MEET MICHAEL HOLT
MEET MICHAEL HOLT
I’m not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, no doubt I have more than a few flaws.
But I damn sure walk my talk.
I am honored when I hear my clients and students say that I don’t preach from an ivory tower, that I lead from the rear, that I’m in the trenches with them.
On my journey, I’ve crawled through the mud, I’ve endured the dark night of the soul, and I found the light on the other side.
But I’m not just here to talk about it
I’m here to create a movement and share the path from the dark to the light with as many men as I can reach.
I am here to get YOU into the life you dream of living.
The early chapters in my story are filled with fist fights, broken glass, blackouts, blood, and prison bars. Binges on substances, sex, and food. Anything to numb the pain inside that I couldn’t face.
I know what it is to carry the weight of hatred.
For years I found myself stuck inside a destructive cycle. I despised the weakness I perceived in the “man” I saw in the mirror. The thought of asking for help or talking about my feelings was laughable.
It wasn’t until the umpteenth time I found myself cuffed up in another holding cell that I finally realized if I didn’t make some serious changes my future was going to be an absolute mess.
I was going to get locked up, kill someone, or kill myself.
The clarity I found at the bottom birthed a renaissance. I started reading, studying, questioning, and thinking for myself. I put the bottle down, I got back in the gym. The weights were my therapist. I sought out teachers and began to learn how to take care of my body. I ate right and got fit.
My mind was such a chaotic storm, so impossible to manage, that meditation seemed like a good idea. So I read a few books, then I read a few more. I felt called to embark on a silent meditation retreat.
A three-day silent retreat gave me the courage to go quiet for two weeks, then four; living 24/7 in deafening silence.
In those weeks of silent practice I gained perspective. I learned to ignore the barrage of brutal insults from my inner critic. I found the source of that pain, and I let it unwind. Through the practice, I was contacting deeper layers of myself, allowing long-held knots to well up to the surface and gently come undone.
It was subtle, but I could feel that the medicine of the practice was real. It was shining through me.
Nearly two decades later, I’ve earned a psychology degree, been awarded various exercise science certifications, and completed an esteemed multi-year program to become a professional holistic health practitioner.
I’ve rigorously studied various martial art systems – Muay Thai, Kali, Silat, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and others. I’ve earned the rank of instructor in each. I’ve competed in the ring. I’ve trained with and befriended elite martial artists from all over the world.
I swam Polish rivers in icy winter and hiked mountains half-naked, learning how to control my mind and my temperature with my breath. I spent a week alone in total darkness 24/7.
I sang ancient songs in foreign tongues in the sweat lodge with Huron tribal elders. I dug my own grave in a shamanic initiation and spent the night buried underground, singing my death song.
I’ve wandered through South America, whacked off psychedelic medicines, walking the razor’s edge of enlightenment and insanity. I lived at a monastery in Asia, I’ve gone weeks without eating.
I’ve held acting workshops in Australia, taught NFL prospects close-quarter combat tactics. I’ve lived on a yacht in the Balearic Sea, breaking bread with movie stars. I’ve worked hard manual labor at a steel mill, breaking bread with work-release felons.
Through these experiences, I’ve come to understand that things are not as they appear.
There is far more to life than meets the untrained eye, and this ancient truth is worlds away from hippy-dippy or “woo.”
I know that with consistent disciplined practice anyone who really goes for it, no matter their history or present struggles, can realize true freedom. I know this because wise elders have shown me the path.
I am walking that path, walking my path, to the best of my ability every single day. And I have built The Savage & Saint Collective to give you the tools you need to find your true path – and to walk it with honor.
That’s why you’re here, reading this, right now. That’s why our paths have crossed.
My journey through life has taught me how to speak with two tongues, both with my whole body,, and both at the same time.
One tongue says that you better bring a fuckin sack lunch if you’re trying to take what’s mine. Anybody coming to hurt me or the ones I love is in for a strong dose of regret. Any obstacle in my path to fulfilling my personal destiny is getting terminated with extreme prejudice.
The other tongue says that I see you completely, I see your private pain and hidden struggle. I love you, I see you as myself, I understand what it’s like to feel lost, and I want to see you rise to your fullest potential, and be happy, healthy, and free.
My unique lived experience has taught me that developing fluency in both of these tongues – the Savage and the Saint – is an absolute requirement for remaining consistent on the never ending road of becoming the best man you’re capable of.
This dual fluency birthed my living philosophy of optimal masculine self-governance.
This is the path on which I lead men.
This is the path of
The Savage & the Saint
