Recommended Readings & Websites

tigerguy · #1 09-18-2008, 06:25 PM

Last weekend I attended the LS bootcamp with Savoy and The Don. We also had Big Business and Rob. The bootcamp was incredible - it gave me the tools to seriously change myself, and I have begun that process. After taking the seminar, I interact differently with my friends, and as a result they look at me differently, in a good way. I have been able to cultivate the alpha male characteristics that The Don talked about in the first day of class, which, coupled with the knowledge I gained from the seminar and in-field portions of the weekend, have upped my game and put me on a new level. I have systematically attracted several women to me, and kiss-closed a girl that I have known for 3 years after bringing her back to my place the other night. I have learned how to play the game - last night I was running high level game, and as a result had two girls (7s) chasing after me. I had choice, which is what I wanted out of the weekend.

Like most things, you can't be lazy over the weekend and wait for things to come to you - you need to work for it. The same is true now, one week after the bootcamp. The take-home here is that if you go to a bootcamp, you will be given all the tools you need to change your love life and attract beautiful women. It is up to you to follow up and put the work in.

Some thoughts on the instructors, who were open books for the entire weekend:

Savoy: incredibly knowledgeable. This guy GETS IT. He pushed me into sets on the second night, which is exactly what I needed. We all know how bad approach anxiety can be, but the only way to get over it is to just sack up and open. In Savoy's words, "What is the first thing you do when you see an attractive woman? MOVE YOUR FEET." He encouraged me to not even think about what I was going to say, but to just open and improvise on the spot. Incredible advice and a great guy. I got the sense that Savoy really cared about each of us and our progress. On the last day, he asked us, "is there any reason that you cannot reach your goals?" Some of us voiced our concerns, and Savoy addressed them. He asked the question again, and we all replied, "no." He told us to write that down. That stuck with me.

The Don: like my big brother all weekend. I got the sense that we had known each other for years after talking to him once, and that feeling never faded. The Don has incredible game. He is extremely centered; nothing can shake his reality. This had a big impact on me over the weekend because before doing the bootcamp, I was overly worried what everyone thought of me. The Don's example has played a big part in my ability to change myself following the bootcamp. I don't give a shit what anyone thinks of me anymore, and I have been following The Don's advice of just speaking with the goal of entertaining myself. As a result, I have been able to attract multiple girls and gain a sense of respect from everyone that I talk to. I am almost in awe of the transformation I have made, and it wouldn't have been possible without The Don's example.

Big Business: so funny, had top-notch game, and taught me how to be funny in my interactions with girls. Big Business also took time to review a few of my sets with me, and go over what I could have done differently in every situation. I also got the sense that I was good friends with BB. He is especially talented at humor, and gave us advice on how to be funny ourselves and improvise in sets.

Rob: funny and encouraging, also full of knowledge. I spent a lot of time with Rob on the first night, and he gave me some great feedback on a few of my sets that I implemented in all following sets. He told some great stories, and was great at relating to people. He also gave me a good run-down of his own views on the first night, which really set me at ease.

Guys, I can't thank you enough. If I had known how great this seminar would be before the weekend started, I would not have hesitated to pay above and beyond the $3k for the seminar. I strongly encourage anyone who is considering taking a seminar to take one.

Braddock · #2 09-18-2008, 07:21 PM

I bet this was sick!!! Rare you get this many instructors on one Bootcamp. Wish I could have been there, I bet you guys had a blast!!!!

-Braddock

The Don · #3 09-21-2008, 02:14 PM

You did great last weekend. Now reap the rewards from the gaggles of sorority gals you've been eying for the past 3 years...

market maker · #4 09-21-2008, 02:46 PM

Tigerguy is on the mark with his assessment, plus I have to give props to Fader for making a guest appearance at one of the seminar sessions and giving some great tips on short term attraction.

Also the weekend was fun as hell, it was just a bunch of cool guys with a common goal hanging out and having a good time. Because of this, I did not have to be concerned with approval from the girls that I opened- they couldn't change the fact that I was having a good time.

The best part of the program is that they break things down and make it relatively simple- when I first read Magic Bullets the whole process seemed so complex and overwhelming. I reached comfort with one girl, which was rad because she seemed to think that everything I shared about my life was the coolest stuff she had ever heard, which never happened when I was using choady approaches at bars.

This really changed my perception of pickup from a daunting enigma to a fun game, it's just too bad that I can't hang out with these guys every weekend.

Valo · #5 09-22-2008, 08:46 PM

Hey I'll post my thoughts as well. I'm the lone Canadian guy in case anyone who was there is curious...
It was well worth the money. I've been a bit of a keyboard jockey for about a year, making modest improvements in my game at best. Right now I feel inspired and motivated, and have finally gotten some solid critique and direction as opposed to constant trial and error... I'm certain it jumped me months ahead of where I would be otherwise.
So, in more detail, here we go...

Seminar - Most of the theory was review for me, but they threw in lots of new specifics, ie. fresh openers, fresh transitions, and some approach techniques I hadn't heard of before. The most helpful aspect of the seminar portion for me was seeing the material applied live. The Don impressed me the most with this. I was sitting in the front the whole time and the guy is so compelling that even the oldest opener aimed at me in the most rhetorical situation really made me want to come up with something of an answer.

In-field - I figured dropping $3000 would be my main anxiety killer, but I was more concerned with not letting the instructors down, as they really convey a genuine interest in your progress. I wanted to see some great demos, but quickly realized during the demos that these are actual people and there are no hidden cameras/microphones so you can't really get the full picture of what's going on. Besides, if the instructors are gaming girls, they can't really be helping you out. I was satisfied by Big Business as the only un-attached instructor closing one of the hottest ladies in the bar on the second night (off the clock no less!) Mind you, don't expect to see girls pawing at these guys and dragging them out of the bar after the opener. It seems to take solid work for them too, and they made no claims to perfection.

What I got the most out of the in-field was grabbing instructors and doing sets with them, which was much better than a demo. I did a few with Big Business, and one with The Don. They were all super-fun. I went up to a cute Asian 2 set with "You guys seem fun, are you friendly?" (I was trying more direct stuff at the time) - To which they replied, "No, we're bitches" in the bitchiest way possible. My hamster was spooling up for a great comeback but The Don was already prepared with something like "Oh good, we're assholes, so we're all going to get along great!" It worked like a charm.

The main reason I chose this one was for Savoy, and he delivered. I loved his reaction to a couple hot journalists who joined us late in the last seminar. The spunky one was apparently offended something he said and blurted out "That is such bullshit!" He immediately told her to shut it (in a polite manner) and 15 mins later she came out with "That would sooo work!" to one of his threesome-inducing tactics. It seemed he had won her over just from his teaching alone. In-field I just happened to work the most with Big Business due to the way the group got divided, and I felt no need to hear from Savoy as the most experienced instructor. Big Business was awesome, totally recommended.

A couple minor critique points - I'm still waiting on my lounge password a week after returning home, so I’m off to email about that after this. As well, I signed up on a Saturday and didn't get the details info until Monday afternoon. Seems like it would be possible to set up an auto-reply with the details (and would be a nice warm-fuzzy after dropping a $950 deposit online), but you could also blame my last-minute planning. As much as I told myself I probably wasn’t going to instantly be able to take home a 10/10 Broadway dancer, I always have those delusions of grandeur in the back of my head. Rest assured, I didn’t get laid, didn’t even kiss a girl. However, Savoy told us he wouldn’t let us stay in the same set for 3 hrs. Getting laid seemed to be a bonus, not the goal. The second night I chatted with more sets for more time than I ever have in one night by a long shot, and I know what went right and what went wrong, and how to make those wrong things right. And that’s exactly what I signed up for!

Elwood · #6 09-23-2008, 02:57 PM

Great experience. Completely worth the $$$. I was very impressed with Magic Bullets, and that's why I was willing to travel cross-country to do a bootcamp with Savoy. I had previously read the Venusian Arts, and I could see the value there, but I think that book was more tailored to Mystery's particular style. I could imagine *him* doing and saying all those things, but it was hard to see myself doing it. Magic Bullets went a long way toward explaining the principles in a way that seemed more applicable to different people and different situations. Same basic concepts, but it was a lot easier to put myself in that picture and relate it to my own experiences, and my own successes and failures.

So I knew the next step was to see some real-life examples, and I made the leap to take the bootcamp. Best decision I could have made. I got to see that there really is *no* magic to this. When you read these routines in print, they are never anything like what it feels like in practice. In practice, it just feels like socializing and light, playful interaction. If you have the balls to approach and just run your material, the women will almost always pay attention, and if you do just a few things right, they will be enthusiastic, because you're leading the conversation and being interesting. Then you run out of material, and you revert to your AFC habits, and you lose the set. But you know *why* you lost it. And you know what to do next time.

I feel like I have more to rebuild than some others might, because I've spent the last several years building my business, with most of my time spent alone behind a computer, and after a time that starts to make you somewhat socially awkward. But I truly walked away from each set feeling much more confident, and it was immediately clear to me that it was possible for me to change my ways.

So, I'm sold, and having it to do over, I would spend the money again.

A few critical points:

I got the sense that things weren't organized as well as they could be. First night out, we split into two groups, and my group spent a lot of time in taxicabs jumping to different clubs. Understood that you have to find a place with enough sets that the students don't blow the place out, and rain was an issue (kept some of the women away). Maybe it was unavoidable, but that was somewhat disappointing. There was also some overlap in the material covered by different speakers at different times in the seminar. I could see there was an effort made to avoid this, but if the time were planned out in advance, this would be less of an issue.

I would have appreciated more drilling. At some point on the second night, some of us were standing around, and Big Business used the time to have us do some practice approaches, just to the other guys in the group. I actually got my best feedback there, because he saw very closely what I was doing. I think it would be a great idea to build this into the seminar portion, so when we hit the field, we already have an idea what some of our strengths and weaknesses are.

Also, like Valo, I'm still waiting on my Lounge access. Savoy told me I should get it today.

Ok, so now you have my Monday morning quarterbacking, make of it what you will. Overall, it was great meeting all you guys, and come look me up in L.A. for some serious sarging.

Elwood

Savoy · #7 09-25-2008, 12:36 PM

Thanks for the kind words everyone, and the feedback.

We had someone out of the office last week, which is why the lounge access was slow. Please email me if you still haven't gotten it.

Glad you all had a great time and learned lots. See you in the lounge.