Back when I was a scrawny teenager trying to find my way in the world I attended karate class with my brother. This was in 1991 and thus pre-UFC and the whole MMA revolution that followed. We’d all line up in the sports hall and throw crappy punches into the air, which seems rather quaint now. There was a guy in the class called Dan. Since continuing my martial arts education I’ve encountered lots of “Dans”. They have some combination of the following:

• Late thirties or older
• Strange obsesso hobbies such as urban cycling or creating minimalist music
• Functioning social skills but rather bristly about doing things their own way

All classic gamma identifiers but not limited to that rank of the socio-sexual hierarchy. The reason Dan amused us so much was because of a predictable ritual that would happen every single class like clockwork.

1. Teacher shows us a new move or kata then patiently walks us through each step.
2. Teacher starts counting out ten repetions of said movement with class following along as best they can under teacher’s eye.
3. Class continues to count out repetitions while teacher mingles with class to observe each student’s technique in turn, making corrections or giving praise.
4. Dan is always doing it wrong, in some weird idiosyncratic manner. Teacher corrects him and Dan starts doing it right.
5. The moment the teacher turns his back, Dan goes back to his “I know best” weirdo-style.

Unsurprisingly Dan made zero progress in the six months it took me to realise karate is shit and to ditch it. I’ve now encountered Dan’s brethren dozens of times in every martial art i ever studied. Game is full of Dans and this is the problem

They think they know best.

Dans display donkey-like stubborness and refusal to change. They may pretend to listen and follow instructions while under your watchful gaze but it’s a sham. They have no interest in learning. Attending your bootcamp is just an elaborate reality-weave to convince themselves they are doing something about their lack of women. Deep in the dark recesses of their mind they think they are better than you. Who are the worst students on a bootcamp? Who is least likely to show up on the second day?

Funnily enough its not the five foot tall indo-chode. It’s the white Euro guy who is pretty successful in another area of his life.

Normal men can take a telling. They can put their ego aside, recognise doing what they’ve always done will only get them what they’ve always gotten. Beta males are a pleasure to teach. Gammas / Higher betas / Dans are often a nightmare. They’ve acheived something in life (unrelated to women) so they stubbornly cling to the I know best frame:

• They’ve climbed Mount Everest
• They’ve built a successful business
• They have a ton of money

Whatever it is, these guys are Dans. They are a sub-set of the Perma-Chode family. This is the family of chodes who will simply never get it. No matter what you show them, how you drill them they simply don’t have it in them to become cool. Some are too short, too dumb, too anxious, too Indian or whatever. Some of them have all the physical and intellectual tools necessary but simply cannot face reality – They are Dans.