The Varg Freeborn Podcast

Just a quick episode talking about developing authenticity in the stories we tell ourselves, and how to achieve our vision with genuine intent

A recent celebrity event has brought out a chorus of responses that I simply disagree with. This is a quick and dirty episode on that topic.

In this episode I get the unique experience of letting one of my strength and fitness clients interview me a little about as we talk about his progress and some great details about programming and strength & fitness training. Daniel Shaw is also a well known gunfight instructor in the firearms training world, a combat vet and a very knowledgeable guy all around. This was a new level of discussion about these topics that I really enjoyed.

In this episode I talk specifically about my remote coaching program for strength and fitness conditioning, including the introduction of my new program Team JACKED, a super affordable team-based way to get strong and fit. I also talk about what gets under my skin about barbell training in the current era of fitness and, in my humble opinion, what we've lost along the way.

This episode is a live after action review with multiple students that attended my Force on Force CQB course at the Alliance Police Facility shoothouse May 16-17. We talk in depth about some of the takeaways and memorable moments of the class, as well as discuss the class structure and what the next class will look like. (Note: this is a LIVE recording, so please excuse the audio quality as there were multiple participants on various devices.)

In this episode I sit down with one of the clients of my remote fitness coaching program. Johnny has achieved some phenomenal results in a few short months, and that was after him training at a very high level of effort for nearly a decade. We talk about how we achieved new goals, PRs and how multi-method training has been for him after 10 years of exclusively Crossfit style training.

In this episode I break my silence about COVID 2020 and talk about what I see happening. In particular, I take a look at the qualities we work to build on the range and in the gym, and how those same characteristics are what we need to get through the longer term challenges of life. That fight that lasts 7 seconds or 7 minutes is easy to prepare for compared to the one that will last 7 weeks or 7 months.

In this episode I sit down with two of my favorite girls in fitness, Aimee Langdon and Kaitlyn Bauer to talk about fitness, coaching, nutrition, career advice and much more. Aimee is a Crossfit coach and the mover and shaker over at Langdon Tactical, and Kaitlyn is a personal trainer, Crossfit coach and Nutrition Coach. This is a long podcast, take it in chunks, or listen to all at once. Either way I am sure you will enjoy it! Find Aimee doing cool stuff over at: https://www.langdontactical.com/Follow the most awesome Kaitlyn's IG @feedthemachine_nutrition

In this episode I sit down with Jeff Gonzales, Navy SEAL and owner of Trident Concepts. We got really into some deep dives about topics ranging from fitness, injuries, dealing with personal adversity and dark times, family relationships, combat mindset and how to convey it to the average person, his new project The 12 Labors, with Craig Douglas, and much more. Check it out and be sure to comment and share!You can find out more about Jeff and his projects at https://www.tridentconcepts.com/The 12 Labors:https://12labors.com/

This episode I sit down with Greg Everett of Catalyst Athletics, one of the most well known American weightlifting coaches and the creator of the largest library of Olympic weightlifting knowledge ever assembled. Greg and I talk weightlifting, the art of coaching, how to mix programming, and in the second half of the show we dive into Greg's new project on "mental toughness" (one of my own personal favorite topics as you know!) This was by far one of my best and favorite episodes to date. Much of the discussion transfers over to topics other than weightlifting as we applied them to life, firearms and self defense training, and more. You can find more out about Greg at https://www.catalystathletics.com/

In this episode I sit down with my assistant instructor and go over the finer points from my force-on-force class at the Alliance Police Training Facility November 9-10, 2019. The course is designed to put students in situations likely encountered by civilians or lone patrol officers. We go pretty deep on some of the concepts and teaching objectives of the class, students' performance, and the idea of this type of training. Check it out. Don't forget to visit www.vargfreeborn.com for more info on defensive training and my strength and conditioning training programs. Pick up your copy of Violence of Mind on Amazon today.

In this episode I talk with Geoff who has been following my Discovery Fitness Program for over a year. He has reversed a diagnosis of pre-diabetic, and is pulling 300lbs for a 3RM and 200lbs on bench at UNDER 150lbs bodyweight. He also shares a pretty interesting story about being in a "Hollywood style bank robbery" and how it began his self-defense and subsequent strength and conditioning journeys. www.vargfreeborn.comwww.patreon.com/Violenceofmind

In this episode I go in depth about CQB preparation, how it can (and should) be trained on the square range, and how we accomplished that in my 3 M's Rifle course this past weekend in Okeechobee Florida. If you watch shoothouse students closely over many courses, you will see the same patterns of problems emerge:Mechanical offsetMuzzle control during movementMitigating the unexpected movement of othersGetting on line or creating lateral distanceAdjusting manipulations to the environment for safetyProper operation of mechanical safetyMoving with purpose and solid footworkI talk about these problems with some depth and how I develop courses to help people overcome these very serious issues. It's not just for people who want to take CQB courses. It is for anyone who plans to use a gun inside of contained spaces and around others who don't need shot.

In this episode I talk about the methods and ideas that have made the home gym life a success for me. A short format episode with some cool tips and useful philosophies about setting up and using a home gym to change your body and change your life. www.vargfreeborn.comViolence of Mind, the book, is available on Amazon

I try not to be self-absorbed when I am engaged with people. I also try to learn, to not have “expert's paradigm” when I am talking to people in casual or business conversations, even if it's a topic that I have a lot of experience in.This amounts to being interested in the other person enough to learn about them and learn about what they know. It requires not assuming that I know more than them. It also involves a lack of talking about myself and what I know, until it's truly appropriate.This doesn't work as well in today's world. Perhaps people's real world views are morphing into the “social media paradigm” where you have a very short time span to sell a persona or a knowledge set to someone. I swear 8 out of 10 people I meet consider themselves pros, or awesome in some other way, and if you don't literally fight for attention you get demoted to a learner who knows less, has less or has done less. I watch people do this to each other all the time.vargfreeborn.comViolence of Mind, the book, is available on Amazon

In this episode I talk briefly on the mental swamp that social media is and how I've come to view it's role in my life. Some ideas about how I've applied my energy and made things happen, and how I've manufactured peace and progress in spite of the internet's negativity.

This episode I sit down with one of my fitness clients to talk about his fitness journey a little bit. Vincent came to me about 4 and a half months ago at 153lbs and he had no athletic capabilities, no weightlifting form, and couldn't move very much weight. Today, he clocks in at 185lbs at roughly the same body fat, squats and deadlifts in the mid 250lbs and is pushing into the 200lbs range on bench press too. He has great mobility, feels great on a daily basis and has been injury free during training. We talk about the wider benefits of strength and conditioning, and what the journey has meant for him. Very cool episode.

Too often I watch people struggling, wasting time or risking too much because there seems to be a lack of mission clarity in their fitness goals. I talk about that in this episode, as well as how guided experimentation has to come before highly effective programming is possible in most cases. I also talk about specificity and balancing risk vs reward in what we are willing to do to ourselves.

A group of students join me, Varg of One Life Defense for a recap and After Action on the April 14 ACA Force-on-Force class I held in Chicago. We discuss lessons learned, suggestions for students to correct behaviors, epic moments in UTM battles and more. (Please forgive the audio quality, this was live on Google Hangouts and something just was not right with it. The content is worth it, believe it.)

A special episode dual releasing the Q&A session I did with P&S on their Primary & Secondary ModCast. What changed my mission in life, industry people, equipment choices, why or why not knives for defense or "making space", and much more. Matt Landfair and Varg Freeborn discuss Patreon, Patreon Q/A from Varg's page, social media, and society.Varg's Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/ViolenceofMind/

Let's talk about the controversial topic of whether or not you need real experience to teach violence and self-defense.

In this episode I go on a rant about what skills are good enough to counter violence, talk about my Ambush/Counter-Ambush class in Chicago this past weekend a little bit, and describe what I think are the most important skill sets in violence.

(Formerly Be the Wolf)Today I talk a little about how perfect has become the enemy of getting anything done, and how it has also created bullies out of some of you in the gun/self defense world, and why you suck because of that.

In this episode I discuss the problems we have when "mission" is superficial, and not attached to a "greater purpose". I also briefly ask, "If you don't have anything nice to say, why the hell are you saying anything?"This Episode is brought to you by the Patreon Patrons, my greatest supporters. Also, my greatest sponsors PHLster, Big Tex Outdoors, AT Armor, great companies to get your gear from.

In this episode I touch on the importance of balance in training, especially fitness and strength training, knife defense realities, and why we should be inspirational instead of shit talking.

Have you ever heard a podcast with two guys discussing how they both had lethal force encounters and endured the subsequent legal and personal aftermath of it? Well, you're about to. Max joins me to talk about his fatal shooting and resulting trials, and we share some viewpoints on the topics.

In this episode I talk a little about the book release, a lot about the state of our political manure society, and how self control and progress can save us individually and collectively.

In this episode I talk about Adaptability and Failure, how the two go together and are mandatory for improving fight capabilities, and life capabilities for that matter. I also talk a little about inexperienced experts, and the significance of the new year.

A very special guest, Darren Friesen of the Human Protection Collaborative joining me from Costa Rica to discuss violence, training, being gray, non-permissive environments, and so much more. Please forgive the audio quality as it was a bit of a struggle to achieve a good connection, but the discussion is absolutely worth it. Violence and training discussion of another level for sure. My listeners know that my audio is typically pretty clean, so between communicating on a third world country's internet, and Darren being in a noisy environment due to security reasons, we achieved a pretty good podcast!

The new Violence Colloquium project, the difference between having a gun and knowing how to fight, leave people the hell alone, and I hate violence.

In this episode I talk about the simplicity and depth of violence training in the criminal world, how target analysis is more accurate than target selection, the importance of recovery workouts and the morning pump, and I'm doing jiu jitsu, again...

In this episode John "Chappy" Chapman (Forge Tactical LLC) joins me for a discussion on working on deficiencies, warrior ethos, and how "non-exposure to violence leads to nonviolent thinking"Visit www.forgetactical.com for more information on Chappy and courses offered

In this segment, I talk about my background in fitness training and give an overview of my workouts and fitness cycles and how they apply to fighting and self defense.

Principle based learning vs technique learning; Return on Investment and what it means to the high order criminal; Is a knife a suitable self-defense tool?

Underestimating your enemy; the difference between training skills and training to fight; adaptability, and more.

Forge Tactical CQB Ops, The Importance of Team Tactics for Individuals, Attention vs Focus, and more

A short clip from the closing statements of Violence of Mind Sept 10, 2017 at F3 Tactical Chantilly, VA. The audio isn't 100% on this, but I felt it was a great clip of content to start with here.