Sevan Matossian (00:02):
Bam. We’re live. Judy. Thank you. Happy birthday, Simon. You’re awesome. Thank you. I thought I saw, you know what’s crazy is last night when I, I thought I came here and I thought I saw Happy Birthday from Janelle, like 12 hours before the show started. I’m sorry, I can’t find it now. Oh, maybe, maybe. I’m tripping. Happy birthday son. Thank you. Aw. Um, today we’re gonna have on, um, uh, uh, Jesus Pav Bell. Is that his name? That’s what I’m going with. Until he corrects us. Yeah. Uh, pav Bell. Uh, Jeffrey Birchfield. Happy birthday, Savon. Thank you. Patrick Anderson. Happy birthday. This, this guy that we’re having on today runs the, um, I, on the internet, it says the oldest affiliate affiliate in Latin America. I don’t think Latin America’s actually a real place. I, um, I thi I think it’s, um, yeah. I don’t even know what the fuck Latin America means, but I, but I think, I think it’s the oldest affiliate in South America.
(01:00):
If we’re gonna signify, uh, I think Latin America is an idea in South America is actually a location. Think of Latin America as gender and think of, uh, south America as sex. It’s real. Jetro Cardona. It is, uh, your birthday. Tizz. Tizz. Thank you. Happy, uh, oh, p get it. 5 51. I get it. That’s awesome. Happy birthday Chevy. Corey. Leonard, thank you. Hey, thanks for your support. All, all you guys. Jetro, uh, Corey, uh, Jan Clark. Happy birthday, uncle Se. Thank you. Appreciate it. Oh, Heidi, crew. Happy birthdays. I love you too, Janelle. There you are. Double money. I think I saw you give money and happy birthday. Me already. Um, the two things I wanna share with you, the two greatest, uh, things in my life. This came up to me in the shower today. I’m gonna share them with you quickly. Maybe at the end of the show.
(01:43):
We’ll have time to talk about ’em. After Pavel, uh, hits the road, the greatest single thing I’ve ever done in my life that’s added the most value to my life, hands down by second to none, is my pursuit of my own mortality. Me facing my death. I don’t know how many of you actually have heard that story. I, um, I know it’s out there somewhere, but, uh, it is, it is not a journey that I take lightly. And if you ha it has enriched my life more than anything, it has allowed me to see, to see’s not the right word. It’s allowed me to go into the unknown. And it’s a, it’s, it’s a crazy, crazy gift. And it was a very, uh, difficult, uh, uh, and, uh, and fortuitous that I earned it. But I had to face my own death. And it’s weird cuz everyone should do it, but it, ma’am, holy shit.
(02:37):
It’s fucking, it’s a bizarre, it’s not even scary because you’re beyond scared. It, it flirts with suicidal. Um, so if you have a chance to do true inner work ever in your life, that will be the greatest tool you ever, I mean, I carry it with me every fucking where I go. It’s just, I can just step into the unknown. I don’t wanna say I can see into the unknown. Cause I really, I don’t see shit when I’m in there. Um, I’m tared when I’m in there, but it’s great. It’s great. It, it’s where all of faith lives. It’s, it’s like stepping into faith. And then the second thing, and, and the, the first thing I think would be true for everything. The second thing, it’s weird because I don’t understand. I see some parents, and this isn’t true for them, but the most happiness I’ve ever had in my life is not the first time I touched a bra.
(03:25):
Not the first time I made a million. I saw a million dollars in my tax return, not the first time. Uh, I, I found my penis, not <laugh>, not getting promoted to the best job ever. The greatest enjoyment I have every in my entire life is, um, uh, spending time with my kids. And I’ll get crazy emotional if I start going too far into it. But every, like, when I get off this show, I’m going to go out there and I’m gonna open the door and I’m gonna walk in and these three boys are gonna look at me, and I’m gonna have a feeling that, um, that there is no parallel to it. And it’s so e and it’s everywhere for me in my life right now. And so I’m kind of living my, like, my, my craziest best life now. So I just, those are the two things I wanted to let you know.
(04:10):
Like having kids and like being present with them is like a crazy joy. Crazy. It’s like, um, it’s nuts. And then, uh, and then, and then also the most valuable thing I’ve ever done with my life is going into the unknown. Bailey Walker. Hi. Thank you. Happy birthday. Susie. Tell hi. Hi, uh, Barry, my cocker. Thank you. Uh, Bruce Wayne, Kenneth Deap. I, I, now that I know what that name is saying, I always just screw it up. <laugh> uh, Kenneth Deap. Thank you. By a pack of gum. Okay. I don’t chew gum, but I’ll still do it. Um,
Pavel Saenz (04:41):
Random
Sevan Matossian (04:42):
Happy birthday. The Shez happy birthday. Wow. That’s a lot of money. Wow. Damn. That’s gonna pay for today’s, uh, skateboard class. Miss Rido. Thank you, Audrey. Holy cow, you guys. Thank you. Holy smoke. Okay. Hold your applause. Holy smoke. <laugh> Pavel. Uh, Dick Margarine. Thank you. We’re friends. That’s why I call you Dick Soccer. Mom. Thank you. What’s up, dude?
Pavel Saenz (05:03):
Happy birthday, my friend.
Sevan Matossian (05:05):
Thank you. Thank you, <laugh>. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Pavel Saenz (05:08):
Hi, Matt. Hey,
Sevan Matossian (05:09):
How you doing? Hey. Uh, great. Is that the good, the bad and the ugly or hang ’em high or what is that back there? Yep.
Pavel Saenz (05:16):
The good, the bad and the
Sevan Matossian (05:17):
Ugly. My goodness. Yeah. I saw, I, I recognize the guys from the good to bad and the ugly, but I saw the noose, so I wanted to make sure I cover all my bases.
Pavel Saenz (05:26):
<laugh> <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (05:27):
Do you remember the first time you saw that movie? Uh, am I saying your name right? P Pavel.
Pavel Saenz (05:33):
It could be either way. It could be Pavel or Powell.
Sevan Matossian (05:36):
You, how do you say it?
Pavel Saenz (05:39):
I, I, I prefer Powell.
Sevan Matossian (05:41):
Pow
Pavel Saenz (05:43):
Pavel
Sevan Matossian (05:44):
Pavel Pavel Pavel Pavel. Yes. Pavel Pavel.
Pavel Saenz (05:47):
It makes it more similar in, in, in English and in Spanish. That’s why I prefer it that way. Just like
Sevan Matossian (05:52):
That P Pavel.
Pavel Saenz (05:54):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (05:55):
Uh, when my wife, me, what we should name our son, I said, I didn’t know, but one of my favorite sounds was ah, like Pavel Orson. And so she said, okay, we’ll just call him Avi, then <laugh>. There it is. Pavel Pav. I love that sound. Hey, um, do you remember the first time you saw that movie?
Pavel Saenz (06:13):
I, I, I don’t know, maybe some little memories, but, um, I was very young, very young, and, and I saw it on TV with my father. And, um, it was, uh, remember those long, long movies? So <laugh>, uh, but it got me hooked right away. Um, I, I don’t know if you know seven, but um, before my CrossFit years, I was a filmmaker also.
Sevan Matossian (06:39):
Okay. I didn’t know that. Okay.
Pavel Saenz (06:41):
So, so yeah. So I got to appreciate a little bit more once I started studying, watching more films during my high school years. So it still remains, I I still watch it every, every couple of years and, and, and learn some stuff from there, from storytelling, from rhythm. And, and he was a master. Leon, the director. He was a master. And I respect everything Clint has a has done also. So,
Sevan Matossian (07:12):
<laugh>, you, you described the first time you saw that movie the same way I would describe the first time I saw it, I don’t remember the details, but I know I was with my dad, and my dad loved those movies, so I saw, you know, all of them, the Pale Riders, the hang ’em highs, the good, the bad, and the Ugly. And they would come on TV on some weird station dream
Mattew Souza (07:30):
Film.
Sevan Matossian (07:31):
Yeah.
Mattew Souza (07:32):
I follow those old westerns too. My grandpa always had ’em on.
Sevan Matossian (07:36):
Hey, uh, Pavlo, my son’s just recently got into Bruce Lee. And I, and I, I don’t know who the director is, but for sure those five movies he made, that guy was just stealing everything from, from these movies. The close eye eye shots, the, the, you know, the gestures. I mean, it’s pretty, it’s pretty, I mean, I, and I don’t, when I say stealing, I don’t mean that in a bad way. Complimentary
Pavel Saenz (08:00):
For me. For me, Bruce Lee was pretty impactful also.
Sevan Matossian (08:03):
Yeah.
Pavel Saenz (08:05):
<laugh>. Uh, but you do
Sevan Matossian (08:07):
This to people for the gym,
Pavel Saenz (08:09):
<laugh>, but more in the sense for the martial arts theme.
(08:16):
So many, not many people know that he did some brow, uh, groundbreaking stuff because he did more or less, uh, what Coach Glassman did in the sense for the martial arts word, because, um, he didn’t think as one style could, could be the, the answer to, to self-defense or, uh, true expression of the physical combat, uh, expression. So he, uh, modulated a concept called [inaudible]. And that concept was very much like CrossFit <laugh> in the sense if you transferred the ideas behind it. So he wanted to pick the best, uh, techniques and principles from different martial arts. And at the time, that was revolutionary. So, um, uh, even an and at, at one moment, I, I, I wanted to, to write an article on this for the journal, uh, on the, on the bridge between, uh, GDO and, and, and CrossFit. Because when
Sevan Matossian (09:25):
I, I love it. When
Pavel Saenz (09:26):
I, when I just learned about, uh, coach Glassman and his first writings, it was like, uh, like seeing everything that had to do with Jean Kudo again. But one thing that coach did was that he transformed in a method, in a clear method. And that’s what, uh, Bruce Lee didn’t do. Uh, he, he defined some concepts, some idea, but he left them pretty loose. Uh, so yeah, he, he, he was also very important in the sense of, of, uh, living a spiritual life, uh, connecting that with, with the physical expression in combat sports. Uh, so yeah. Good for him. Good for your son.
Sevan Matossian (10:12):
Uh, um, I, I guess the, the way you articulated it, I, I watch a lot of mma, and it’s odd, the MMA community has really embraced Bruce Lee, which is always weird to me, right? Because the MMA community is so hard on people and so judgmental and like, they’re like, fuck this guy, fuck this guy. But they really have embraced Bruce Lee. You know, you’ll see would, how would Bruce Lee do in the ufc? And people ask it like it’s a legitimate, um, uh, question. And as, as much as I, I watched the U ffc, I’ve never heard it articulated the way you, you just said it, but now it makes sense.
Pavel Saenz (10:43):
Yeah, yeah. And it’s, and it’s all that in that, in that time when in the sixties, uh, at the beginning of the seventies, he, he, he wanted to mix all the full contact sports with grabbing and throwing the m m a, the ma, the m m a stop. And, uh, his vision was that you should look at a fighter and that don’t even know, which is his background. Mm-hmm. He should be so complete that you don’t know if he’s a striker, if he’s a grappler, that that, um, um, that fusion of techniques, uh, should be so, so, uh, balanced. Just like the skills in, in and skills in, in CrossFit. So, um, when we watch a CrossFit athlete, we don’t know necessarily if he’s just, uh, a weightlifter or he’s a gymnast, or he’s a runner. They, the, that’s the, that’s the beauty of it also,
Sevan Matossian (11:41):
That how about that phy How about that physique of his too? Bruce Lees, you know what? Yeah, I, I, I see this thing, um, Pavel that, that I, I don’t relate to at all. I’ve never had a desire to be a big man. I never, like, people will be like, um, hey, it’s offensive if, like, uh, uh, I remember Ryan Fisher made a video recently and how his girlfriend said he looked skinny. And I was like, yeah, that, like, I loved how skinny Bruce Lee was. I loved that lean, uh, that lean physique. I, I also remember even in, um, in, uh, Brad Pitt and Troy, I remember people saying he wasn’t big enough. I was like, what are you talking about? I love that super crazy athletic, like the 150, 35, 45 and 55 pound classes in, in the U F C. I just love that. Uh, you know, those guys walk around at 185 pounds, sorry to be speaking in pounds, but those guys walk around at 180 5, but they’re fight weight. When they’re lean, when they’re the dog in the alley, you see all the ribs and they’re down to 1 55, and it’s like, yeah, there he is. Yeah. Look at him. He’s, he’s ready to go. Right. They’re hungry at their peak. Yeah. I mean, that’s right. And he looks huge there compared to Bruce Lee. Yeah. But I loved, I loved Bruce’s as a child. I loved that, that, uh, physique almost like part dancer, um, you know, part part fighter.
Pavel Saenz (13:09):
Yeah. And, and, and his last film and Enter the Dragon, he, he wasn’t in a very good shape in the sense he wasn’t all that healthy
Sevan Matossian (13:17):
Because he was, oh, I didn’t know that.
Pavel Saenz (13:19):
He was, he was all, he was very stressed. He wasn’t sleeping. He was, uh, he was, he was very obsessed with being in, in, in the project, in the filming, in the shooting. He would give a hard time to the directors <laugh>. So, so he took it. He knew that at that moment it was a critical time for him to, to, for a breakthrough. So he took it very seriously. And, and, and, and that, in that movie, you see him a little bit lighter than usual. Uh, but yeah, everything else you’re saying is, is true.
Sevan Matossian (13:54):
And his lats. Do you I just remember his lats as a kid.
Pavel Saenz (13:58):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (13:59):
They were crazy. I, I I I, I always wanted those <laugh> and, and, and, and I didn’t. I didn’t. Do you remember getting your first Pullup Pav? How old you were?
Pavel Saenz (14:12):
Not really. Not, not really. I think, uh, maybe I’ve, I
Sevan Matossian (14:15):
That’s where our path, that’s where our paths separate. I wasn’t into my twenties. Oh, yeah. Benik God, Benioff’s body is insane. I agree. God, Benik Koff has a great fucking physique. Yeah, yeah. Amazing physique. I mean, so you were, you were athletic as a kid. You, you just, for all your life, you just knew you had one.
Pavel Saenz (14:35):
Um, pretty, pretty, as a normal kid, that moves a lot and jumps on trees and plays around with friends. And
Sevan Matossian (14:44):
Normal, according to who standards
Pavel Saenz (14:46):
<laugh> at, at, in our cultures in Latin America, we do a lot of soccer and a lot of like, playing with the bros and like, kind of physical stuff. Uh, we don’t have as many as, as, as options as sports, as, as in the US or in other development countries. But, um, uh, but yeah, pretty, pretty active. I wouldn’t say, uh, I would say average a little bit above average.
Sevan Matossian (15:12):
You’re, you’re in Santiago?
Pavel Saenz (15:14):
I’m in Santiago, Chile, yeah.
Sevan Matossian (15:16):
Let me see if I can pull this. Um, you got it. Suza Uhhuh <affirmative> this map. And, uh, and Chile’s, the, the really, uh, skinny, uh, country in South America, that, that they’ve just hogged the entire coast. Right. They’ve just taken the coast, the western coast from South America. And, and your climate is very similar to, um, California. Yes, it is. You have big, vast deserts, but you also can, there’s areas where you can grow anything.
Pavel Saenz (15:43):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (15:44):
Yeah. What, what an what an amazing place could, could you zoom out at just for people who aren’t, who are geographically, uh, illiterate like myself, and they can see it. Yeah. Look at that thing. What a crazy piece of land to try to have to defend. Do, do. Is there a quick history? You can tell how you guys got just a sliver like that. I mean, it’s like you just took the best piece and was like, all right, fuck you guys. You can have the rest
Pavel Saenz (16:06):
<laugh>. Well, the thing is that, uh, we we’re, we’re on the, on, on lengthy east side of it, Uhhuh <affirmative>, where we go with the border of Argentina, Uhhuh <affirmative> and the, and the
Sevan Matossian (16:19):
Oh, and they got the other coast.
Pavel Saenz (16:22):
Yeah. And, and what separates us is the cord is the, is the big mountain, and it goes almost all the way through Chile.
Sevan Matossian (16:29):
Okay.
Pavel Saenz (16:30):
So, so it was when, when the Spanish came and colonized, they, they were, they either passed through the border to the, the, the mountain. And that was another country. Uh, so we’re really, uh, uh, a skinny land while, uh, Argentina’s very, uh, wide.
Sevan Matossian (16:51):
So physically it kept the two countries basically from being able to fight basically, or one person to come over. What is the peak? What is the highest peak there? Do you know?
Pavel Saenz (17:01):
Oof. I would say in meters that would be, maybe, I’m not really sure. That’s a good
Sevan Matossian (17:09):
Question, but something crazy. There’s some crazy stuff
Pavel Saenz (17:12):
There. Yeah. Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (17:13):
Uh, hi, highest peaks in South America,
Pavel Saenz (17:16):
Um, maybe close to Bolivia, close to some places in Colombia. They don’t have, they don’t have the, the length of the mountains, but they have, uh, higher altitude.
Sevan Matossian (17:27):
And, and, and you guys have the driest place on the planet too. The, the, um, when I went, I’ve, I’ve filmed a movie there in the a comma, and I remember them saying, the spot you’re standing at, there’s no historical record of it ever raining there ever in the history of the planet. And I was like, how, how could that be <laugh>? Yeah. I mean, just nuts. And it, and it all, and it looked clearly like no place I had seen, I did not think I was on planet earth. It was a, a very trippy, uh, very unique scenery, right?
Pavel Saenz (17:56):
Yeah. And it’s, it’s, uh, yeah, it’s the, it’s the desert on one side on the north of the country. And you can go, you can fly an hour and, and you’re gonna be in the, in our Tar <laugh>. So, so it’s, it’s pretty crazy. Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (18:13):
Shit. They had that, they have the highest chili has the highest vo volcano on the planet. Did you see that? Wow. Nuts.
Pavel Saenz (18:20):
22,000 feet.
Sevan Matossian (18:22):
Uh, Mike Sour. Thank you. It, so, and in this amazing landscape that is chili, you own the, you opened the 16 years ago, the very first CrossFit gym is, is it in South America?
Pavel Saenz (18:35):
Yep. Yeah. Oh, that’s
Sevan Matossian (18:37):
Nuts. That is nuts. Pablo <laugh>. Have you met Greg?
Pavel Saenz (18:41):
Yeah, twice.
Sevan Matossian (18:42):
Oh, okay. Okay.
Pavel Saenz (18:43):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (18:44):
Yeah. Crazy.
Pavel Saenz (18:45):
So, so when, um, when I was, uh, uh, finishing film school, I started, well, I was very into mma. Uh, I started my, my, uh, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu also, uh, like journey. And, uh, I got hooked with, uh, with Matt Thornton. He’s, uh, he’s, uh, the director of a organization called Straight PLA Gym. They’re a, a
Sevan Matossian (19:15):
American dude with that name Amer American dudes. Yeah.
Pavel Saenz (19:18):
He’s, uh, when I met him, he, he, well, he still is in headquarters. He has his headquarters in Portland. So
Sevan Matossian (19:25):
Tell him I’m sorry,
Pavel Saenz (19:27):
<laugh>. So, uh, the thing is that, uh, what happened, well, going a little bit back with gdo, I, I was interested in all of that philosophy, but the thing is that, as I said before, many of the students and the lineage of Bruce, uh, kind of divided because they all had an interpretation of what his principles were. So one went the route that you should only train whatever. He, he, he trained the other camp, uh, wanted they, they took a more broad perspective and they thought, just bring anything that that’s good. And, and, and, and it’s, uh, and it’s functional for fighting, and you can use it. But the thing is that both camps miss the idea of doing something, uh, against a resisting opponent. This is, this is a, a topic very central in, in traditional martial arts, that they do a lot of, uh, what they call forms or [inaudible].
(20:33):
And what that means is they do like a choreographed combat. And, uh, the, this camp from Matt, he, he, uh, tried to implement the idea of a, of a training with a live opponents ma. Uh, mainly what, what, uh, boxing does kickboxing, uh, wrestling and, and jujitsu and all that. They do that. So he, he, uh, incorporated, incorporated all this, um, uh, sport like, uh, aspect of training for self-defense also, cuz you could, uh, his, his, uh, his idea behind that is that you can train for self-defense with a lot of protection. You can do, you can do the same type of fighting, so you don’t have to simulate a fight. So, uh, this gr grabbed me right away. So I, I I, I started training under him, and, uh, and I, and I thought this idea of aliveness was very, very interesting. So when I finished school, I started doing a documentary on the topic.
Sevan Matossian (21:36):
Oh.
Pavel Saenz (21:38):
And, uh, uh, I had Where
Sevan Matossian (21:40):
Did you go to school? Pav,
Pavel Saenz (21:41):
Uh, here in Chile. We, we, we had, uh, the national like, uh, film school.
Sevan Matossian (21:47):
Okay.
Pavel Saenz (21:48):
Uh, and so I had to, they, they, they hold, uh, a couple of camps, training camps during the year in the United States. So I went to one and, uh,
Sevan Matossian (22:00):
What year, what year is this? This,
Pavel Saenz (22:01):
This was 2005.
Sevan Matossian (22:03):
Okay. So, oh, I, I think I see where this is going. This is going
Pavel Saenz (22:08):
<laugh> Uhhuh. So I got, I grabbed my camera, I got, I grabbed my bag and I, I wanted a train, I wanted to shoot. And, uh, I wanted to meet, uh, Matt personally also. And at the time, at the same time, I was, um, trying to, to my, my, my fitness was very low. <laugh>. My, my, my strength and conditioning wasn’t that high. So I started investigating a lot. And so in, in this, uh, similar pathway, I, I bumped into crossfit.com. I started doing some, was there, you
Sevan Matossian (22:40):
Remember where you were when you bumped into crossfit.com? Were you sitting front of a computer in, in, in Chile, in Santiago,
Pavel Saenz (22:47):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (22:48):
Prior to going to Portland to start the movie.
Pavel Saenz (22:50):
Right.
Sevan Matossian (22:51):
Okay. Wow. That’s early dude.
Pavel Saenz (22:53):
Yeah, that’s early. So yeah, you, you didn’t, you didn’t have YouTube, you, um, in Mainside. You didn’t even have, like, you had to download links and pictures and that was it. <laugh>. That’s awesome.
Sevan Matossian (23:05):
Yeah. People remember this. This isn’t that long ago. There was no YouTube, no
Mattew Souza (23:09):
High res photos or videos. <laugh>
Sevan Matossian (23:11):
If, if you wanted a video, he probably had to wait an hour to download it and watch it. <laugh>, I’m not even joking. <laugh>, you would load it and then you’d go take a dump or go make dinner and come back. And if like, something ha, sometimes you would wait an hour and it’d be fully uploaded and then it would go away. You’d be like at
Pavel Saenz (23:25):
99
Sevan Matossian (23:26):
<laugh>. Yeah. Yeah. You’d be like, what? Or you’d watch the video and it was like seven seconds long of, of the something. You can’t even figure out what it is. <laugh>. Yeah. That’s crazy. You’re old school, dude. That was crazy.
Pavel Saenz (23:38):
Yeah. And so, so I would, I would see the workouts, uh, and I would just pick and choose, choose the ones I liked. <laugh>. <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (23:48):
Do you remember what you would choose how, and would you see stuff like thruster or snatch and be like, like having to like search the world to figure out what those were? Yeah,
Pavel Saenz (23:56):
I remember all, yeah, I saw the word clean. I didn’t know what the hell was that. Yeah. So I, I did mostly body weight and like a lot of running and a lot of body.
Sevan Matossian (24:05):
Cindy. A lot of Cindy. A lot of Cindy,
Pavel Saenz (24:07):
Yeah. A lot of dumbbells.
Sevan Matossian (24:09):
A lot of Merf stuff like murf, like dude murf too many times,
Pavel Saenz (24:13):
Right?
Sevan Matossian (24:14):
Yep.
Pavel Saenz (24:15):
And so it, well, it, it, uh, parenthesis, I, I, when I, when I did my first workout, it was Mary
Sevan Matossian (24:21):
Uhhuh <affirmative>.
Pavel Saenz (24:22):
Oh, wow. And Mary, you guys know Mary, right? <laugh>? Yeah,
Sevan Matossian (24:26):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Handstand, pushup. Is it Mary, Cindy? All just for tough guys. It’s like the pistol one. Yeah, handstand pushup. Yeah. Mary’s crazy up. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Pavel Saenz (24:34):
So the, the, the odd thing is that you do the three movements Rx and it, it had a handstand pushup, it had pistols and it had pullups. And I only did three rounds in those 20 minutes <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (24:51):
Wow. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. <laugh>.
Pavel Saenz (24:53):
And it beat me. It beat me like a week. So, um, well, when, while this all is going on, uh, I wanted to, to learn more about CrossFit. So I looked up and there was just a couple of affiliates around the, around in the States. And there was one in Portland. So I said, I’m gonna be there a week. I’m gonna train there for a week and I’m gonna shoot my documentary. And, uh, well, I got there, uh, CrossFit Portland. Uh, there were one of the first,
Sevan Matossian (25:25):
I think that may have been the first, what was that guy’s name again? If you say his name, I’ll remember it.
Pavel Saenz (25:29):
Uh, Scott Hagnis. Scotty. Oh,
Sevan Matossian (25:31):
Scotty Hack. No, I don’t recognize it. Scott Hagnis.
Pavel Saenz (25:34):
Yeah, Scott. Ha He was, uh,
Sevan Matossian (25:38):
That was in 2005.
Pavel Saenz (25:41):
That was in 2005. Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (25:42):
Okay. Yeah. It, it had, there could have only been like maybe three affiliates then, I bet,
Pavel Saenz (25:47):
Right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So I trained there for a week. I saw the class as well. Obvi, obviously, he, he already had a lot of, uh, knowledge and, uh, and I experimented a, a true class, a true CrossFit class. Uh, before that I would just look at the, the wa warm up a little. Yeah. That’s him.
Sevan Matossian (26:10):
Oh,
Pavel Saenz (26:10):
Wow. And, uh, and uh, and I would go at it <laugh>. Yeah. Very, very nice guy. Very nice guy. Very cool dude.
Sevan Matossian (26:21):
Wow. Is that, is that recent right there?
Pavel Saenz (26:26):
I think it is, yeah. And he looks the same. <laugh>
Sevan Matossian (26:30):
<laugh>
Pavel Saenz (26:31):
As a person that popped
Sevan Matossian (26:32):
Up. Yeah. Crazy. I wonder if he still owns, does he owns CrossFit Portland? It looks like he does according to the internet of things. Crazy. Crazy.
Pavel Saenz (26:42):
Yep. So when I started training there, I, I, I, well, he, he asked me a lot of stuff. He, he wanted to know about me cause I was coming from Chi and all that. We started talking and uh, and I told him I would love to, to to do more of this. So he said, he said, you know, man, you should do it right now. Oh, I’m gonna give you a contact, write an email, and, and go, go from there. So I, uh, the email was from, uh, for Tony Buddy.
Sevan Matossian (27:15):
Yeah. God, CrossFit spread like a virus. <laugh>. He had a visitor from Chile. They caught the disease and took it home with <laugh>. Crazy. It’s so crazy.
Pavel Saenz (27:27):
So I wrote to him, and he, well, we started emailing him back and forth and he said, well, uh, this is what you should do. You start training, do the, do the program like it’s supposed to be done three days on, one day off <laugh>. Start by that start reading. He started sending some articles from the Journal. I started downloading more, more stuff. And that’s where I, I think I did that like for around six months. And then he advised me to, to start taking on personal training, like teaching others. And, uh, he said, well, uh, we have now the, the option for affiliate. So if you wanna have an affiliate, just let me know.
Sevan Matossian (28:05):
What year was that? 2006?
Pavel Saenz (28:07):
Yeah, that was 2006.
Sevan Matossian (28:09):
Um, did you start real quick? Did you finish the documentary?
Pavel Saenz (28:13):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (28:13):
You did?
Pavel Saenz (28:14):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (28:15):
What’s the name of it?
Pavel Saenz (28:16):
It’s called Aliveness.
Sevan Matossian (28:17):
Aliveness. Is it in Spanish?
Pavel Saenz (28:20):
It’s in Spanish and in English also. We didn’t, we didn’t have the, uh, the fortune of do a lot of doing a lot of distribution, but Uhhuh, but yeah, but it’s out there.
Sevan Matossian (28:30):
<laugh> is is it on YouTube?
Pavel Saenz (28:32):
Uh, no, no, just, just old school analog. I I used to have it on DVD v <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (28:40):
Pavel, why don’t you, um, upload it?
Pavel Saenz (28:43):
Yeah, it’s uh, it’s a good idea. Yeah. Okay. I’ve been
Sevan Matossian (28:46):
Thinking about it. Okay. Yeah, do it, do it. Just upload it onto YouTube. Let people see it.
Pavel Saenz (28:50):
So, um,
Sevan Matossian (28:52):
Let me know if you need help. I know how to push, push a button or two.
Pavel Saenz (28:54):
Thanks. Thanks <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (28:58):
I’m the last guy. You want help
Mattew Souza (29:00):
<laugh>? Uh, I found this, uh, post actually of you posting about it on, uh, CrossFit discussion Board in 2008.
Sevan Matossian (29:08):
Oh, that’s awesome. Hey guys, I’ve just uploaded the trailer of the documentary I shot on Aliveness and Martial Arts. Oh, nice. And I think especially Matt Thornton. Uh, Mike and Rebecca Sweeney. Carl Taswell and Louise Gutierrez. Oh shit.
Mattew Souza (29:21):
Did he see the, what are you hitting?
Sevan Matossian (29:24):
Uh, Louise Gutierrez. Someone recommended I have that guy on the podcast. They said he’s an amazing, uh, he’s done amazing stuff with kids in, in the realm of Jiu-Jitsu. Yes.
Mattew Souza (29:33):
Oh wow.
Pavel Saenz (29:34):
Yes.
Sevan Matossian (29:34):
Yes. Someone just recommended him to me. That’s nuts. Uh, and obviously the rest of the athletes, uh, present all from the Straight Blast Gym. International comments are welcome. Oh, David Wood. You think that’s the David Wood. But
Mattew Souza (29:45):
Look, look at what it says. Please post whether the lake is work, family safe or not. <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (29:51):
Right.
Mattew Souza (29:52):
That was before old fan thirst traps and stuff on Instagram. You even know what you’re gonna get.
Sevan Matossian (29:56):
I wonder if that’s the David Wood, the one.
The above transcript is generated using AI technology and therefore may contain errors.
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