Taisho

Fonda is a little high end for a D2, I'd say. I always go for "reasonable" places for D2's. Think about the frames you are setting from the start. Hint: it should NOT be about money. Look for someplace 'interesting', but not expensive. You're on the right track with the Mexican food. Think multiple bounces. Where else can you take her and what else can you do? Shopping on Takeshita-dori could be good for a laugh, kino, etc. Also, when & where is the costume party? Are you taking HB Audition? Yes, always a good idea to scout the area. Get there at least an hour early.

Congratulations on a successful bootcamp and props on the bounce and timebridge on sunday. I can see you have a lot of potential. Welcome to the Tokyo/Kanto Crew. Fun times ahead.

Has it really been almost two months since bootcamp? Amazing. Is life different? Yeah. For the better? Hell yeah. Is there still more to learn? Most definitely. On the first night of bootcamp I'm sure Shine was wondering "Who is this old guy? Why is he here? What's he doing in my bootcamp?". If only he had known the truth...he thought I was close to 30 instead of 41. Why, indeed. Why would a 41 year old guy with over 12 years experience in Japan be in a PUA bootcamp? To quote David DeAngelo, it's simple: to get this area of my life handled. To get the women I want into my life, not the ones that end up in mylife. Also, it was a personal challenge. A challenge to tackle all of those fears that every man has regarding pick up and dating. I'm the first to admit I've never considered myself good with women. As I've told a couple of friends regarding getting laid, "I'm always surprised when it happens, and surprised when it doesn't." I decided I don't want those surprises anymore. Bootcamp was one of the most challenging things I have ever done, which says a lot since I'm a san-dan in karate having practice in the U.S. and Japan for over 15 years. Huge thanks and appreciation goes out to Redpole Q (who missed his calling as a Marine drill sergeant), NewLight (who has found his calling), and Shine (who in many ways reminds me of a younger version of myself). Everyone here knows how awesome these guys are. They made it all happen. Also, a big thanks goes out to Kid44 and all those who have mentoredRPQ and NewLight as well as those whom they have taught - to teach is to learn. Now, on to the fun. Everyone on these boards has been through bootcamp, so I'll cut the details of specific sets and focus on realizations as well as some of the classic quotes that came out over the weekend. Night 1: TGIFriday's lecture. Most of this material I had heard before, but RPQ put his unique spin on everything and made it real, usable. For example, here's a good guide when choosing your wardrobe from RPQ: "When people look at your clothes they should think, 'Only a guy who's getting laid would dress like that!'". In regards to 'creating a safe environment', NewLight admonished us to "never, ever, ever laugh at fetishes". Made me wonder about him...Now I know. And as far as Kino goes, "Touch early, often, and everyone" is the rule. At that point there was no way to know how many times "KINO!" would be shouted at us over the next 48 hours. Speaking of Kino, NL advised using Kino to AMOG guys. Good advice. It works. Muse. I've been to Muse dozens of times over the years, but never seen the place from the bootcamp perspective. Of course, we did the walk through, "You can lock in here, here, and here. This is a good spot for isolation. Bathroom pull." One of the funniest things of the evening had to be practicing the 'spin move' in the basement: Four foreign guys twirling each other. I just had to laugh imagining what the half-dozen people watching must have been thinking. Oh well, it was an apt prelude to the night to come. I must say I've never been to Muse without drinking (usually heavily), and I've never talked to that many women in one night. Amazing how much energy this takes: set after set, girl after girl. More than once I wanted to quit or take a break, but RPQ and NL were having none of that. Great experience. Thanks for the push, guys. Opened sets I never would have done on my own (especially the 5 set with 4 guys and 1 girl...Thanks NewLight!). Comic relief was HBAustraliastudyabroad that kept yelling at RPQ as he was coaching me in set: "I can hear you! I see you! I hear you! Haha!". Ended the evening with fairly tight sarge of HB7Blackdress with NL winging. NL commented that I probably could have SNL'd her. Agreed. But, we had debriefing to do. On to Almond. First time I'd ever been inside Almond. Realizations: 1) No alcohol, no problem. The adrenaline rush of opening set after set is much better and stronger than alcohol. 2) What they say doesn't matter. Don't believe anything you hear, even if it's "go away", or "I'm a good girl", or "I have a boyfriend". Don't apply 'man-logic' to women. 3) I can open mixed sets and get the girl. 4) Qualification is massively important. 5) Muse isn't too tough - "You can't lose at Muse!" 6) TOC guys are awesome. Day 2: Afternoon lecture had lots of great info on Comfort. Again, a lot of stuff I'd read before, but now it comes alive withRPQ's spin on things and Q&A. Regarding time from open to close, RPQ told us, "Comfort is the main determination of time it takes to close". Good observation. Also, a Redpole classic: "A bathroom (toilet) pull is easier than a pull back to your house (on the same day due to safety issues)". This was the beginning of a recurring topic for the rest of the weekend: bathroom pulls. Also, regarding the margin of error issarging 9's & 10's: "...the difference between driving a VW down the Autobahn versus driving a Ferrari down a goat path". We would learn this first hand at Camelot that night. Finally, ifRedpole says he "tried", it doesn't mean he 'made an effort' (think rugby). Roppongi Hills. Day game. Very interesting to consciously day game as I had only ever done day incidentally. Opened some very high quality sets along with Shine. Even ran into some friends while we were at it, but it didn't matter. Purple was the color of the day. TB'd and Number closed a borderline 10 at Starbucks (HB9.5PurpleSweater). Thanks for the push, RPQ. Realizations: 1) Women were much more willing to talk than I expected. Most were waiting around to go to a party. As RPQ says, they all dream about a Hugh Grant film where they are swept off their feet by the man of their dreams in a coffee shop or bookstore. 2) Bouncing is harder than I thought. Tough to get some women off their plan for the day, even if the plan is 'sit in Starbucks and drink coffee'. 3) They won't refuse if you sit down. 4) Kino is not just for night game. 5) Day game can be fun. Redpole Classic quote: "The only reason we have to talk to them is so it makes it OK for them to FUCK us". Club Camelot. I had been to this place a few times, but never sarged aggressively. This place separates the PUA's from the boys. In Muse got blown out, ignored on approach once all night. In Club Camelot, this would be a regular occurrence. I know that this place pushed Shine and me to our limits. However, in the end, we didn't care. Just open, open (GO! GO!) until you don't care. Great to see howRPQ would just hush and poke 'unruly' girls. Also, NL showed us the power of "shiny objects". Nice. Realizations: 1) Camelot is much tougher than Muse. 2) I can open and number close HB 9's+ 3) Not drinking works to our advantage. Especially around 3am. when most of the girls are tipsy. 4) 90% of cockblockers can be handled by simply ignoring them. 5) High value girls require high value game. Ferrari on a goat path. 6) Sometimes hot girls DO really work at McDonald's. (That's for you, Shine!) RPQ Classic quote: "How could you NOT want to put your tongue in that girl's ass?!??" (Denny's at 6:20am referring to HBBigRed) Day 3: Lumine Shinjuku. Afternoon lecture on Hero Story. Heard RPQ's Hero story and crafted our own (which would be used later to good effect). Received this valuable advice: "When making life decisions, decide what would make a better scene in a movie". Check. Also, learned to "ignore all threads that do not move the sarge forward." Check. We witnessed RPQ's 'wave opener' and NL's 'double peace sign' opener. NL quote: "Spin and you're in!". Started sarging in the bookstores and shops. Wasn't feeling it. Found out that game doesn't seem to work so well on 5's, 6's, and 7's...but tried anyhow. Then, BAM!, pay dirt! I open and hook a 10 in housewares. Turns out she's a 'guravia' model (aka a sexy bikini model). Luckily I didn't really know what that was. Was asking her if that was the name of her agency or a magazine, etc. Funny. Bounced her back to Starbucks with the rest of the crew. The other three guys all had found a friend. Party in progress. Qualified, seeded, and ran Hero story to great effect. Finally time bridged and number closed. What a great ending. This is exactly what I was hoping to learn in bootcamp. That is, how to hook a bikini model... Done! Realizations: 1) Game works much, much better on 8's, 9's, and 10's. Fine with me. That's what I'm after. 2) We, the Tribe, can make our own party anytime, anywhere. Witness the 4 of us at Lumine Starbucks with 4 women...having a blast. 3) Can get personal info very quickly. Within 5 minutes of opening, the bikini model told me that she lived alone in Nishi Shinjuku. The phone number and email was no problem. 4) Non-verbal openers can work. Wave. Double-peace. 5) There are some hot chicks in Shinjuku. No wonder RPQ wants to live there. Dinner. We had a fantastic celebratory dinner afterwards. Shine and I were full of energy despite the long weekend. NL reminded us that it had been less than 48 hours since we started. Unbelievable. We received our handles. I'm proud to say that Shine made the final decision on my handle, "Taisho". I trusted his judgment, and he was right. Finally, the quote of the weekend came midway through dinner courtesy of NewLight: "If she wants to fuck, I can save myself a lot of trouble and PUT THE FISH ON THE TABLE!" Epilogue. Unfortunately none of my bootcamp TB's held up. However, I have been busy. I have full closed three new women since bootcamp and continued to manage my primary well. Skills learned in bootcamp were used in all three, especially HBSoCal who had massive LMR. Pre-bootcamp I would have given up, but with these new skills I could diagnose the problem (not enough qualification) and fix it. Everything else is a work in progress, but even though I don't have all the answers yet, I now know where to get them. I'm very excited to learn more, do more, and to pass along what I've learned. Finally, I can't thank Redpole, New Light, and Shine enough for everything during bootcamp. One thing I didn't share at the time was that bootcamp was part of my healing process. Last August my father passed away. Life is short. We've got one life to live. Live it. Thank you, brothers. Thank you, Tribe.