495: Kevin Secours on Rituals of Strength and Movement

Today’s guest is Kevin Secours. Kevin is a veteran martial arts coach, author, and former security professional with decades of experience across Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, Karate, and Russian Systema. Holding five black belts (including an 8th-dan), Kevin has worked extensively in real-world contexts while also teaching meditation, solo training, and strength rituals. He is the author of Rituals of Strength and Unconstrained, and is known for blending martial tradition, modern training theory, psychology, and philosophical inquiry into human development and resilience The conditioning and tempering of the body in striking sports can draw interesting parallels to collisions needed in jumping, sprinting and landing activities. We can also draw many lessons and ideas from the exercise tradition that goes back centuries with martial arts practice. By understanding combat training disciplines, we can draw out universal application for general movement and performance. In this episode, we explore the deeper purpose of physical training through martial arts and sport performance. Kevin reflects on early experiences with body hardening, cold exposure, and Zen-influenced practice, examining where such methods build resilience and where they become self-destructive. Drawing parallels to sprinting, jumping, and strength training, we discuss collisions, long isometric holds, ritualized discomfort, and fatigue as tools for cultivating awareness, reducing excess tension, and supporting longevity. Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength. Use the code “LILAJUSTFLY10” for 10% off any Lila Exogen wearable resistance training, including the popular Exogen Calf Sleeves. For this offer, head to Lilateam.com Use code “justfly10” for 10% off the Vert Trainer View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. (https://www.just-fly-sports.com/podcast-home/) Timestamps 0:00 – Martial arts origins and body hardening 17:48 – Body tension, trauma, and reading the athlete 28:23 – Isometrics, Soviet methods, and slow strength 33:58 – Journaling, drawing, and learning through reflection 45:02 – Mindset, adaptability, and mental speed 56:46 – Representativeness, ritual, and resilience 1:04:26 – Simplify versus deconstruct in training 1:12:25 – Microdosing discomfort and daily resilience 1:17:24 – Comfort seeking and modern training challenges Quotes from Kevin Secours "We refer to it as a calculus of violence. What are you willing to risk for the payoff?" "It's a meditative practice. You're learning the surfacing, and the alignment, and the variability. And you're learning the modulate, how much power you put in, that we all have enough to destroy ourselves." "It's what's called Wolff's Law. You put the bone under stress and the bone is going to thicken." "Some shortcuts are great. Efficiency is amazing, but some things just take time." "You can't just mimic the weights and mimic the reps and hope to get the same result." "The first thing you need to know is you're not buying this rank. It will be given if it's earned." "It was largely psychophysical. Long marathon sparring, long marathon holds and positions, cold water exposure, long meditation right back into fighting. So it was a roller coaster of physical and emotional." "Training should not be trauma." "Don't for a second think they wouldn't have wanted warm showers if they could have had them. Yeah. We are comfort seekers." "You have to educate to understand why you're doing what you're doing. You have to rehearse. So you practice under incrementally growing resistance and then you culminate in a pressure test." About Kevin Secours Kevin Secours is a martial arts coach and author focused on practical skill development, resilience, and real-world application of movement and combat principles. Drawing from decades of training and coaching experience, his work bridges traditional martial arts, modern performance thinking, and personal development. Kevin is known for clear teaching, depth of insight, and an emphasis on adaptability, awareness, and lifelong practice.