In my last article I promised something for new guys so here it is, also if there’s anything you guys would really like me to cover then leave a comment and I’ll see about making a post .

To often do newbie and even intermediate guys focus on advanced concepts and ideas that either do nothing for them, or else make them seem weird without the fundamentals. In fact I suggest that all guys, including advanced, touch back on the fundamentals and make sure that they are either improving or not getting worse. This is a practice I do often actually. So exactly what are the fundamentals of game? I’ve thought about this and came up with the following…

-Body Language

-Tonality

-Eye Contact

-Light Kino (or touch) that isn’t creepy

-Vibing

-Being NORMAL

If you lack any of these six things then any other form of game is a complete waste of time. These six things make up the cake, the rest of game is the icing and decorating. Without the icing you might have a mediocre cake but with only the icing you don’t even have a cake. So lets break down each of these six things to get you started.

1. Body Language

In my mind there are two levels to Body Language. First thing to learn is the “Alpha” Body Language. Basically taking up space, chest out, chin up, back straight ect ect. There are countless articles and exercises out there to develop this, from the Alexander Technique to imagining a string running down your spine. The idea is to give off a dominant and powerful masculine energy that portrays confidence. Your nonverbal signs are 93% of your communication, your actual words being only 7%.

Now keep in mind that with all new skill sets in game you’re going to go overboard with everything and overdo it…this is actually a GOOD thing because you can only calibrate what’s appropriate by doing to much of something and then balancing it. If it’s not to much then you’re not pushing yourself and if it’s been to much for a while then you need to learn to tone it back down again.

The second level to learn once the first is down is how to relax. You don’t want to be the guy who constantly has to look like superman and is always caught on the idea of looking alpha. It’s time to relax your shoulders and develop more fluid carefree motions. The most powerful form of body language is looking completely at ease and comfortable in your own skin, again without it seeming try hard though. Later on once these are down you can learn more advanced body language for particular situations such as opening, rapport building, sexual, take away’s ect ect.

2. Tonality

This is by far one of the hardest to learn with the exception of “being normal” for some people. Speaking clearly without mumbling, talking in a loud and crisp voice, getting rid of any kind of stutter or pause fillers such as “uh” “um” “you know” “like” or anything similar. Your voice should also be animated and lively, if you have a monotonous voice then anything you say will be boring and people will not pay attention to you. Always try and speak from your diaphragm which is located between your chest and stomach, being nasal is the most unattractive voice quality. Finally having a deep voice will always help and it should sound strong and masculine. This is actually where I could still develop the furthest out of the six fundamentals and will probably take vocal lessons to improve my tonality, that’s how serious it is.

3. Eye Contact

Again there are two levels for this one. The first is basic eye contact where you are simply able to hold someones gaze, especially a girls. You shouldn’t be staring but instead be relaxed by it and give almost a curious energy through your eyes. Looking at her tits or ass will be doom for you, unless it’s done in an advanced way but again we’re focusing on the cake not the icing, and I even had a girl shit test me one time on this. I was on a date and the girl had double D tits and began jumping up and down in front of me acting happy. The entire time I kept my eyes locked on hers while smirking and finally she stopped and looked at me and said “very good”.

Keep in mind the eyes can betray submissiveness by darting your eyes away or especially by looking down. Once this is mastered then the second level would be sexual eye contact. This is hard to explain in words but it’s basically looking at a girl with your full desire for her being expressed through your eyes. It takes great confidence and nonverbally puts everything out on the table. With sexual eye contact you are still looking into her eyes and should have what’s called “laser eyes” where you maintain eye contact completely. With sexual eye contact even if she looks away your eyes should be focused on hers, this is not staring or being creepy about it though and can often be misinterpreted through writing. Best way to learn this is by watching movies and observing the actors eyes before he kisses the girl or even better going out in field and observing a natural. When you see a natural with a girl watch the way he looks at her and see if you can tell his strong sexual intent for her just from his eyes, if you can then you’re seeing it done right.

4. Light Kino

Many guys in field have one of the two problems. Either they can’t muster the courage to even touch a girl in any way or else they are incredibly aggressive and creep the girl out with uncomfortable kino. If you’re the first you MUST get over this and begin touching the girl. You should actually be touching not just her but everyone, even guys! Pats on the shoulder, elbow touches, light hand holds, upper back and the such. Basically if a guy can’t get light touch going how in the world does he expect to get sexual touching going. Also the longer you are in an interaction with a girl and not touching her the more precedent you set for NOT touching her and when you finally do it will be much more awkward and uncomfortable. This doesn’t mean you have to touch RIGHT from the approach, although you can, but definitely within the first 2-3 minutes.

For the aggressive guy just tone it down. This guy is definitely better then the first but women will often find you creepy. The reason for aggressive touching early on is either being drunk, way to sexual and horny, or trying to be “alpha”. If it’s the first then drink less or not at all. If it’s the second then really just try and control yourself, keep in mind that if you control yourself now you’ll be able to get all the touching you want later. For the third guy he needs to get over the idea of being so “alpha” and tone it down, if your aggressive kino hasn’t been working why not try it another way?

5. Vibing

This is basically being able to hold a normal and pleasant conversation without any motive. Can you talk with a girl comfortably about anything and engage in what is called “fluff talk”? If not then even though you have all these cool attraction routines and interesting stories she’ll become uncomfortable with you or else never see you as a real person. Vibing helps build familiarity and is a way to show that you’re normal (see number 6). Point blank if you can’t talk to a girl normally then how do you expect to talk to her in a way that makes her attracted to you? To practice this begin conversations with everyone and see how long you can keep it flowing while talking about every day things. Chances are though you already know how to vibe. Think of your conversations with your best friend or family member, pretty easy going and normal without an agenda. The idea is to duplicate that with a stranger and the best way I’ve seen is by assuming rapport and just talking to her as relaxed as possible without any investment or care in the interaction.

6. Being NORMAL

This is the hardest to teach for those trying to learn. Many guys who come into this community without having the average fundamental social skills and then begin learning advanced attraction material which makes them weird. No matter how much theory or routines you know if you can’t be normal with a girl she will see through you and want nothing to do with you. Some weirdness is OK though and shows individuality…it can be cute quirks to a personality. However for the most part you want to be a normal fun guy. Without that as the backbone of your game then NOTHING will work. The best way to develop being normal is to engage in a bunch of different activities so that you’re thrown in social settings. Also developing social circles is EXTREMELY useful. You should have social circles of normal cool guys (not the D&D buddies sorry) as well as social circles of attractive girls. It’s OK to be in the friend zone, you WANT female friends. You will not become normal though by spending all your time discussing game with community guys or have the only idea of social interactions be from your nights of sarging.  Also developing a sense of humor and being aware of social feedback will help tremendously.

Alright so those are the fundamentals and I suggest everyone, no matter what your skill level is, to look into at least one of these things and try and improve it. These are all seriously the frames that hold up your game and if one should weaken due to lack of attention or development then it will all come down.

-Jarett aka Psych

I write this post with a heavy heart.  One of my good friends from the community, Dreamweaver, passed away this morning after a long battle with Brain Cancer.

Dreamweaver (or Seth, as his friends knew him) was at the very first pick-up workshop I ever took.  He was young, good-looking, funny, and full of life and energy.  When his brain tumor was discovered, it was a shock to everyone.

Despite the odds, Dreamweaver lived longer than all the doctors expected, and during that time, he fulfilled his goal of directing a feature film, and he was working on a new film based on his experiences in the seduction community when he passed away.

Whenever I saw Seth, he was always in good humor about his condition, even after brain surgery which permanently disfigured his head, and harsh chemo therapy which ravaged his skin, he was always someone who was quick to joke and cheer people up around him, when we should have been the ones to try and make him feel better.

Dreamweaver also played an important role in Neil Strauss’s book, the Game.  He was someone everyone in the Project Hollywood era knew and admired, and I was lucky enough to consider him a friend.

My prayers go out to his family at this difficult time.  I’m told his final hours were quite traumatic for those who cared for him, especially his mother and his girlfriend.

I hope those of you who knew Seth will take a moment and offer him and his family your best wishes in this trying time.

Farewell, Seth.  You will be missed.

Okay, back in September I posted a little thread about how crazy Stephane has become and the meltdown he experienced after Ghita finally got away from the guy.  As of this writing, that was 5 MONTHS AGO.  Since then, I have given very little thought to that post, and have not posted anything about it until now.  It seems that even though that silly little post is old news to me, Stephane is still obsessing over it.

I’ve recently been getting very strange emails from the guy.  The tone of them is wildly schizophrenic.  He’ll refer to me as “his enemy” in one sentence, and then practically beg me to take down my blog post in the next.

Him and his “wife” (I didn’t even know the guy was married) have made a concerted effort to try and contact people affiliated with me and get them to stop “promoting” my website in an effort to destroy me.

Not only that, they’ve been trying their best to “defame” me and my business where-ever they can, including this very blog.  Stephane whines I’m not letting him share “his side” of the story, even though I don’t edit any replies made to my postings.

Whatever.  I really don’t care.  Better men than Stephane have come after me, and failed.  They can do what they want to try and “defeat” me or whatever.  I know they’ll fail.  Why?  Because they did not make me succeed, so they can’t take away anything I’ve earned through my own hard work - no matter how much they lie about me.  I’m used to people lying about me and defaming me.  It comes with the territory I guess.

So I’d have never bothered to blog about this loser again - except for the fact that now I’m getting reports that he’s threatening OTHER bloggers out there who picked up on how crazy he is.

Lots of reports about crazy, threatening emails and even phone calls threatening to come over to their houses with a crew of thugs - all because people are posting… the truth?

Stephaker has literally lost his mind.

If this is the way he operates, the guy deserves to go out of business, if you ask me.  Attacking me is one thing, but attacking OTHER people?  That’s inexcusable.  Stephaker now has the distinction of being just as bad as Ross Jeffries, which is saying a lot - considering how evil MINE’99 is.

I would encourage everyone out there - IGNORE anything and everything this Stephane guy does.  His threats are empty.  Do not let “fear” keep you from speaking out about him.  Steve Piccus, just the other day, told me something very sage:  The blog is mightier than the fraud.  I’m convinced Stephane is an unstable, habitual LIAR, and the only way to stop a liar is to reveal the truth and never let him bully you.

Please put this lunatic in the same category as every other sociopath out there.  Do not read his emails, do not respond to his posts, and do not give him any money.  Just make him go away - for good.  The guy can always get a job at McDonalds.

Ghita learned that once she got away from this guy, life was good.  Life can be good for all of us if we just ignore this crazy and get on with our lives.  So don’t let him bully you!  Stand up against him, and tell him to Fuck Off.

A real sound “inner game/spiritual guru” would not resort to threating people in such petty ways.  Shame on you Stephane.

Hey Guys,

For the new year I thought I’d tackle one of the first problems people experience within game and slowly move through the topics throughout the rest of 2009.

Are you afraid of approaching someone you like through a fear of rejection?

Do you get that horrible feeling in your stomach and begin to formulate 100 reasons why someone wouldn’t want to talk to you?

This is a lot more common than you would believe. There are a number of different products out there which will supposedly “fix” the fear of approaching strangers, especially ones you are attracted to. However, few of them take the time to understand why we have that fear in the first place. If you understand why you have this fear or anxiety, you can take steps to counter it. This is probably the biggest topic when it comes to understanding attraction. Well, that is to say, it is the one that most people have the biggest problem with. I constantly receive the same excuses time and time again when it comes to this subject.

1) I’m scared of approaching

2) I have a fear of rejection

3) They aren’t in the mood to be spoken to

4) She won’t think I look good enough

5) I can’t meet people in a park/cinema/night club

6) I’m not good enough for him/her

7) There’s no point, it won’t work

These are probably the most common reasons I am given as to why someone can’t approach, or the feeling that is preventing them from approaching. The fact that these are so prevalent is because they are all based on very real psychological factors to do with learning and behaviour.

Anxiety is defined by Seligman, Walker and Rosenhan (2001) as a physiological state characterized by cognitive, somatic, emotional, and behavioral components. These factors essentially make up the feelings that we experience as fear, apprehension, and worry.

There are some physical sensations that you will probably be aware of such as heart palpitations, nausea, chest pain, shortness of breath, sweaty palms, shaking and perhaps headaches. These may be common to you. Some people will disguise these by making a decision not to approach. This will relieve the sensations and instead leave a sort of “numbness” to the situation.

Sigmund Freud himself believed that these anxious feelings were created by an association between a past negative experience and the current situation. These associations are often false and not related through causality - the idea that one situation directly affects another, but through correlation - one thing “tends to affect another over repeated attempts.”

When people begin to see this correlation as a fact, it is commonly referred to as “Magical Thinking.”

There are two governing principles behind magical thinking. The first is the law of similarity which is the notion that things that resemble each other are casually connected in some way that defies scientific testing.

For example:

Here people will typically see vertical columns of squares and circles as opposed to horizontal mixed rows of squares and circles.

The second law is the law of contagion which is the belief that “things that have been in physical contact or in spatial or temporal association with other things retain a connection after they are separated.” Contagion effects have been noted to be more effective with negative associations than with positive ones. This is probably best explained by the notion of getting “bad luck” or having a bad time every time you go to a specific venue.

Freud believed that the anxiety or fear was maintained through a form operant conditioning. Essentially the feeling of anxiety is reinforced every time you are in a similar situation. You then “learn” to remove the negative feeling of anxiety by not approaching. These connections of patterns, or “magical thinking,” are common throughout all the human societies across the world. The human brain is adept at forming these patterns, though we do not have a particularly good system for distinguishing between real and perceived connections. Theoretically this is due to a simple survival tactic. If we notice rustling behind a bush it is better for us to assume it is some form of threat and begin to prep our bodies to defend ourselves rather than ignore it and risk being eaten.

Our fear or anxiety response is actually designed to help us survive in a fight or flight scenario. Believe it or not the symptoms detailed earlier are all beneficial to us in times of survival. Perspiration occurs to help cool us down, heart rate increases to improve blood circulation and muscles tighten as they are filled with oxygen in preparation for use. Unfortunately these are not particularly beneficial when we are looking for something witty to say during a conversation with someone.

In short we learn the fear through a number of negative experiences and then reinforce them by not doing anything about it. The bodies natural reaction towards a fearful situation is the feeling we associate with approach anxiety or the fear of the approach. The way to overcome this is to reverse the learning.

All of the common problems detailed above can be directly related to either “magical thinking” in the form of a false belief that failure is almost certain due to some form of connection to a previous situation that failed. Or pure fear learnt and reinforced by not approaching. These are both forms of self fulfilled prophecy i.e. Unless you actively do something to fix it they will continue to support themselves. The good news is that this problem is far from unfixable.

The bad news is that it does take time. The easiest way to fix this is to actually go out and meet new people. The problem is that when you do this, any negative experience you receive is likely to reinforce the previous attitude or fear you had before. As I’ve mentioned before one of the easiest ways to get around this is to simply meet people for the sake of meeting people.

Most of us are actually more than happy to talk to other people, especially on boring long journeys, or when waiting in a long queue. Get used to talking to absolutely everybody, male or female, young and old. This should help you generate a great deal of positive responses to your approaches and help curb some of those negative connections.

I hope this helps guys,

Adam Lyons

(AFC Adam)

Welcome one and all to the Top 10 list of best Pick Up Artists for the year 2008!

2008 was a strange year - for me personally, and for a lot of others, I think.  In many ways, I’m glad the year is over.  But regardless of how good of a year it was, there were many people in the seduction community who continued to rise above petty squabbles and drama and actually help other men improve their lives and their success with women, and this list is a CELEBRATION of those men, who have helped others throughout the past year.

For those of you new to the list, let me explain how the rankings work.  It becomes very easy to get “caught up” in the hype of certain personalities, so I try and rank the Top 10 based on a number of criteria, which I believe must be present to be considered a good “PUA.”  So all of this years winners were ranked based on:

1.  In-Field Performance.  This is basically the skills the PUA displays in the field with women.  Most Top 10s deal with this factor exclusively, but I’ve found that just looking at a guy’s in-field performance can be misleading, since people have off-nights or can get lucky.  That said, their ability to use the techniques in field repeatedly and consistently to get results is a big, big factor in the ranking process.

2.  Innovations.  This is what new outlook or techniques the PUA brings to the table.  It’s easy for any new guy to get good using Mystery Method or any other school of seduction, but then again, that stuff is designed to work!  So being innovative and bringing a new twist, spin, philosophy, technique, or whatever to the mix is also a big deal, because that means the PUA actually has something to contribute to his students and the community as a whole that no one else does.

3.  Teaching Ability.  This is how effectively the PUA can teach what he does to other people, and have them get similar results.  This is another important factor, because it weeds out the people who are just the lucky naturals, and finds the PUAs who have something to offer humanity as a whole.  After all, I don’t care if a guy gets laid a lot.  I care if that guy can get ME laid a lot - and I think the same is true for you.  That is why I factor in the PUA’s ability to teach others into the ranking.

4.  Contributions To The Community.  This is a measure of how much the PUA “gives back” to others in the seduction community.  This factor is all about the PUA’s willingness to help others, the knowledge and experience he’s willing to share, and the compassion he shows to those who need help.  Too many PUAs look down on people not as successful with women as they are, and that’s not what the seduction community is about, so giving back to it should play a factor, in my opinion.

5.  Philosophy.  This comes down to the PUA’s outlook on life, women, and other men in general.  It’s about how they live their lives, and whether they’re consistent with it.  Some PUAs spout great philosophy, but don’t really believe in it or practice it.  But it’s that core foundations which will influence their students, so I believe this is important in factoring the rankings.

6.  Likability.  One of the things I base my ranking on is whether I actually like the PUA or not.  This is a subjective thing, but I feel its important, because there’s usually a reason I don’t like someone, and that reason has to do with them being a fake, fraud, evil bastard, or what have you.  I like to think I have a fairly decent “B.S. Radar,” so when I meet a PUA in person, I can usually tell if they are legit or not after getting to know them, which is why I tend to rank PUAs I have actually met in real life.  If I haven’t met them, I need to get good feedback from at least 3 sources I trust to make the decision to rank them in this category.

Okay, so now that you know how I rank the list, let’s get to it!

The Top 10 PUAs Of 2008!

1.  Brad P.

Choosing the #1 Pick Up Artist of 2008 was a difficult decision, since there were so many great choices, but in the end, I had to give the edge to Brad P.  Last year, I ranked Brad P. as #5, but in 2008 I really got to know Brad better and got to see what he was up to.

First off, I have to say that Brad is, in my opinion, the most prolific PUA working right now.  Not only does the guy have a workshop schedule that would make an Olympic Athlete break down and cry (yes, Brad actually teaches all his workshops himself), he also is able to produce an insane number of products teaching guys everything from planning the perfect date to what kind of clothes to wear out to the club.

Brad also has an excellent course which he calls his 30/30 club.  This is a monthly course where Brad himself actually makes the content - no minions do the work for him - and it is quite excellent.

Brad also is an incredible innovator.  When I first ranked him, I thought he was a borderline Mystery Method clone, but the more I got to learn about his methods, the more I saw that they were very original.  This is a guy who I believe will actually take the community in new and exciting directions in the future.

Brad is also a great teacher.  He has an uncanny knack for explaining what he does to others, and help them to get similar results.  The guy is also not afraid to demonstrate - on demand - his techniques.  Obviously, sometimes Brad crashes and burns (a fact he readily admits), but part of Brad’s charm is that he’s not the “uber guru” who can do the infamous five-out-of-five.  Rather, he’s a normal guy, but he tends to succeed more than he fails, and he does so with incredible creativity and good humor.

Brad is the type of guy who is willing to bend over backwards for his students.  He may be sick, exhausted, and not feel like approaching a girl, but if a student is in trouble, he’ll still push himself to demonstrate and show the guy how its done.

Brad also has a great attitude.  He readily talks about coming from a troubled upbringing which helped him form a very positive outlook on life and a great deal of self discipline.  There is no ego to Brad, which makes him very easy to relate to.  He really is the type of guy men want to be friends with and women want to be with, and he handles it extremely well.

Plus, Brad gets some wicked attractive girls.  It seems like every time I talk to the guy he’s got a different girl coming over, lol.

If you’d like to learn more about Brad P, you can visit his website at www.BradPPresents.com

2.  AFC Adam Lyons

Last year I debuted Adam at #3 in my Top 10 list, but this year he’s moved up to #2.  I must say, it was a hard decision NOT to give the guy the #1 spot this year, since Adam is, without a doubt, one of the hottest up-and-coming stars in the community in my humble opinion.

As some of you are well aware, Adam and I have become good friends since we first met in 2007, and he’s even co-hosted my podcast.  So surely, some people are going to cry fowl that I’m ranking him so highly.  To those people, I say - “If you don’t believe me, believe what you see for yourself.”

Adam has tons and TONS of video out on the internet that proves this guy’s skill.  Everything from a one-minute kiss close to getting a threesome, all with girls most guys would cut their right arm off to get a shot at.

Adam is, for lack of a better word, absolutely crazy.  He is the “mad genius” of pick up, willing to do whatever just to see if it works, so as an innovator, he’s at the top.  Most of this stems from the fact that Adam, more than any other PUA I’ve met, likes to have FUN, and as we all know, fun is attractive to women!

Speaking of which, Adam has been criticized by some because he’s one of the prominent PUAs out there with a real, live girlfriend.  The typical argument is “How can a guy with a girlfriend possibly teach me how to get girls?”  Well, speaking from experience, relationship game is like the uber-high-level mark of a master PUA, so a guy who’s in a healthy relationship with a girl is probably more qualified to teach others about women than most love-em-and-leave-em PUAs.

Adam has also been hard at work teaching workshops all over the world, and is a staple in the lairs and various events within the community.  This probably makes him the most accessible PUA out there for many.  He’s a prolific poster, and he’s willing to meet pretty much anyone.

Adman’s new website, AttractionExplained.com, is just getting going, but it’s sure to be a great resource with Adam teaching everyone through video instruction.  In fact, Adam has also appeared on a number of other products released in 2008 - none of which were his own!  So its obvious that not only does he have a lot to offer, but we’ve only scratched the surface of what Adam is going to be contributing to the community.

And when it comes to his students, very few others inspire such loyalty and devotion.  The fact is, much like Brad P., Adam’s students actually get RESULTS, which is the best indicator of whether a PUA is legit.  Adam’s “no game” game is easy to learn, effective, and super-fun to do.

Adam is also a great guy, who’s always got something fun and positive to say.  That great attitude, combined with his skills as a teacher and a pick up artist, make him one of the best out there in my opinion.  It will be interesting to see how he fares in 2009, especially against the likes of Brad P.

Learn more about Adam at www.AttractionExplained.com

3.  Style

Yes, what Top 10 list would be complete without the Godfather himself - Style!  I’m sure you’re all aware of my undying fondness of Neil and his skills, having ranked the man as #1 almost consistently since I started the Top 10 back in 2004.  Last year he lost out to Mystery, slipping to #2, and this year he drops one more point to #3.

But make no mistake - I was seriously considering ranking Style at #1 this year again.  After all, if you had a No-Holds-Barred Steel Cage match between Style, Brad P, and AFC Adam, I am convinced the only man left standing at the end would be Neil.  The sheer skill level this man has in social situations dwarfs anything seen by either Brad P. or Adam.

But alas, this ranking is not just about skill.  One of the unfortunate side-effects of being one of “the best” in the game is that you’ll naturally withdraw from the mere mortals who got you there in the first place.  Style was marginally quiet in 2008, mostly because he was writing some new books that had nothing to do with the Game.

However, through his Stylelife company, he still contributed a number of great works, and his seminars were amazing - crossing the “community” barrier to bring in speakers for various different aspects of a guy’s life, like health, fitness, work, time management, etc.

Neil also continues to pull some of the hottest girls I’ve ever seen, and considering that he’s getting older, not growing any more hair on his head, and still isn’t winning any modeling contracts, says a great deal about the guy.

I know Style has gotten a lot of flack recently - mostly from Barry Kirkey, but a good bit from Stephane and other haters as well - but darn it!  I still like the guy!  And I think he’s got a lot to offer others, when he wants to.  Probably the reason I ranked him at #3 is because Style is not as forthcoming as he used to be when it comes to interacting with the community, and we’ve seen very little innovation from the guy in 2008 (though he usually keeps his new stuff to himself, to be fair).

Regardless, there is still no one better in the community to study and learn from than Style, in my humble opinion.  I am still amazed at this guy’s skill, and he was just narrowly beat out this year by two rising stars.

Learn more about Style at:  www.StyleLife.com

4.  Mystery

Like Style, no Top 10 list would be complete without Mystery!  The original Grandmaster Poo-Ah of the community is still alive and kicking, though he did drop out of the #1 spot from last year down to number four.  Why such a drop?

Well, I don’t think anyone can argue that 2007 was Mystery’s year.  But 2008 saw very little of the man.  The second season of his TV show came and went without much fan fare, the only major product his company released wasn’t even made by him, and he lost the lawsuit against his former business partner, and his company was forced to admit they misrepresented their claims against them.

On the brighter side of things, Mystery actually was back out in the field teaching workshops again, however, because of his celebrity the argument can be made that he doesn’t have to work too hard at it anymore.

Plus, we have seen almost NOTHING new from Mr. Marchovich in 2008.  He’s still dressing in the same clothes he was three years ago, he’s still teaching the same method he was back in the day, and very little has changed.

However, when it comes to pure raw talent with the ladies, personality, and teaching, it is hard to say there is anyone better than Mystery.  The guy pioneered many of the techniques that have been used and co-opted in other people’s systems.  In fact, I’d say that about 85% of all the material taught out there can be traced back to Mystery.  So even if he falls short on innovation, he’ll always have a solid standing because of the fact that almost everything taught in the community stems from his teachings.

I would really like to see Mystery contribute more to the community in 2009, and have him show us something new.  I think if he could do that, he could re-claim the top spot next year.

To learn more about Mystery, please visit:  www.VenusianArts.com

5.  Sinn

Yes, we have a new edition to the list this year!  The one-and-only (well, the one and only with two “n”s in his name) Sinn!

2008 saw Sinn break away from his position as Top Instructor at the Love Systems company, and break out on his own.  Since then, the guy has been firing up a storm of controversy, not only with hilarious (and sometimes instructional) videos, but also with his willingness to talk smack about pretty much everybody he hates in the community.

Despite the firestorm around him, I have heard amazing things about Sinn.  I’ve met him once and talked to him on the phone a few times, but its what I hear from a number of trusted sources that really makes me sit up and take notice of this guy.

Just glancing at his amazing blog, you can see the knowledge and skill this guy has, and his contributions to the community seemingly never end.  His core foundations are still in Mystery Method, but he is taking it to new and exciting places.  (Like, the bathroom, for instance.  LOL)

I also hear very good things about his skill as an instructor.  The students who train with him seem to almost always have glowing reviews about their experiences.

I was really looking forward to hanging out with the guy in a more social atmosphere in 2009.  Unfortunately, when he was in town, I was called away because of a death in my family, and that never happened.  But Sinn, if you want to come and party for a weekend in LA, you got my number bro.

Frankly, I think Sinn has the potential to be a real player in the next Top 10 list for 2009.  If you’d like to learn more about Sinn, you can go to:  SinnsOfAttraction.com

6.  Swinggcat

Down from #4 last year is Swinggcat.  Why the two-point drop?  Well, the biggest reason is because of Swinngcat’s lack of participation in the community.  2008 saw one new product release, no new articles, no forum posts, no blog entries, and no appearances at any community events.

In fact, the only reason for ranking Swinggcat at all for 2008 is based on his skill as a PUA.  Other than Brad P, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone who goes out to pick up women as much.  The sheer number of women passing through Swinggcat’s bed night after night is mind boggling.  If the guy ever decideds to write a book detailing every sexual encounter he has, I’ll be the first in line to buy it, because when he tells me about them in person, they are the most funny, fascinating, and interesting examples of master attraction game you can ever hear.

The fact remains that there are very few people in the community as talented as Swinggcat when it comes to generating attraction with a girl at will.  The man is an evil genius.  I believe he updated his ebook in 2008 to reflect the changes he’s made to his game, so he trying to make an attempt to keep teaching the best he has to offer, I just wish he’d be a little more outgoing with his students.

If you’d like to learn more about Swinggcat, you can go to:  www.RealWorldSeduction.com

7.  Cajun

Another new face on the Top 10 this year is Love Systems instructor Cajun.  I must admit, I have never met Cajun in person, but the buzz surrounding him is louder than a passing freight train.

I was scheduled to speak at the Love System’s superconference in 2008, and Cajun was one of the guys I was secretly very interested in meeting.  Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away, and his funeral was the weeked I was scheduled to attend the event, so I missed out on my opportunity.

That said, I’ve found it hard to find someone who’s had anything BAD to say about Cajun and his skills.  The first example Nick Savoy gave me of the quality of Love System’s instructors was Cajun, and he’s appeared on numerous television shows flaunting his skills.

Not only that, but his students seem very impressed with him.  I’ve been reading workshop reviews of the guy, and I’m hard pressed to find one that didn’t have good things to say.

Could Cajun be a player in 2009?  Quite possibly.  I really want to keep a good eye on him and see what he has to offer.

You can learn more about Cajun at: www.LoveSystems.com

8.  David Wygant

I struggled with whether or not to put David Wygant on the list this year.  The man will be the first to admit that he isn’t a “pick up artist,” so to speak.  And there are some traits about him that worry me a little.  However, I cannot argue that the man has game.

First of all, David is probably the OLDEST person on this list, being in his mid-to-late 40s.  Yet, he still is able to get some very attractive women.  The guy is also Mr. Charisma.  Give him a minute to talk your ear off, and you can’t help but be enraptured by the guy.

Out of all the people on the list, David Wygant is most like “Hitch” from the movie.  He doesn’t do bootcamps, focusing on the one-on-one dating doctor style.  David puts more of a focus on Day Game, and meeting women naturally as you go about your life.  He tends to stay out of the bar/club scene (a factor which is older clients really love).  In fact, he says the best place to meet women is while waiting in line!

Probably the biggest reason I decided to rank David in this year’s list is because 2008 saw him actively reaching out to the Seduction Community.  He’s begun to be more involved, not only as a guest speaker at seminars, but also in other people products, making a notable appearance in videos created by both Mehow and Johnny Wolf.

The one criticism I have of David’s game is that I’ve found he tends to rely too much on his dog as prop.  Seriously, he takes his dog EVERYWHERE.  His typical MO is to sit outside with his dog at a coffee shop and wait for girls to come up and start playing with his pooch.  That’s not to say he can’t get a girl without the dog, he certainly can, but this just seems like a lazy technique to me.

That being said, there is no denying David’s skill as both a PUA and a teacher.  His website is full of great information, ranging from his blog to his product.  David is also notable because he gives free lifetime email support to his clients.  The man spends most of his time on his Blackberry answering questions from frazzled clients, fer crying out loud.

I can also see David really striking a chord with the older crowd in the community, since he’s probably the oldest guy out there (legitimately) teaching this stuff.

You can find out more about David at:  www.DavidWygant.com

9.  Zan

Another mainstay on the Top 10 is Zan, who drops this year to #9 from #7.  Why the drop?  Well, its not because Zan has gotten worse or diminished in skill in any way.  Its just that there were 8 others who I felt had more to contribute than Zan did in 2008.

The fact remains that Zan is still one of my all-time favorite teachers of the art of seduction.  You’ll be hard pressed to find a man more awesome than Zan.  The dude is always positive, always glowing with great energy, and always supportive.  I honestly don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who did NOT like Zan, which is quite a feat considering the politics in the seduction community.

When it comes to philosophy and life outlook, Zan is hands-down #1.  His attitude puts all the others to shame.  The only reason to rank Zan so low is because his strengths as a PUA are SO philosophical, they are hard to teach.  That’s not to say Zan can’t teach them - he does, and quite well I might add.  But someone who does not have good confidence in themselves will be hard-pressed to put them into action.

Zan is also the second oldest person on the list, yet I always see him with very attractive young women.  I’m sure most of you know Zan is famous for having 6 girlfriends, all at one time, who knew about each other AND had sex with each other (and him of course).  Very few PUAs can inspire that kind of behavior in women, and Zan is one of them.

Zan was also very busy traveling in 2008, making appearances at a number of community events.  Zan has always been great at “giving back” to other guys, even when there’s nothing in it for him, which makes him a superstar in my book.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to rank him higher next year.

To learn more about Zan, you can visit:  www.EnlightenedSeduction.com

10.  Nick Savoy

Again, probably another PUA I’d rank higher on the list if I had gotten more of a chance to check him out inn action this past year.  I’ve known Nick for some time, but never really thought of him as a PUA until recently.  Now that he is no longer in Mystery’s shadow, he’s stepped up to shine as a pick up artist in his own right.

Savoy is another PUA who has a girlfriend, who is also a porn star (though I don’t know if she’s just a girl who does porn, or who is actually a well-known adult actress).  So the fact that he can actually have a relationship with a girl who works in a crazy industry like that says a lot about his ability to regulate his relationship when he needs to.

Savoy also put on two super-conferences for Love Systems in 2008, which is a great way to give back to the community.  His operation of the Love Systems company has really given a lot of positive light to the seduction community, such as his famous appearance on the Dr. Phil show, which made him look like an angel when compared to the vile Mine’99.

Savoy is also known for picking up a runway model at the Playboy mansion in 2008, and he’s also getting a reputation for threesomes as well.  Hopefully, if all goes well in 2009, I’ll get to see his game for myself and give him a more fair ranking next year.  But right now, I have to rely on what I hear.

To learn more about Savoy, you can go to:  www.LoveSystems.com

Other Notable 2008 Milestones

Best Community Portal:  Revolution 31

2008 gave us the rise of Barry Kirkey.  Some may think that’s actually a BAD thing, but gosh darn it, I still laugh my ass off at Barry, even when he’s giving me some undeserved shit.  But you can’t deny that no one has taken the scene by storm like Barry has.  His goof of a podcast quickly turned into the undeniable center of community drama.  His shows range from brilliant to barely listenable, but his genius as a commentator and humorist never fails to come through.  That, and the fact that he’s actually got the discipline to put on a full blown show every day is nothing short of astounding.

Best New Pick Up Artist:  Psych

I never heard of Psych until this past year, but since then I’ve heard nothing but good things.  His videos lampooning RSD’s Alex are things of legend, and his skills have been touted to me by more than a few people who’s opinions I trust.  I hope 2009 will bring us more of him.

Best Product Of 2008:  Brad P’s 30/30 Club

Okay, aside from my own products (hey, I’m biased, so sue me!) I thought the hands down, best product of 2008 was the release of Brad P’s 30/30 club.  Seriously, this course is one of the best, most intense training for in-field pickup that probably exists in the community.  And it just seems to be getting better month to month.  I can’t help but wonder - how will Brad P top this in 2009?  How will ANYBODY top this in 2009?  I guess we shall see.

Best Community Drama: Stephane’s Meltdown

2008 saw a number of amazing dramas unfold, but none better than the meltdown of Stephane and Ideagasms.  I don’t think anything comes close to hearing about the relationship meltdown of the so-called “Spiritual Guy,” him being revealed to be an abusive, drug addled fraud, his ex girlfriend running around causing him to post insanely psychotic jealous rants on his blog, and his lame attempts to justify his behavior.  Not since the Mine’99 Vs. The Return Of Bishop have I had as much fun watching someone self-destruct.  Let’s just hope Stephane stays in Canada and can’t get his hands on a gun anytime soon.

Contest Winners

Craziest Drama Winner:  Paul

Paul had a great write-up about the RSD drama with Alexander and his infamous “Oy, Minger” video.  Congratulations, Paul, you win $100!  Email me for info on how to collect.

Paul wrote:
The biggest drama has happened when Alexander of RSD released his infamous demonstration of what the skillset of RSD instructors really look like.

Here is the video they have repeatedly tried to hide from the public:

http://video.google.es/videoplay?docid=3582779967328566084&ei=LZVjSciFBqXy2wK5mv3LAQ&q=alexander+rsd

This created so much drama in Papa’s head, that he actually contacted youtube to notify copyright infringement (which is stupid, but whatever). This actually caused Donovan from over at Seductionchronicles to lose his youtube account.:)

In case someone wants to review all the drama all that video created over at RSDNation, here you can read the closed thread where Alexander defends the video.
He is so full of shit, that even some of the RSD sheeps had to call him out,lol.

http://www.rsdnation.com/showthread.php?t=26581

Summary: Biggest drama of 2008 is the Alexander video, which finally proved the level of competence of all the RSD crew: ZERO.

Cheers,

Paul

Best New PUA Winner:  J

J made a fantastic case for Glen P. as the best new PUA of 2008.  Congratulations, J!  You win $100!  Email me for info on how to collect.

J wrote:
Glenn P is the best new PUA. I don’t think he’s new in terms of the community, but for blowing up this year…it’s got to be him since Brad’s company just blew up too. He’s Brad P’s coach out here in NYC. He’s made a name for himself based on his reputation…he rarely post on the boards if ever…he’s been idle and only works with Brad’s 30/30 members now. Each of his workshops sell out and his reviews are great. I’ve worked with him and he pretty much runs the workshop for 6-8 guys with assistant coaches helping along the way.

Why do I think he’s so good? Well his postings are all value add. He replied to people’s post. I’ve actually used his eye contact post http://www.theattractionforums.com/discussion/62542-eye-contact-2.html

Every guy that gets into the community is scared of the hottest girls - he has a post on that too! http://www.theattractionforums.com/discussion/62249-pua-advice-needed-hb6s-7s-10s-how-move-up.html

He has a bunch of podcast on ApproachAnxiety and audio field reports of him in action from opening, to flirting, to closing. I could put them here but you need to dig and look this guy up cause he’s the real deal.

His workshops consistently help guys get laid or push them far beyond their limits. He’s a very spiritual guy and has a successful career…he’s definitely doing this for the self-help aspect of it for the guys out there. Glenn was once like us. But he’s worked hard and has even contributed to LoveSystems Routine’s Manual coming up with some new stuff.

Also, he does lair lectures. I hear lots of guys get something out of them. You can see his reviews: http://www.nycsargeteam.com/showthread.php?t=277&highlight=glennp

If he’s not the best new PUA, he’s definitely on his way to the rankings if he keeps his eyes on the prize…but I don’t think he really even cares…

So to summarize
Head coach for unknown company that just made it BIG
Sells out his workshops
Gets mad respect from the community
His post are value add. He doesn’t post to brag. Even his audio field reports give value…plus who else has posted audio field reports that are over 20 minutes long??
Self help guru - cares about students success
Taught by one of the best PUAs out there right now, Brad P
Rates are reasonable given his reputation

If you don’t know who he is yet…you will in 2009.

Best Product Winner: Twice

Twice made a great case for a product which I too thought was the best of 2008 (excluding my own products, of course! which was Brad P’s 30/30 club.  Congrats Twice!  You win $100!  Email me for details on how to collect.

Twice wrote:
I was an AFC, i’d been reading almost everything out there, i can say i was addicted
to any PUA product, Inner Game, Outer Game, Cold Approach, warm approach, club game, attraction, comfort, everything…results? NONE

Then i “met” online a Guy, actually i’ve just found his site, and it was written that in one month it was going to begin a new program…i fill the form and…WOW it was just amazing!! i’m still doing it, but i’d benn with some number closes, one kiss and one fuck close in 4 months…now after 9 months i’ve had 2 new girls in 6 days, and so many are waiting for

which product? Brad’s P. Club 30/30, it’s just open mind on everything, you take it, you’ll change your life! Every month you work on an aspect of your game, Identity, Fashion , Body language, voice tone, social freedon. one night stand, club game, one month one Big Goal!! with Brad, Glenn and the online coaches who helped you about everything.

The single ebook i consider the best one is with no doubt…”The adventures of Brad P.” the best lay report ever!!

Every info about it is on http://www.bradppresents.com/home.html and

cheers

Well, there you go, dear reader.  I hope you enjoyed this year’s list!  Be sure to tune in again next year when I unveil the Top 10 of 2009.

Hey guys,

Great job with the other contests!  We definitely have some winners there.  Remember, I’ll be announcing the winnners TOMORROW, along with the unveiling of the Top 10 PUAs of 2008.

But for now, how about another contest worth $100?

Tell me what you thought was the best product of 2008.  The course you got that changed your life forever!  One caveat is that the product had to have been released during 2008, so nothing from before that - even if its new to you!  Also be sure to include WHY you thought the product was so good, and mention where others can find it.

I may hold off until Sunday to announce the winner of this one since the Top 10 comes out tommorrow, unless of course someone writes a great entry really quickly, in which case I’ll just make the announcement along with the others.

Don’t forget - it is totally possible to win more than one contest!  That means if you enter all three with a good entry, you can get $300!

So be sure to check back tomorrow for the unveiling of the Top 10 list!  I’m sure it will surprise some people.

Hey guys,

Great job with the other contests!  We definitely have some winners there.  Remember, I’ll be announcing the winnners TOMORROW, along with the unveiling of the Top 10 PUAs of 2008.

But for now, how about another contest worth $100?

Tell me what you thought was the best product of 2008.  The course you got that changed your life forever!  One caveat is that the product had to have been released during 2008, so nothing from before that - even if its new to you!  Also be sure to include WHY you thought the product was so good, and mention where others can find it.

I may hold off until Sunday to announce the winner of this one since the Top 10 comes out tommorrow, unless of course someone writes a great entry really quickly, in which case I’ll just make the announcement along with the others.

Don’t forget - it is totally possible to win more than one contest!  That means if you enter all three with a good entry, you can get $300!

So be sure to check back tomorrow for the unveiling of the Top 10 list!  I’m sure it will surprise some people.

Hey guys,

So far, no winners on the Craziest Drama contests.  None of you guys really seem to be putting forth any effort in explaining what the best drama was and why it was so much fun.  I’m looking for PASSION, people!  I’ll be extending all contests deadlines to Friday and announcing the winnners at the same time as the unveiling of the Top 10 list to give people more time to participate.

Today’s contest is who you think the best new PUA on the scene in 2008 was.  You have to give their name, a detailed reason why you think they’re so good, and any links to back up your statements (blog posts, videos showing them doinng their thing, etc.)

Winner of this contest gets… $100!

So if you win both contests, that’s $200 smackers in your pocket.

Okay, back in September I posted a little thread about how crazy Stephane has become and the meltdown he experienced after Ghita finally got away from the guy.  As of this writing, that was 5 MONTHS AGO.  Since then, I have given very little thought to that post, and have not posted anything about it until now.  It seems that even though that silly little post is old news to me, Stephane is still obsessing over it.

I’ve recently been getting very strange emails from the guy.  The tone of them is wildly schizophrenic.  He’ll refer to me as “his enemy” in one sentence, and then practically beg me to take down my blog post in the next.

Him and his “wife” (I didn’t even know the guy was married) have made a concerted effort to try and contact people affiliated with me and get them to stop “promoting” my website in an effort to destroy me.

Not only that, they’ve been trying their best to “defame” me and my business where-ever they can, including this very blog.  Stephane whines I’m not letting him share “his side” of the story, even though I don’t edit any replies made to my postings.

Whatever.  I really don’t care.  Better men than Stephane have come after me, and failed.  They can do what they want to try and “defeat” me or whatever.  I know they’ll fail.  Why?  Because they did not make me succeed, so they can’t take away anything I’ve earned through my own hard work - no matter how much they lie about me.  I’m used to people lying about me and defaming me.  It comes with the territory I guess.

So I’d have never bothered to blog about this loser again - except for the fact that now I’m getting reports that he’s threatening OTHER bloggers out there who picked up on how crazy he is.

Lots of reports about crazy, threatening emails and even phone calls threatening to come over to their houses with a crew of thugs - all because people are posting… the truth?

Stephaker has literally lost his mind.

If this is the way he operates, the guy deserves to go out of business, if you ask me.  Attacking me is one thing, but attacking OTHER people?  That’s inexcusable.  Stephaker now has the distinction of being just as bad as Ross Jeffries, which is saying a lot - considering how evil MINE’99 is.

I would encourage everyone out there - IGNORE anything and everything this Stephane guy does.  His threats are empty.  Do not let “fear” keep you from speaking out about him.  Steve Piccus, just the other day, told me something very sage:  The blog is mightier than the fraud.  I’m convinced Stephane is an unstable, habitual LIAR, and the only way to stop a liar is to reveal the truth and never let him bully you.

Please put this lunatic in the same category as every other sociopath out there.  Do not read his emails, do not respond to his posts, and do not give him any money.  Just make him go away - for good.  The guy can always get a job at McDonalds.

Ghita learned that once she got away from this guy, life was good.  Life can be good for all of us if we just ignore this crazy and get on with our lives.  So don’t let him bully you!  Stand up against him, and tell him to Fuck Off.

A real sound “inner game/spiritual guru” would not resort to threating people in such petty ways.  Shame on you Stephane.

Hey Guys,

For the new year I thought I’d tackle one of the first problems people experience within game and slowly move through the topics throughout the rest of 2009.

Are you afraid of approaching someone you like through a fear of rejection?

Do you get that horrible feeling in your stomach and begin to formulate 100 reasons why someone wouldn’t want to talk to you?

This is a lot more common than you would believe. There are a number of different products out there which will supposedly “fix” the fear of approaching strangers, especially ones you are attracted to. However, few of them take the time to understand why we have that fear in the first place. If you understand why you have this fear or anxiety, you can take steps to counter it. This is probably the biggest topic when it comes to understanding attraction. Well, that is to say, it is the one that most people have the biggest problem with. I constantly receive the same excuses time and time again when it comes to this subject.

1) I’m scared of approaching

2) I have a fear of rejection

3) They aren’t in the mood to be spoken to

4) She won’t think I look good enough

5) I can’t meet people in a park/cinema/night club

6) I’m not good enough for him/her

7) There’s no point, it won’t work

These are probably the most common reasons I am given as to why someone can’t approach, or the feeling that is preventing them from approaching. The fact that these are so prevalent is because they are all based on very real psychological factors to do with learning and behaviour.

Anxiety is defined by Seligman, Walker and Rosenhan (2001) as a physiological state characterized by cognitive, somatic, emotional, and behavioral components. These factors essentially make up the feelings that we experience as fear, apprehension, and worry.

There are some physical sensations that you will probably be aware of such as heart palpitations, nausea, chest pain, shortness of breath, sweaty palms, shaking and perhaps headaches. These may be common to you. Some people will disguise these by making a decision not to approach. This will relieve the sensations and instead leave a sort of “numbness” to the situation.

Sigmund Freud himself believed that these anxious feelings were created by an association between a past negative experience and the current situation. These associations are often false and not related through causality - the idea that one situation directly affects another, but through correlation - one thing “tends to affect another over repeated attempts.”

When people begin to see this correlation as a fact, it is commonly referred to as “Magical Thinking.”

There are two governing principles behind magical thinking. The first is the law of similarity which is the notion that things that resemble each other are casually connected in some way that defies scientific testing.

For example:

Here people will typically see vertical columns of squares and circles as opposed to horizontal mixed rows of squares and circles.

The second law is the law of contagion which is the belief that “things that have been in physical contact or in spatial or temporal association with other things retain a connection after they are separated.” Contagion effects have been noted to be more effective with negative associations than with positive ones. This is probably best explained by the notion of getting “bad luck” or having a bad time every time you go to a specific venue.

Freud believed that the anxiety or fear was maintained through a form operant conditioning. Essentially the feeling of anxiety is reinforced every time you are in a similar situation. You then “learn” to remove the negative feeling of anxiety by not approaching. These connections of patterns, or “magical thinking,” are common throughout all the human societies across the world. The human brain is adept at forming these patterns, though we do not have a particularly good system for distinguishing between real and perceived connections. Theoretically this is due to a simple survival tactic. If we notice rustling behind a bush it is better for us to assume it is some form of threat and begin to prep our bodies to defend ourselves rather than ignore it and risk being eaten.

Our fear or anxiety response is actually designed to help us survive in a fight or flight scenario. Believe it or not the symptoms detailed earlier are all beneficial to us in times of survival. Perspiration occurs to help cool us down, heart rate increases to improve blood circulation and muscles tighten as they are filled with oxygen in preparation for use. Unfortunately these are not particularly beneficial when we are looking for something witty to say during a conversation with someone.

In short we learn the fear through a number of negative experiences and then reinforce them by not doing anything about it. The bodies natural reaction towards a fearful situation is the feeling we associate with approach anxiety or the fear of the approach. The way to overcome this is to reverse the learning.

All of the common problems detailed above can be directly related to either “magical thinking” in the form of a false belief that failure is almost certain due to some form of connection to a previous situation that failed. Or pure fear learnt and reinforced by not approaching. These are both forms of self fulfilled prophecy i.e. Unless you actively do something to fix it they will continue to support themselves. The good news is that this problem is far from unfixable.

The bad news is that it does take time. The easiest way to fix this is to actually go out and meet new people. The problem is that when you do this, any negative experience you receive is likely to reinforce the previous attitude or fear you had before. As I’ve mentioned before one of the easiest ways to get around this is to simply meet people for the sake of meeting people.

Most of us are actually more than happy to talk to other people, especially on boring long journeys, or when waiting in a long queue. Get used to talking to absolutely everybody, male or female, young and old. This should help you generate a great deal of positive responses to your approaches and help curb some of those negative connections.

I hope this helps guys,

Adam Lyons

(AFC Adam)