This is the first skill sequence you will master in Skill Master. Be ready to learn something cool.

We all start training for different reasons. Many are driven by insecurity or ego - they either don't like themselves or they want to show to themselves (and others) that they can be more than who they are.

This is all good. We all start from the lower vibrations (pain, insecurity, ego... even anger) in regards to motivation and gradually move towards higher aspirations such as joy, love and self-actualization.

The goal of the individual should always be to move forward and not stay at the lower levels of motivation. It's fantastic if pain initially drives the person to get healthy, strong and functional. Just don't stay there because what drives you, will also mold you.

Everything that is ego-driven will eventually destroy the body in the long term. This is because mental pain leads to physical pain due to the process of somatization.

When we first started doing skill training, we were driven by a lot of negativity which led to countless problems. In the beginning, we lacked the proper methods but we also lacked patience.

It wasn't all negative though - training for us was a way to self-actualize. A way to discover what we are capable of and what is our potential as individuals. 

Socrates himself said: "No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable." 

Over 10 years ago this quote hit me straight to the heart. I realized I was given a capable body but I was wasting my time abusing the body sitting in front of a computer screen for 12 hours per day.

I was out of touch with my body completely. I wasn't a person who didn't like his body - I didn't even see my body. For a lot of my teenage years I didn't care at all.

And is there a worse "sin" than this? To not even care about your physical health and fitness - some of the most important things in life. 

Whatever you disregard, you will eventually lose.

But luckily, the military forced me to get in shape and I started to get real joy out of moving my body. Sometimes external pressure is the best thing for you and what many desperately need.

Later, me and Eero met at a university and we both embarked on this incredible journey of movement, training and self-discovery.

I remember the times when we were at house parties and we would perform many of these skills of Skill Master for people to enjoy. People were awestruck - it was a great feeling.

Focusing on your appearance and stunts itself isn't bad. It's the underlining motivations that make something fundamentally bad or good. What are you driven by?

For example, taking care of your appearance is a good thing as long as it's not solely driven by insecurity and the desire to get validation from others. Do it for yourself and for others out of love.

Moreover, it's necessary to understand the purpose of different types of training. Skill training for example has superb benefits when it comes fitness, fat loss and health but let's not confuse it with proper strength training as a lot of people do.

Skill training is a way to discover your body's abilities, a way to learn to coordinate and control your body in space. And of course you will be learning beautiful nice-looking movements while having fun.

We don't just want to inspire and motivate people to get started, we also want to provide the best tools and the best methods to help people pursue health, fitness and self-actualization.

We are not just about the surface because training and life are a lot more than that. There are a lot of people who can show you new exercises but to master the principles and the mind - that's rare.

Stay strong.