James Stott - The Magic Marine

04/09/2024

We’ve lost a legend.

It’s very sad news to hear that Jimmy is no longer with us.

My thoughts are with Nathan and the family.

It was a privilege to be awarded my blue belt from Jimmy.
He will be missed greatly by all.

22/05/2024

Recently I’d been revisiting the idea of smiling more, saying hello to people and generally just being happier in life.

I believe we should be present in our life and engage with those around us.

As I sat outside a coffee shop in Newquay this weekend, a good looking bloke sat next to me to enjoy the sun.

He was on a similar vibe and we started chatting and ended up talking for hours.

I needed to move the surf van so invited him and Rocky 🐺 over to continue the convo.

It was a great day, (and makes me genuinely want to move to Newquay👌🏼😂)

But the take away is,
- be more present
- be more happy
- engage with those around you, you never know who you might meet.

17/05/2024

A quick shoutout to

This is the guy that brought the concept of surfing for veterans and injured veterans to the UK after being closely involved with Op Surf in California.

I met him when I went to assist a group of injured marines surfing after tours of Afghanistan.

We lost touch but then whilst reading by neuroscientist he talked about surf groups for people who have suffered trauma, specifically military.

This prompted me to get back in touch with Rich who put me in touch with and here we are introducing and coaching military to surf. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

.

17/05/2024

Another fantastic week coaching a group of military personnel 🗡️

16/04/2024

Spending time outdoors, daily, is a must.

And if we can, viewing the rising and the setting of the sun. 🌞

16/04/2024

Brotherhood

I’m grateful for my time in the military, I did 14 years service, travelled to places I’d never go, met people I’d never have met otherwise.

I feel the life was more in line with how we’ve evolved.

It was tribal.
Community.
Close knit teams, with pride and purpose, living together, training together, working together.

Physical, emotional.

I believe this is one of the reasons leaving is hard.
We’ve lived in a way that is natural to our evolution but now we sit alone, working on a screen, isolated.

We need to be in a community.
We need to share ideas, train together, chat, or sit in silence, but with others.

16/04/2024

Balance

Two things come to mind.

1. I have a regular balance practice.

Falling is the 3rd highest cause of accidental death, so it makes sense to learn to balance.

Feeling your body and working on that proprioception and mind body connection is good.
It also allows us time to just be, and feel our body.
Feeling the ground with our feet
Sensing the space we occupy.
(More on all of this later)

2. I think our perception of balance is too simplistic.
I strive to have a balanced life, some work, some play, but I find it difficult because I’m all or nothing.

I’m either working or I’m playing. So the balance is the oscillation between different states.

But then, finally, the more fulfilled life would be the one where work is play? 🤔

15/04/2024

Operating in any environment.

At the centre of the Royal Marines crest is the globe, as we operate in all corners of the world, desert, jungle, arctic and mountain.

This is operating in the Arctic circle.
A super tough environment and one I’m not a fan of.

I’m grateful for the experience though 🙏🏼

15/04/2024

I flew to Greece last year, around the time that I was realising that the wellness path ahead of me seemed inevitable and I was moving down it whether I chose to or not.

I booked a place to stay on a small Greek island, and out of the many available options I coincidentally chose the one which was next to an ancient temple that has been a place for wellness for thousands of years, and is still visited.

The magician in me enjoys life coincidences.

I believe reality is perspective and if we can reframe/ hold a desirable perspective, then life will be sweet!

Life happens FOR you,
Not to you

🎁

15/04/2024

20 years ago
2004
19 years old

Basra city centre, Iraq.
First Operational tour of duty.

I’ve had people give me hassle about being in the military, and that the military is bad.

I don’t believe it is the young lads fault, on the front line.
War is determined by the people not on the front line.

As a kid I loved being outside, playing, running, climbing, swimming, adventuring in the woods and through the fields.

I didn’t excel at academia, I didn’t get good grades, I didn’t enjoy school and I’ve held (still kinda hold) this notion that I’m thick.

Joining the military ticked two boxes for me.

1. It sold me on the adventure life,
2. And it would mean I was tough, or so I thought, because a tough man was a soldier, a warrior.

I did not know why I was in Iraq, I still don’t understand it now.
I was naive and ignorant, as I still am, although I’d hope a little less so now.

I don’t have any answers and I don’t think I’ll ever know.
I play a part and I don’t know whether it’s a good part or a bad part.

My mission now is to help others who struggle, help them adopt wholesome habits and lead better lives, as I try to do in my life, yet I still drop the ball constantly 🤦🏼‍♂️😂🔥🗡️

12/04/2024

Right now I’m on the threshold of a new chapter in my life.

Moving into the wellness space, as a personal trainer and breathwork instructor, with an aim to assist others live a more intentional life, more optimal, longer, fitter, healthier, happier life.

12/04/2024

My brother explained it to me like this…

“We are a piece of wood being carved and the hardships we endure are the whittling process, they are the things that shape us into who we become”.

And an old boss in the Marines use to just say “it’s character building”

Sometimes I feel done with being whittled and having my character built, but as I say…

“Such is life”

12/04/2024

Sounds a bit out there, but try to take time each day to be here, now.

It could be for 2 minutes, 5 minutes or even just 10 seconds, but cultivating a regular habit of being present is needed.

We are so busy moving through life we forget to notice it, our minds always moving onto the next thing.

I’ll do a post on this this weekend for those interested in what I do.
Essentially it is becoming aware of our bodies, listening to our heart, feeling the breath.

Where our attention is, is where we live, and with everything grabbing and absorbing our attention we miss life…so what I’m saying is, just put the phone on the side, stand up tall, breath deep, smile and be grateful for life ❤️🌬️

Did you do it??

12/04/2024

As expected, not everyone comes back from war, and those who do still carry on their battles.

But it’s our past that carves us into who we are.

Lessons learnt, a stretched perspective on what’s a good day, what’s a bad day.

I think sometimes we can be accused of being cold, or emotionless, but I feel it’s hard to be sympathetic to trivial inconveniences, after going through some of those experiences.

Yet also, life can seem such a struggle, which I then find annoying.
How can day to day life be hard?

There is a simplicity in war.
As horrific as it is.

RIP Elmsy

04/04/2024

HOW CAN YOU KNOW PEACE IF YOU DON’T KNOW WAR?

This is a question that I was asked by a couple of older ladies on a beach in Ibiza.

I was in the north of the island and had just finished performing Magic at a wedding.

I took my shoes off and wandered down onto the beach, and looked over to the setting sun and the “hippies/ hipsters” dancing on the sand

I felt I could not join them because I was a Warrior.
I was not welcome.

Yet I yearned for something and was struggling after recently leaving the military.

I explained my predicament to two older women who were sat near me and they dug a little deeper and made me question it.

How could the “hippies” know peace if they had never known war?

01/12/2023

30/11/2023

Perfect croquettes in Essaouira 🙌🏻

22/11/2023

Massive thanks to everyone here!

🙏🏼 for taking our session

🙏🏼 all the guys for trusting in me

The men’s retreat was incredible and I’ll share a lot more about it soon 🙏🏼🙏🏼

22/11/2023

surf season 🙌🏻

17/09/2023

Feel like I’ve been given another golden ticket.

Learning tried and tested, refined techniques from

As well as some great takeaways from his mindset class.

Show up with the right attitude
Give 100%

09/08/2023

I have 8 tickets for a retreat I’m putting on, in Newquay next month, 8-10th September.

At the core it is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Surfing and sauna and cold plunge, but in addition there will be breathwork, chi going, guided meditation, yoga and teachings of insights learnt.

Accommodation, activities and food all included.

This one is just for the blokes, but more to come including mixed groups.

Drop a 🔥 in the comments if you’re interested and I’ll be in touch. 🙏🏼

28/07/2023

I feel like I was given a golden ticket listening to this seminar.

has consolidated lessons learnt from 17years of BrazilianJiuJitsu, 9 years of which as a black belt, into his teachings.

Lots to take away.
Thank you Dan.

20/07/2023

Embrace where you are.

Know that you can keep moving towards being better, but don’t berate yourself.

We all do it.
We all wish we were better, faster, smarter, thinner, bigger, smaller, and we can be.

Don’t add meaning where there is none.

Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Be grateful.
We are alive, so we can keep moving forward.

🔥

😉

10/07/2023

Enjoying the discovery and sharing of breath.

Breath is everything, so it will only benefit our lives by strengthening the muscles that we use to breath.

I’m excited to continue down this path and share it all with you.

30/06/2023

Sometimes everything is hard 👌🏼😂