DYD Mastery Recap, Day 1

Okay, it’s Monday, it’s another week, and I’m back from last week’s Double Your Dating Mastery Seminar.  And boy, do I have a LOT to report on!

In fact, there’s so much to report on, that I’m just going to take the whole week and blog on this sucker.  I’m not going to go into any specifics on the material David D. came up with, because I signed a release form before going into the seminar, but I will touch on the generalities of it.

Most of these reports are going to focus on the Guest Speakers and their material, some insights into the audience and how they responded to the material, what happened after the seminar, my own personal experiences at the seminar, and some of the drama that went on behind the scenes.

There’s a ton of great material to get into.  Today, I’m going to go into some detail about day 1.  The real “meat” of the seminar was on days 3 & 4, and there was definitely a lot of great stuff to talk about.

So anyway, onto the seminar…

DAY 1

The Good

The seminar took place at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel out near LAX.  This is a really nice hotel on the inside, though from the outside it leaves a little to be desired.  The seminar started off on a Thursday, and was going to go for a marathon 4 days!  It was a bright and sunny morning on April the 29th, 2004, so things were off to a good start.

On day one, David DeAngelo made it clear that this was going to be a different type of seminar than what we are all used to.  The material he covered on this day dealt a great deal with that sticky wicket that every aspiring “Ladies Man” has to deal with – namely, inner game.

But this wasn’t just inner game in relation to women and sex and whatnot.  This was inner game relating to ALL areas of life.  Almost all of his new material had to do with success in life in general, and not just with women.  Most of this was directly applicable to business in particular, as some of the psychology behind it is applied to all types of endeavors.

One of the bolder things David talked about was the “Dark Side” of human behavior/consciousness/psychology/biology.  “Dark” in the sense of how we as humans move through the world and let it affect us.  One of his primary concepts in this part of the seminar was that of “Projection IS Perception.”  Meaning that what we project onto the world is how we perceive it, not the other way around.

He also laid out a great method of success in any endeavor, that being:

This means that you plan out your course of action, you execute the plan, you study the results of your actions and make the corrections necessary, and finally you act on those corrections.  This is a cyclical plan, so after Acting, you revert back to Planning and do the whole thing over again.

In dealing with the Dark Side, David D. also got into the Psychology of the “Wussy,” a mainstream term he’s coined to replace the more common acronym of “AFC” (Average Frustrated Chump).  “Wussy” is defined as a cross between a “wimp” and a “pussy.”  This was an extremely interesting section because David broke down pretty much every behavior and all the psychology that goes into being a lame-ass in all areas of life.

David then went on to talk about “weapons of influence,” and various concepts that people can use to influence others.  But the best part of Day 1, in my opinion, was David’s talk about how to have long term success with women, and long term success in life.  Namely, this came down to having a “Life Purpose,” or “Life Path.”  Most men do not have a life path.  They don’t know where they’re going, and because of this, their life is out of control, without focus.  He made it clear that in order to have a life path, you must never let anything become more important than that path or purpose, especially women.

He also went into a great many marketing concepts, and shared his own personal philosophy about how to be successful, that being that success is the idea that you’re helping other people become more successful.  This is evident in how he structures his seminars with guest speakers, most of which have their own philosophy and products to sell on the subject of dating and seduction.  He’s basically being extremely generous by sharing his large client base with other businessmen in exchange for content.  This is important, because it makes a clear distinction between DYD and other Seduction and Dating systems, that distinction being that DYD is NOT a complete system of Seduction, Dating, or Pick-Up, rather, it is an all-encompassing philosophy behind male/female interaction and self-improvement in life.  This is one of the reasons Double Your Dating is so interesting in terms of seduction study, because it presents you with EVERY type of information that’s out there, and allows you to choose what you want to learn.

This can be a good and a bad thing.  David D’s own system doesn’t extend much past the “cocky/funny” philosophy of interacting with women.  But at the same time, it’s that philosophy that is the foundation for a great many other methods that are out there.  The good part is that by David DeAngelo incorporating other people with different methods and philosophy into his seminar, he helps make up for the shortcomings in his method.  However, because he does that, DYD has no “concrete” structure per say, and some of the guest speaker’s own philosophies and tactics can contradict what David teaches.

The first guest speaker of the seminar was the elusive David X, the Canadian Pick-Up Superstar associated with Cliff of “Cliff’s List” and the “Be Relentless” philosophy.

When I first met David X, I was quite surprised by the man I saw.  He is not what you would expect of a typical “Dating Guru.”  He’s short, he’s fat, he’s got beady eyes, a large gap in his teeth, and he smells a bit like sour cigars.  In fact, due to his appearance, your first reaction to him might be “There is no way in hell this guy can be a pick-up artist!”

But then you talk to the guy, and you start to get a sense of what he’s about.  David X is a guy who is not held back by the concept of “social niceties.”  In fact, he’s quite brutally honest and in your face with things.  He has the belief that he’s an awesome guy, that all women love him, love sex, and by default, love sex with him (lol).  In fact, his whole method can be summed up in two words:

Be Fearless.

David X says that the one common denominator amongst men who aren’t getting laid is a fear of women.  This is a fear instilled by society, by family, by women, and by other men.  It’s an irrational fear that does not exist.  Part of this fear comes from the fact that most men don’t know what they want – in women and in life!

One of David X’s biggest insights was the concept that “If you can’t think for yourself, you think for someone else.”  This was a very profound thing to say, in my opinion, because it deals with David DeAngelo’s concept of projection.  Basically, this means that whenever you allow fear to control your thoughts (and buy into the values and ideas that society forces upon you of the way men have to treat and interact with women), you project those fear-controlled thoughts onto other people, even though that may not be what those people are thinking.

For instance, say you see a woman with lovely, large, beautiful breasts.  You want to comment on them, but you don’t because it’s considered “rude.”  However, what if the woman spent a lot of money on getting those big fake breasts, and she’s proud of them and insecure about her looks?  What if a compliment on her boobs is just the thing she wants to have, and will fall all over the first man who will give it to her?  See the distinction?  By being honest with your thoughts and feelings, you could very well get what you want instead of deciding for yourself what the woman is going to respond to.  One thing he liked to point out was:  If you can’t understand women, why are you trying to think for them?

David X spoke about how men get self-conscious about looking at women.  They think looking at a woman makes her feel uncomfortable and that they shouldn’t appraise them noticeably.  However, David X was sure to point out that women want to look good for men, which is why they spend so much time in the bathroom getting ready.  Therefore, you should rejoice and celebrate a woman’s beauty, and not be ashamed of enjoying it.

He went on to say that being a real man is knowing what you want and going after what you want.  He pointed out that men are naturally emotionally weaker than women, and that we shouldn’t accept that and go along with it.  He said that the weaker you are emotionally, the more the manipulators grab you.  He likes to say that “You can teach a stupid guy, but you can never train an evil woman.”  Therefore, don’t be manipulated.  If the woman doesn’t enjoy sex, leave them.  Don’t believe what women (the stronger sex, emotionally) say.  Set your focus, your goal, build YOUR fantasy, and then GO AFTER WHAT YOU WANT!

David X suggested starting low in terms of women in the “looks” department, go for girls you can get at your current skill level, then work your way up.

David X’s belief is that you have to act like a man in order to get a woman.  Part of being a man is knowing what you want out of life and knowing where you’re going.  There are 3 basic things you need to embody in order to do that:

1. Honesty
2. Trust
3. Respect

The biggest part of David X’s method is “Be Honest With Women.”  He points out that lots of guys approach women without representing the truth.  He encourages guys to think out loud and tell women the truth.  His basic defense of this theory is “What do you have to hide for?”  Telling the truth demonstrates having strength.  Women want to feel your strength and want a guy who knows where he’s going.  This equates to them feeling taken care of.

David X talked about having a sense of humor, and about how in order to have a sense of humor, you have to be yourself.  But by “being yourself,” this means the “yourself” that isn’t inhibited by your fears.  The notion of “Fear” is not a part of who you are, rather, your raw thoughts and feelings are what make you up.

David X ended his interview by talking about how a man’s biggest problem is his biggest fear, and the only way to overcome that fear is deciding what you want, and not feel bad about wanting it.

If you’re interested in personal coaching by David X, you can email him at david@be-relentless.com, or call him up directly at 514-935-7914.  You can also contact his business partner, Cliff, at cliff@be-relentless.com and visit his website at www.be-relentless.com.

The Bad

As with everything in life, there is a dark side, and not all was peaches and cream at the DYD seminar.  One of the things that was very noticeable right up front was the tension among David D’s staff.  It was obvious to a great many people the staff seemed to be walking on eggshells around David, who routinely snapped at them over tiny details (in front of his audience, no less).

The audience was also put off by David DeAngelo asking the everyone hold their questions and ask them later on.  Many people felt this stifled any dialogue or free exchange between teacher and student, and made it seem like David cared more about staying on schedule than making sure his audience was learning.  However, I can say after hearing a few questions this audience asked, it’s probably a good thing he minimized his interaction with them while on stage.

David D. also seemed quite irritable with his audience, snapping at people who would come in late from the break or what have you.  Obviously, people are going to need to go to the bathroom and get out of their seats for various reasons.  But then again, this was a product he was making, so I can understand why David wanted as little outside interference as possible during the production.  However, that didn’t make it seem any less rude.  Most of the people at the seminar were paying to be there, and I personally thought this was in bad taste to yell or snap at them.  I am happy to say this behavior subsided as the seminar went on.

Probably the biggest “Bad” to speak of was David D’s delivery of his material.  His voice is very bass-heavy and monotone.  Most of his presentation is the projection of powerpoint slides and him reading from said slides in a very business-like manner.  This can get exhausting to listen to (and for those of you who have listened to his advanced series, you may know what I’m talking about).  This was never more apparent than when he had a guest speaker up, most of which were more animated and interesting to listen to.

Another big bad was the lunch available at the hotel.  The hotel offered Box Lunches going for upwards of $20 a pop.  From what I heard, the food wasn’t all that great.  David allotted an hour for lunch.  It would have been nice to have a bit more time so some of us who wanted to go get food elsewhere could do so without being rushed.  This wasn’t a big deal, but after being cooped up in a seminar room for a couple hours, we needed some sunshine and fresh air.

The Ugly

The first day had a good many “Pick-Up” dudes in attendance.  Offhand, I recall seeing the Real Social Dynamics boys, namely Tyler Durden, Papa, and Twentysix.  Swinggcat and Merovingian were also in attendance, along with Little Big Dick, Craig (who’s archive is on mASF), and the one and only Mystery.

The presence of Mystery was an interesting one, because there was definitely some tension associated with his presence.  Mystery is known to have an ego not only about his status, but his method as well, so the fact that he was basically in the same seat as one of David D’s students probably caused a little insecurity.  This wasn’t more apparent than when Mystery disagreed with one of the things that David D was teaching and spoke up about it.  David D quickly NEGed Mystery on his views, and then ignored him.  It was hard for Mystery to retort to someone social proofed on stage with a microphone without coming off as Beta, and indeed, Mystery looked like he’d just been scolded by the teacher during class.  Afterwards, it was apparent Mystery had lost most of his interest in the seminar and spent his time working quietly on his own theories and ideas at his seat.  Most likely this instance will be edited out of the finished product, but it is something that was interesting to watch.

The biggest “Ugly” of the seminar came when David X took the stage.  There was obviously no rapport between David X and David DeAngelo as the two struggled to find their stride through a rather awkward interview.  David X started off the interview joking about how the microphone he had reminded him of a dildo.  David D. tried to play it off, but the dildo jokes continued until DeAngelo decided to nip it in the bud and have a lavaliere mic placed on everyone’s lovable foul-mouthed pick-up artist.

David X looked quite uncomfortable on stage.  He was wearing dark sunglasses and fit awkwardly into the narrow chair David D had for him.  In a way, with his rotund belly and open shirt, he looked a bit like you’d imagine the Comic Book Guy from the Simpson’s if he owned a Porno Store.  David X’s humor was rather blue, (blue enough to make Andrew Dice Clay blush, if that’s any indication).  Most of his jokes were peppered with references to women’s boobies and ass fucking.  The audience was laughing, but it was more laughing at David X than with him, which is a shame because he had good things to say.  Plus, as the interview went on and the jokes got more and more raunchy, David D became visibly uncomfortable as he was probably thinking how the hell he was going to edit this rather poor interview.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole interview was cut out of the final product, but I doubt it, since there was good material to share and it wasn’t all bad.

But the David X drama didn’t end there.  Many of the better known Pick-Up Artists in attendance were shaking their heads in disbelief for the most part when it came to David X and his methods.  Many of them had a hard time believing he gets laid.  Others believe he gets laid, but mostly by women who open beer bottles with their peg legs and spend their time counting what’s left of their teeth, if you get my drift.  That, and the fact that David X is married cast a real shadow on how field experienced his is.

David X also didn’t do himself any favors by joking about how he didn’t know why guys had to study this dating and seduction stuff.  He said that, to him, it was mind boggling that there were guys who actually existed that NEEDED to study this type of thing.  This was bad for two reasons.  The first was that he alienated his audience who are obviously a group of guys who WANT or NEED to study this stuff.  Strike two was that this comment was a bit incongruent with the fact that he’s being presented as a dating guru who teaches guys how to get laid through personal coaching.  He often bragged about how his students used to never get pussy, and after he graduated them, they went on to have more sex than they could ever imagine.  Yet the very statement that he was above the guys who needed to learn this stuff undermines his pride in his students.

Another problem with David X was that after the first day, he wasn’t seen again until after the seminar ended on the last day.  His absence may have been because he was visiting friends in LA, but the other guest speakers managed to hang out with the audience and offer advice and counseling for free.  His absence conveyed to many that he was either afraid to be around guys who were interested in testing his abilities, or he simply didn’t like hanging out with guys interested in learning how to pick up women because he thought they were a group of losers.  Either way, his absence didn’t go over well in my opinion (hell, even Rick H, one of the flakiest guys out there, showed up for 2 days).

Major Mark was also in attendance the first day of the seminar, sitting by Cliff of Cliff’s List fame in the back of the room.  Major Mark was sporting a new look that included a pony tail and goatee with thick eyeglasses.  It was a more hippy looking than the image we see of him in all the SS products, and it took me a second to recognize him.  I got to talk to him briefly at the breaks, and he was a very engaging guy who had a lot of great things to say.

But no where was the intricate social drama more apparent than during the VIP dinner David DeAngelo treated his invited seminar guests to that night.  When I picked up my VIP badge at the beginning of the morning, it was accompanied by a rather nice gold invitation to join him for supper.  This meal took place in the hotel restaurant at the biggest table available.  David D sat at its head, and Mystery sat at the opposite head.  Tyler Durden, Merovingian, and a few others gravitated to David D’s sphere, while other invited guests (who were of the non-PUA persuasion) were at the other end of the table enraptured by Mystery and his talk of Dating and Seduction.  I was at the middle of the table with Major Mark, David X, and Swinggcat, along with a few internet marketing gurus who were at the seminar as guests of David D’s.

The most noticeable thing was the way David X and Major Mark regarded people like Mystery and Tyler Durden.  They looked at them with a slight air of snobbery, like these young punks were fakers that didn’t deserve to be at the table.  Major Mark often referred to Mystery by his SS-inspired nick-name “Misery.”  The good Major also went on to talk about his prowess with women, and he and David X expressed how lame they thought it was to hang out with men all day long instead of being with women.  At this, Tyler Durden spoke up, playing a subtle mind game with the two by disagreeing with them and making the two men qualify to him in their arguments.  This, of course, was only picked up by Swinggcat and I, who were in the vicinity of the conversation and knew the tactic Tyler was using.

Major Mark also tried to distinguish himself by saying he’s the only hypnotist at the seminar, which Tyler slyly undermined by pointing out that Swinggcat was a skilled hypnotist as well.  Swinggcat and Major Mark then got into a conversation about how Mark used to flame Swinggcat when they were both on the SS List.  The two had never met before, and seemed to enjoy sharing their experiences in the “Rapid Romance” camp like two old veterans exchanging war stories.  Major Mark then went on to tell us all a good deal about his experiences with MINE’99, which he asked me not to repeat on the blog.  I’ll leave it to your imagination what he had to share with us.  =)

The dinner went on, and Tyler informed me that David D has regular dinners like this during the seminar that get more and more exclusive as they go along.  Obviously a subtle way for Tyler to let me know where I was on the totem pole, but I didn’t care.  I was just happy to be there in the first place.

The dinner ended with David D paying the check and rushing out of there like a thief in the night.  He said he had a girl waiting for him.  Some of us had a theory that he was rushing to the “real” VIP dinner, but most likely he was rushing to relax after being surrounded by PUAs and “Dating Talk” all day.

After that, I got to chat with Craig briefly who was going out with the RSD guys who were taking students out for workshop that night.  Merovingian, Swinggcat, and I ended up staying at the hotel for a bit longer and shooting the shit until we decided to call it a night and go home.

My Experience

Overall, the first day was a great experience.  I showed up a bit late, due to the fact that my alarm didn’t go off.  But during that time I got to meet David X, who also showed up late, and I chatted with him for a bit out in the lobby until David D took his first break.  I thought the information David D shared that day was excellent stuff, and was surprised at how different it was from other stuff I’d heard.  It was much broader in scope than other Dating products, and really dealt more with over-all life strategy and inner game understandings than anything else.  There was also a lot of great business advice that was shared during the seminar.  I just barely scratched the surface of what was covered in this recap here.  There is TONS more info that I can’t and aren’t even able to talk about.

On a personal note, I quite enjoyed meeting David X.  I found him to be a really funny an engaging guy when I was talking to him one-on-one.  He’s a great storyteller and had a lot of good things to say.  He’s quite the natural who is only marginally aware of what he does, but he seems to be able to train guys to emulate him.  I can see that he’s successful with women, because he seems like a fun guy to be around.  He’s also married, and he told me his wife is a great woman who gives him blowjobs whenever he wants, so he doesn’t feel the need to go out hunting for pussy all the time.  One thing I really liked about his system is that it has a “graduation” method where he actually tells guys that they’ve gotten to a point where they no longer need his help.  He claims that everyone he’s graduated has gone on to have amazing success with women.  I want to believe him, because I like the guy.  I’d be interested in taking some coaching sessions with him and see it for myself.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to interview him before he leaves LA.

I also noticed that the production of the seminar was grade-A first class stuff.  David D had stages set up, a large projection screen, professional audio technicians, and a professional video crew there taping the whole seminar.  He was well prepared and his presentation was quite professional, even if it was littered with little bugs and technical difficulties.  I had heard that David D was actually LOSING money putting this seminar on, because it was such a production, but the money he’s gonna make off this thing will more than make up for it, I’m sure.

One complaint I had was that he handed out legal pads instead of notebooks with copies of the powerpoint slides in them like he had in Chicago.  But he made up for this later by offering the slides on CD for free.  It didn’t help the writer’s cramp I got while jotting down notes, however.

I found the hotel to be pretty nice.  The seminar room wasn’t too big, but it certainly wasn’t small.  I actually expected a bigger audience to be at the seminar, but having a smaller group there was probably better for logistic purposes.

I also had a good time catching up with all my friends who were attending the seminar.  After the first day, there was a buzz of excitement that this was going to be something vastly different from what we originally expected it to be.  And overall, it was a fun time.  I looked forward to Day 2 with a great deal of excitement and anticipation, expecting it to get even better than it already was…

But alas, when it came to Day 2, that was NOT the case.

To Be Continued…

***If you’re interested in Double Your Dating, you can find out more about it here.