com Movement until next time.