THE MOST EPIC STORY EVER!!! Aristodemos The Spartan

0:00 Welcome to the Unapologetic Man Podcast, the only podcast that's all about self-improvement, confidence, success, women, and being a man without making any apologies for it. What is up, guys? Happy Friday. Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of the UMP. I was just listening to my previous episode and I was like, damn, bro, you got a little bit fired up. Let's lighten things up a little bit today. I'm going to tell you this amazing story of Aristodemus the Spartan, a true story as far as truth can be told 2400 years ago.

0:38 But this is a true story that's also featured in the Iliad that talks about this Spartan that was part of the 300 Spartans that went to Thermopylae to defend Sparta against the invading Persian army. If you guys ever saw the movie 300, that's where this Spartan was. He was part of the 300 brothers, the peers selected by Leonidas himself to go defend Sparta from the invading hordes of Persia. All the Spartans died and this was his story. It's extremely interesting and it actually ties into my story and it actually ties into the 100th episode special that a lot of you guys have heard.

1:15 If you haven't heard of it yet, I strongly suggest you listen to it. I had a podcast listener ask me the other day, he said, what's your favorite episode that you ever recorded? And I was like, dude, it's my 100th episode special, the Spartan King. But in addition to that, I really enjoy the episodes about frame control, as well as the ones like I did on Wednesday, which are more about happiness, kind of base stuff, metaphysical, spiritual stuff, self-development kinds of things are fun. And obviously, I also enjoy speaking about women.

1:44 So basically everything, but that episode is my favorite and I'm going to hammer on that today, tell you guys the story. It's a fascinating story and my story that happened to me is pretty badass as well. So I look forward to sharing this story on today's episode. So before I jump into the content, I want to let you guys know that my one-on-one free consultation is still available. That's talking about how to get into my three-month coaching program. And you and I will jump on the phone in our breakthrough session, discuss your goals, discuss your challenges with women, and create a roadmap for you moving forward.

2:19 To learn more about that, check out coachmarksing.com. Click on coaching. You can read all about my three-month coaching program, all the elements that it entails, frequently asked questions, screenshots of things from the coaching program, over 40 testimonials, a handful of different episodes where I interviewed past clients, screenshots of texting that we've done with girls, stuff like that. So check it out, you know, if you're interested in doing that. Already, I'm getting dozens of applications. So if you want to get in sooner rather than later and chat with me, see if you're a good fit, then do that right now.

2:51 I want to let you guys know that this program is a two-pronged approach. Most seduction coaches just do one prong, which is to teach you the tactical aspects. And that's important. You know, I understand you got to learn how to talk to her, what to say, how to get her attracted, how to get her phone number, what to text her, how to get her on the first date, what to do on the first date, how to physically escalate, make her fall in love with you, relationship, all that stuff.

3:12 And I teach all that A to Z, 15 years of knowledge, jump straight into your noggin. But in addition to that, in my opinion, this is the most gangster part of my program. I create a custom 12-week NLP protocol specifically for you, me going into your brain, reprogramming all the traumas, belief systems, metaprograms, archetypes, and everything inside your brain belief system-wise to that of a natural, or more accurately, to that of who you were born to be, your natural, confident, masculine self. By the end of the three-month coaching program, you're going to get as much progress as you would have 10 years of going it alone.

3:52 And the thing I'm most proud about in this program is that every single client who goes through it writes me a heartfelt email, guys will drop me videos, get on the phone with me, telling me how much I've changed their lives. And that's my purpose here. And this program is my flagship product. It's the best thing I've ever created. I'm so proud of it. It's my legacy. It's what I'm leaving behind and that I hope my grandson goes through. I hope my great-great-great-grandson goes through to experience all the knowledge that I've gained over these 15 years of intense self-work, practice with women, mastery of NLP, mastery of seducing women, and giving it all to you in a perfectly packaged protocol that will get you the results in the quickest, easiest way possible.

4:37 So check that out, coachmarksing.com. You can also click the link in the description below and then go to coaching and check it out. I promise, guys, I'm not going to do such hardcore promotion of this coaching program in the weeks and months ahead, but I just released it. So you got to let me flex up a little bit. Flex up just like Aristodemus, the Spartan, flexed up in his story, which I'm going to tell you now. 300 BC, the Persian army, which consisted of millions of men, slaves, and different cities folded under the Emperor Xerxes' rule, was threatening to enter Greece and to take over Sparta to make its women into slaves, to completely erase Sparta from history for good.

5:19 And the Spartan army said, oh, hell no, we are going to defend this city. We are going to defend Greece. But a group of Spartan priests, also known as the Ephors, told King Leonidas that he couldn't take his entire army to fight the Persian army as they came into Greece. But instead, they had to stand down. Now, Leonidas, knowing military tactics, knew that if he stood down for the requisite two weeks that the Ephors told him he had to, because of some religious law, the Persians would be allowed to enter Greece and be set up to destroy the Spartans when they got their army established within Greece.

5:56 So what he did is he was able to circumvent that law by taking 300 personal bodyguards, quote unquote, going to a narrow pass that was like a bottleneck that the Persians had to go through to enter Greece and defending that narrow pass. So that's how the 300 Spartans came to pass. And one of the Spartans was named Aristodemus. And each of the Spartans had a son. So knowing that when these guys died and it was a suicide mission, they knew they were all going to die, knowing that when they died, they had at least a son to carry on their name.

6:28 So Leonidas took his men and marched them up to Thermopylae. Thermopylae is translated as the Hot Gates. And the reason it's translated as the Hot Gates is because there were sulfur springs up in that area. And today, the Hot Gates still exist. It's a little bit different topography wise. It was 2,300 years ago. But you can actually go visit the plains of Thermopylae. I haven't done that yet, but I have been to Sparta. I have traveled there. So the 300 Spartans march up to Thermopylae and the Persian army gathers in front of it.

6:56 And they have to get through this narrow pass. Well, as the story goes, a Persian scout was sent to check out what the army looked like that was defending the pass. And he was surprised to see that there were only 300 Spartans there doing each other's hair, resting on the ground, playing sport, and relaxing like they were on a summer vacation. The reason they did each other's hair is because the Spartans, unknown to most people, actually had dreadlocks. And the reason they had dreadlocks and they threaded them together is because it would protect the neck from sword blows.

7:27 So they had locks that came down from under the helmet that would cover up their neck, and they were really proud of their hair. You were allowed to wear long hair when you were a peer, when you were a brother, when you were part of that sacred band. You could grow your hair out long. So they were doing each other's hair in preparation of battle. And finally, when the first wave of Persians came, they were, like in the movie 300, completely decimated. Their wicker shields, which were made out of plant material, couldn't do anything about the hard bronze of the Spartan phalanx, which was basically shield upon shield enveloped across the front with the man behind you pushing his shield into your back and the man behind him pushing his shield into his back.

8:06 They had nine-foot lizard stickers is what they called them. They were spears. And each rank, going back to about six ranks, would be thrusting their spears over the front man's shoulder, basically creating a mill of murder of all these Persians. And they would push. So it was one army pushing against the other. And as they pushed, they would just kill them. They would fall to the ground. They would step on them. And then the guys behind would be sticking them with their lizard stickers as they walked by.

8:32 And they would basically trample over the crushed Persian army. Well, this went on for days and days, probably about three to four days. And at the end, there was only a handful of Spartans left. Well, Aristodemus, the man that we're talking about today, was one of those men. And during the battle, he got what's called field blindness, which is something that happens to warriors when they've seen such atrocities that their mind actually shuts down their visual cortex so they can't see anymore. So Leonidas told him he had to go back to Sparta because he was no use for the phalanx.

9:04 There was another guy who went blind as well, but he stayed in the phalanx because they'd been training in the phalanx since they were kids. So they knew how to feel their way through it. And they actually didn't have to see. Obviously, at the end, every single man, including Leonidas, was killed. And Aristodemus was the only one who survived at the 300. And he went back to Sparta. Getting back to Sparta, he tried to explain to everybody what happened. But they spurned him. They threw him out of the city.

9:31 And they made him shave half his beard off and called him the trembler. He wasn't given any food. He wasn't given any fire. He wasn't helped at all. And he was basically spurned by everybody. Well, a few years later, the bulk of Persia's army came back into Greece, made it onto the plains that were adjacent to Sparta, and were threatening, once again, to take over Sparta. Well, Sparta this time was able to muster its entire army. And it was on the plains of Platiae that this happened.

9:59 And Aristodemus was allowed to fight because they needed every single man they could get. Well, in the battle, in one part of the phalanx where Aristodemus was stationed, that part was starting to crumble. It was thin. It was threatening to break. And in a demonstration of insane bravery, Aristodemus broke from the ranks, charged into the enemy's four rankers, and slaughtered dozens of men, protecting his brothers and dying in his effort. He demonstrated so much bravery that he was carried back to Sparta on the shoulders of his brothers and buried a hero.

10:33 The story of Aristodemus really inspires me because it shows that even where we are now, we can become great. Even if we've had travesty, even if we've embarrassed ourselves, even if we failed over and over again, we can redeem ourselves. After all, every master was once a disaster. And embracing that failure and using it to motivate us to redeem ourselves, using it to motivate us to have courage in our hearts is what you do with failure. You don't let it beat you down. You use it as motivation to better yourself the next time.

11:06 So Aristodemus was carried back as a hero because his effort that day saved the Spartan phalanx from crumbling. He was buried a hero and forever remembered that way to 2,400 years later where a high school student named Mark Singh did a report on Aristodemus in his history class. So I did this report on Aristodemus in my history class telling the exact story I told you guys. And everybody really liked it and everybody was really friendly to me. But at the time, I was pre-pubic when I was in high school.

11:35 I actually didn't go through puberty until I was about 19 years old. And sometimes when I listen to my voice on this podcast, I'm like, am I sure I actually went through puberty? Because sometimes it's a little bit high. So you can only imagine what it sounded like when I was in high school. Well, in high school, I was bullied. I was beaten up on a lot. I was threatened a lot. And after I did this report, I was picked on even more because people thought that I associated this Aristodemus guy with myself.

12:02 So they picked on me even more. And one day I was in science class and I had my science project, which was all finished and polished. It was sitting on my desk. I was waiting to present it. And back in high school, I was a stress case, bro. Like I was a straight A student, super stressed out, super anxious, which eventually, as some of you know, led to agoraphobia and anxiety and panic attacks. And it was a mess, especially in my mid to late 20s. I was an absolute disaster.

12:29 Well, in high school, I would always get straight A's. So this science project was pinned, dude. I put so much effort into it. I knew I was going to get an A. And one of the bullies who bullied me the most was actually sitting in front of me. So he turns around and with a black felt tip marker, takes it right to my science project and starts making gigantic black huge circles all over my science project. And you know how we used to present those science projects on like a big piece of plasterboard?

12:57 It was one of those that you could like set up and everything like that. Bro, he just went with a black marker and started circling all around it. So with rage, man, I just stood up and I walked over to him and I fucking punched him in the face, dude. Wham! Right across the face. Now, two of the popular kids were sitting nearby and they were like, oh my God, you see what Mark just did? And I looked down at this bully and I'm like, get up!

13:21 Let's fucking do this! Get the fuck up! Like that. And he's like, Jesus, man, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm like, don't you ever fuck with me again. And everybody in the class saw it. And this was a big bully. He could have destroyed me. But bro, when I hit him, I swear to God, I felt the power going through my fist, just connecting. I hit him right in the temple. Boom! I hit him right in the head and I just felt it go through him. Almost like my hand had this like mega power behind it.

13:48 It was crazy. It felt like, I can't explain it, it was like Superman hitting an ice wall or something. So I just decimate this guy, right? And all the popular kids saw it. So I go and I sit back down. So this popular kid comes up to me and he puts his hand on my shoulder. He's like, what was that guy you did the thing on a couple of weeks ago? And I was like, Aristodemus. He's like, yep, you are Aristodemus. And at that moment, man, I almost teared up because that meant so much to me because I respected this guy so much.

14:16 And it wasn't clear to me until that moment that I redeemed myself in the same way that Aristodemus did. That no matter how much you're bullied, no matter how much you fail, no matter how much you've gone through in your life, You can always redeem yourself with the act of courage, with the act of selflessness, with the act of going against everything you fear and just entering that cave that you fear to enter. Because what's inside of it is the treasure that you seek. And obviously at that time, man, I was hurting.

14:44 I was highly anxious. I was pre-pubic. And that was redemption for me by showing that bully that I was no longer to be fucked with. So I really like that story because it's a demonstration of perhaps something that you too are going through. You've probably struggled with women. You've probably been divorced or you've been dumped or cheated on or you're not making the money you want to make. You're not living the life you want to make. Well, dude, you can redeem yourself with an act of insane courage.

15:10 And what is fear? As I spoke about in an episode several weeks ago, fear is false evidence appearing real. And entering your fear willingly is a shortcut to growth. It's a shortcut to happiness. So let's take the example of Aristodemus and redeem ourselves no matter how bad it's gotten, no matter how low we've gone, no matter how much people have spurned us and throw us out. But there's always a way to redeem ourselves by seeking our courage, by breaking the ranks and going into that Persian army, knowing full well that you're going to die, but redeeming yourself to save your brothers, taking out 20 of those Persians with you before they finally get steel into you and kill you.

15:50 And then you're carried back to Sparta, a hero. Or in my case, punching the shit out of a bully so that he stops fucking with you. And bullies are like balloons. What's the best way to deflate a balloon? You just pop it one and it'll deflate. So I thought that was a pretty cool story that I wanted to share with you guys. I'm really inspired by the Spartans and I'm really inspired by Aristodemus. And if you haven't heard that 100th episode special, it's called The Spartan King.

16:18 I would very much appreciate if you take a moment to search for it. Just search Spartan King and it'll probably come up. And you'll hear, if you've even heard it before, you probably didn't notice this. You'll hear that Aristodemus is talked about in that visualization. And who is Aristodemus in that visualization? It's me. I'm the guy who's next to you in the phalanx. I'm the one who's covering your shield with my shield. I'm the one who kills that gigantic enemy who's looming over you, about to send you to hell with his battle axe final blow, but instead I slay him and he lays on top of you.

16:51 So if you've heard it and you forgot about it, listen to it again. I am Aristodemus and you are my brother in the ranks. All right, guys, I do appreciate you listening. I got another awesome one dropping on Monday. So make sure to stay tuned for that. If you're ready to face your fears, if you're ready to get this part of your life settled once and for all, check out my website, coachmarkzing.com. Click on coaching. And if you feel like you're interested in learning more about what it's like to work with me for three months, just imagine me working with you for three months, dumping all my my 15 years of knowledge into your head, completely reprogramming your brain with a custom NLP protocol designed by me specifically for you, then apply for that one-on-one breakthrough session.

17:37 You and I will talk, see if you're a good fit. If you are, I will invite you with open arms and you will join me in the phalanx as brothers fighting shoulder to shoulder, going after your fears and becoming the man that you were meant to be. All right, brothers, thank you so much for listening. I do appreciate it and I will see you in the next episode. I do appreciate it and I will see you in the next episode. I do appreciate it and I will see you in the next episode.

17:55 I do appreciate it and I will see you in the next episode. I do appreciate it and I will see you in the next episode. I do appreciate it and I will see you in the next episode. I do appreciate it and I will see you in the next episode. I do appreciate it and I will see you in the next episode. I do appreciate it and I will see you in the next episode. I do appreciate it and I will see you in the next episode.

17:59 I do appreciate it and I will see you in the next episode. I do appreciate it and I will see you in the next episode. I do appreciate it and I will see you in the next episode. I do appreciate it and I will see you in the next episode.

This transcript was made automatically, so a few words may be off.