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CrossFit -- ( http://www.crossfit.com)

Want to know what makes CrossFit's Training staff special? Hear it straight from the trainers themselves in this video.

The CrossFit Journal -- ( http://journal.crossfit.com)

As a child, Tony Blauer was afraid of getting beat up. He was also inordinately attracted to fight scenes in movies.

So at the age of 12, he signed up for Taekwondo. He trained seven days a week, and he was "obsessive," says Blauer, now 53. From the ages of 20 to 25, he did 30 to 40 private lessons a week. Eventually he opened his own school. But it wasn't until one of his students lost a fight that Blauer realized he was incorrectly teaching self-defense. He needed to understand the psychology of fear.

Through a conversation with CrossFit Founder and CEO Greg Glassman, Blauer began to further see why victims of violence so often don't fight back: they're afraid to lose.

"(Glassman) went on to say, 'If the fight's gonna happen anyways and you choose not to fight back, what you risk is losing everything. But if the fight's gonna happen anyways, and you get into the fight and you happen to lose the fight, all you lost was the fight'—'cause you still have your emotional, psychological system, ya know, intact," explains Blauer, who owns Blauer Tactical Systems and leads the CrossFit Defense Specialty Course.

"And that is true research-wise, where victims of violence who fought back don't have the same (post-traumatic stress disorder) as people who just cooperated—that's huge, powerful."

Video by Jon Gilbert and Jay Vera.

The CrossFit Journal -- ( http://journal.crossfit.com)

Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for children under the age of 4 in 23 U.S. states. Nationwide, it ranks second only to vehicle accidents. On average, 11 children drown every day.

"With ISR training, just because a child wanders to the pool alone doesn't mean he has to die there, and that's our mission," says JoAnn Barnett, Infant Swimming Resource president and CEO.

Infant Swimming Resource, or ISR, is a 47-year-old program that aims to prevent pediatric drowning through instruction to children as young as 6 months. CrossFit Kids has partnered with the program.

While in Santa Cruz, Calif., earlier this year, Barnett taught 7-month-old Estella—daughter of Jessica Wheeler and UFC fighter Gray Maynard—how to roll over and save herself in the pool.

"She did cry through the learning process—and most children do—but once they're competent in the water, the crying goes away and you have a child who's a lot safer," Barnett explains.

For Wheeler, the experience was intense.

"But it's really magical to watch your child learn and be able to save themselves and survive in the water," she says.

Video by Dave Leys.




The CrossFit Games® - The Sport of Fitness™
The Fittest On Earth™

The CrossFit Journal -- ( http://journal.crossfit.com)

What would you do if you won the lottery? CrossFit Media's Pat Sherwood would get back on his bike.

After his four-month-long motorcycle trip from the U.S. to South America, Sherwood is back in Santa Cruz, Calif., with riding partner and videographer Ian Wittenber, revealing some previously unreleased commentary and footage.

Some of Sherwood's frustrations are showcased in a blue cloud of expletives, Wittenber drinks a scorpion and the pair witness what can happen in a motorcycle wreck. Despite the chaos, Sherwood found a sense of peace on the road.

"What was great about the trip was the disconnectedness," Sherwood tells CrossFit Media's Sevan Matossian.

He adds: "You can't text while you're riding. I'm actually free for a bit, and that hadn't happened for a really long time. Whether that's soul searching or not, that was really therapeutic."

Wittenber, meanwhile, most enjoyed his time with other CrossFit athletes.

"The thing that I got the most out of it was actually the moments when we weren't alone, when we were with all the affiliates and, like, with the community," he says.

When all was said and done, the two men had more friends than when they started.

"You are a part of—literally, no exaggeration—a global family. You have a global family," Sherwood explains. "And that's just so cool, ya know? As we grow and expand and start to take over the world, your family grows."

And lottery tickets in hand, Sherwood and Wittenber vow to do another trip if either wins—and Sherwood is certain he's going to win.

Video by Ian Wittenber.

The CrossFit Games® - The Sport of Fitness™
The Fittest On Earth™