My First Workshop Report

[Coach Tran]

I wanted to thank all those who attended my first CST basic workshop. I am really thankful for Jon Manchester who helped me with the legal work and to my special lady friend who reminded me of my duty when I was in doubt. I am a young man compared to the people I am teaching and sometimes its scares me. :wink: No one asked for their refund and I guess they all enjoyed my workshop. Thank you for allowing me to introduce you to CST.

The majority of the people who came to my workshop had kettlebell training background, martial arts training background, and even a certified Renegade trainer attended my workshop. Based on their feedback, these folks loved Warrior Wellness and Bodyflow more than the clubbell training itself. These programs are indeed powerful. The few that came to the workshop never expected to move their bodies the way I taught it. Moreover they never knew how well or bad they were breathing. Most assumed it was going to be a follow me and copy what I do type of seminar or swing and grind some clubbells while I cheer them on like a cheerleader. Based on what I saw in the introduction phase, I spent more time in WW and Bodyflow because I felt that was what the group needed. I went with my gutt and taught what needed to be addressed.

Here are some comments:

(a woman experienced with Kettlbells) "What I liked most from the workshop was the progression of the fitnness program. Warming the body up, introducing bodyflow, moving into clubbell, though the hours. It went very quickly and the time allowed the body and mind to get comfortable and push further."

"I liked most for the workshop was the intro to warrior wellness"

"I liked bodyflow and warriorness methods/exercises."

"Learning new bodyflow positions and the new clubbells swings and routines."

"Bao is a handsome devil and Debbie is lucky to have him" Mmmm. joking. Just wishing thinking and joking around. My girlfriend who will read this later. :lol: I hope she'll laugh.

[Scott Sonnon]

Congrats, Bao, you "handsome devil."

[Coach Tran]

Thanks, coach. It is nice to read that another man thinks I am a handsome devil. LOL. :lol: In the past a martial arts master/coach gave me a free opportunity to experience his body of work. He welcomed me as a friend. When I experienced it and thanked him, he simply suggested that I pay it foward. I hoped I have fulfilled that gift and payment.

[jonmanch]

I was one of the attendees at Bao Tran’s workshop in NYC this weekend. I have been training with Bao for more than 3 ½ years, and I have been doing Warrior Wellness (“WW”) daily for nearly two years. Although I thought I was pretty good at WW-I, I never did any WW workouts with others who knew WW other than Bao, and there is no comparison when Bao does something. The other attendees had never done WW, and I was amazed that people with martial arts training and others many years my junior (I was the oldest participant at 59) were having difficulty doing some of the moves that I now take for granted. This part of the seminar was great validation to me that what I have been doing in my training with Bao pays big dividends.

Well, enough about me. Bao’s seminar was excellent. He began by explaining to all of us what we were going to learn and stressed that no one should go beyond his capacity to do any exercise and injure him/herself. Bao was an excellent teacher. He repeatedly would review each step of WW and Body Flow for us since there was a lot of information to absorb at one time. I found the Body Flow instruction was very informative for me. There were certain basic moves that I had difficulty with which were the foundations of routines that Bao and I do in the gym and do well (at least in my humble opinion).

Before we began working with the Clubbells, Bao took time to explain safety procedures and taught us how to catch an out of control CB and made sure everyone could do them. I was surprised to see that everyone (even those who had never worked with Clubbells before) brought a set of Clubbells with him/her. I have been working with 10 pounders since June of this year. Bao introduced some new routines that I had not done before as we have been working on Rock Its. A great exercise, and I hope to be able to do 100 straight by the end of this month or the beginning of January. Obviously, this couldn’t be accomplished without good Performance Breathing and all of the other good things that Coach Sonnon and Bao have taught me. While doing the new CB routines at the seminar, I was amazed at how effortlessly I was able to do these new routine from a breathing point of view. We would do the exercises for 3 minute sets with each arm, and this old codger was less winded than those younger than I. I know this comes from practice, and I am sure that the others will experience the same benefits as I have over time.

Bao, worked one on one with each participant when he saw that he/she needed the attention. We were fortunate that our group was small enough to accommodate this. The only thing that most of us thought at the end of the seminar was that 5 hours was not enough. We were all psyched with the seminar, Bao, and what we all learned and would have gone on for another hour or two. Some who came to the seminar with aches and pains said they were gone by the time 4 PM rolled around, the end of the seminar.

Bao’s seminar was a great introduction to WW, Body Flow, and Clubbells. I look forward to seeing him put on a more advanced seminar for those with experience in some or the areas covered. I’ll be there, and if you are in the NYC area, you should be, as well.

Kudos to Bao.

Jon Manchester

[KD Jones]

THAT is precisely the kind of review that would have me running for the registration desk.

Congratulations and blessings, Bao, on a very clearly successful class.

Maybe next time there'll be a video feed :)

[Ryan Murdock]

Great reviews, bro. Congratulations!! :D 8)

[Coach Tran]

Wow. Thank you Jon for your review. It looks like the funny exercises paid off in the end. :wink:

[clubboy]

Bao is my personal trainer and I do a one hour clubbell workout with him once a week. The following links to my review of our initial session.

http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7461&highlight=

Since I'm already working with clubbells , I decided to attend his workshop to gain greater insight into CST through Warrior Wellness and BodyFlow.
I own the WarriorWellnes DVD and the BodyFlow book , but as I mentioned in the review of my first training session with Bao , nothing is better at maximizing the conceptual understanding , execution , and beifits of CST than working with a certified CST trainer.
The same sentiment applied to this small group seminar.

[Joon]

Congratulations, Bao!

It looks like this workshop was a huge success! Well done!

[Chuck Kechter]

Congratulations, Bao!

[cbeltrante]

Congrats Bao!!! Sounds like everybody had a really fun and educational time!!!

[Cody Fielding]

Well done Bao. I look forward to comparing notes when we meet in March.

C-

[peterng25]

Congratulations, you make us all very proud,

Peter