The MagLife

Daniel and Top Shot Dustin Ellerman, a popular 2nd Amendment content creator, discuss social media censorship, training, and more.

Daniel and guest Mickey Schuch of Carry Trainer discuss firearms training trends, fighting the ego, predecessors, and why we train.

Daniel and Paul of Grey Man Tactical discuss the company's genesis & latest product offerings. Check out these vehicle seat back MOLLE panels!

Daniel and Steven discuss the virtues of being a warrior, fighting your inner cowardice, becoming a writer, and embracing adversity.

This week’s guest on the Mag Life Podcast is a near superhuman! Erin Blevins is a professional nutritionist, former Crossfit competitor, chef, and fitness expert. Her clients have included ultra-marathoners, MLB players from the Atlanta Braves, Navy SEALs, weight lifters, and even Superman himself, Henry Cavill. She joins our host Daniel Shaw as they discuss the importance of nutrition, healthy dietary habits, body image, and seeking self-improvement. https://media.blubrry.com/gunfightercast/content.blubrry.com/gunfightercast/188-Erin_Blevins_Eating_with_Intent.mp3 Host: Daniel Shaw Guest: Erin Blevins Introduction/Timeline: Eric Huh 4:00 Body image and Refusing to Improve Both Daniel and Erin have taken notice of the “body positivity” movement and by extension, the unwillingness of many Americans to want to do anything to improve their lifestyles or health. In many cases, individuals get defensive the second they are told they’re unhealthy. Daniel notes that much of our current societal conditions encourage this kind of behavior. “I mean, nutrition in itself is a touchy, taboo subject. You say you’re vegan and you get attacked by the other side. You say you’re a carnivore and you get attacked by the vegans. It’s almost like a terrorist mindset, you know? And you say something like ‘Hey I’m worried about you, I think that you’re too heavy.’ Or … ‘I think you should start walking 30 minutes a day.’ And all of a sudden it’s like you’re throwing warfare at someone.” Erin Blevins has dedicated her life to providing the best possible dietary advice for anyone looking to improve their health, physical performance, or body image. Erin believes that at its core, there is nothing wrong with people feeling positive about themselves. However, there comes a point where too much false affirmation can be unhealthy as it simply encourages self-destructive habits (the body positivity movement is instrumental in this). She emphasizes that people can feel good about themselves even as they are in the process of changing their physical being. She admits that despite being a professional fitness and nutrition coach, she is always seeking to improve her abilities and her image. Erin speaks from personal experience as a nutritionist that specific foods and supplements can fundamentally change one’s life for the better. She has witnessed emotional instability and sleeping disorders become alieved from a proper diet. 12:49 Nutrition and Human Performance Daniel observes that much of the education regarding nutrition in the school systems vary greatly from state to state. As such, he asks Erin about her personal experiences in today’s dietary trends, such as the vegan diet. Erin reveals that she had been through several kinds of diets, including going vegan for 10years. While in the first few years, Erin felt incredible about her body, she later started losing energy and felt lethargic. Later, her doctor revealed that her hormones were unbalanced, triglycerides were all over the place, and that she was pre-menopausal. Immediately she knew she had to make changes to her lifestyle. She began to consume animal products and her body leveled out over time. Her main takeaway from these dietary practices was that they taught her to be more cognizant of what she puts into her body, regardless if it was a paleo, vegan, or carnivore diet. Something as simple as reading the ingredients and calorie count on a food label automatically makes a person more aware of what they’re eating. On the whole, Erin does not believe for the most part that people simply inherit bad eating habits. “I don’t believe that obesity is genetic. I think it’s environmental… Your environment will change your outcome,

In this episode of The Mag Life Podcast, Daniel visits with Ed Calderon, a former Mexican police agent with extensive experience and understanding of border control issues, drug cartels, and the complexities that exist between the US and Mexico. Born in Tijuana, Mexico in the 80s, Ed decided to go into police work when he was 21. For over a decade he worked in counter-narcotics, investigation of organized crime, executive protection, and public safety along the northern border of Mexico. Later, he came to the US and is now recognized as one of the world's most preeminent researchers and personal security trainers, offering security consulting, seminars, and private training in anti-abduction, escape and evasion, unarmed combat, unconventional edged-weapon work, and region-specific executive protection. Together, Daniel and Ed discuss complex issues about the escalation of the Mexican Drug War, foreign gun-running, US intervention, issues of governance and firearms ownership in Mexico (and the parallels in the US), human trafficking, and more. https://media.blubrry.com/gunfightercast/s/content.blubrry.com/gunfightercast/187_Ed_Calderon_Things_Most_People_Don_t_Know.mp3 Host: Daniel Shaw Guest: Ed Calderon Introduction/Timeline: Eric Huh Ed Calderon is recognized as one of the world's preeminent researchers and trainers in the field of personal security.02:22 Imparting Valuable Skills to Others Daniel inquiries about the life-saving skills Ed learned on the job while he was active in Latin America and Mexico. Ed’s extensive background in counter-narcotics work has covered escape and evasion—namely, how to: escape from handcuffs, manufacture tools for survival, be armed in non-permissive environments, look for early warning signs of an ambush in an urban setting, and understand the social norms in Mexico. He has brought his in-depth, hands-on experience in the undercover narcotics world to other law enforcement agencies in the United States (FBI, Secret Service, among others) so that they may be better equipped for threats across the border. 06:05 What scares you? Daniel asks Ed what genuinely scares him. Ed replies that his one fear is to not live without a purpose. Having faced a great many near-death experiences, Ed has become numb to the idea of physical danger. Rather, it is the concept of having gone through what he did and not being able to bring meaning to his experiences. “You know, people think ‘Hey aren’t you afraid of the cartels coming after you and shit like that?’ If I was I wouldn’t have gone into this line of work when I was 21. So that specific thing doesn’t really… make me lose sleep. What does make me lose sleep is having gone through that whole experience and not making it worth it. Or not giving it some sort of purpose.” Ed Calderon, counter custody expert. 07:22 What should scare the American public? Daniel flips the question: “Based on everything you know… what should WE be scared about?” Ed feels that American public scrutiny immensely neglects the sheer amount of Chinese government influence with Mexican drug cartels, and how their activities are increasingly becoming a threat to national security. He cites that the Chinese have a direct hand in fentanyl supply to cartels, a strong influence in major American industries. He further adds that this is occurring with full knowledge of the Communist Party in China. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación or CJNG) actually managed to grow in size and in influence during the COVID epidemic when all other organizations and institutions halted, due to being able to receive fentanyl shipments.

JJ Racaza, one of the greatest competitive shooters in the world, talks with Daniel about marksmanship fundamentals, self-control, and more.

This week’s Mag Life Podcast brings on a man who needs no introduction (but we’ll give one anyway). Kyle Lamb is a former decorated US Army Delta Force operator, Sig Sauer Academy firearms instructor, writer, and the founder of Viking Tactics. He was made famous by his incredible firearms accessories, training classes, and his military service in Somalia during the events of that inspired the adaptation Black Hawk Down.

On this episode of the Mag Life Podcast, two warriors formally meet and for a heavy discussion about their war and peacetime experiences. Daniel is joined by Tu Lam, a Vietnamese-American former US Army Special Forces Green Beret, martial artist, trainer, entrepreneur, and TV show host. Known for his tactical gear and training company, Ronin Tactics, he is also known for his on-screen appearance on Forged in Fire: Knife or Death, as well as being featured as a playable character in Call of Duty: Warzone. Tu has carved out a public image of himself as a disciplined modern-day warrior and teacher. Daniel explores Tu’s unforgiving upbringing as a Vietnam War refugee, his decorated career as a US Army Special Operations soldier, his passion for the martial arts, and his Bushido mindset to find peace during adversity. https://media.blubrry.com/gunfightercast/content.blubrry.com/gunfightercast/184-Tu_Lam_Finding_Peace_as_a_Warrior.mp3 Host: Daniel Shaw Guest (usual Co-Host!): Tu Lam Introduction/Timeline: Eric Huh 02:41 Escaping Death Daniel asks Tu about his upbringing and what lead him to where he is today. Tu reveals a tragic and violent past, being born literally in the midst of the Vietnam War. Upon the US leaving South Vietnam and Saigon falling, the North Vietnamese forces rounded up the majority of Tu’s family and had them executed. His mother took her children and fled with thousands of others to escape oppression. What awaited the Lam family was more cruelty and suffering as they, along with hundreds of other refugees, were cramped into tiny boats, sailing in the South China Sea. Upon reaching the coast of Malaysia, they were denied entry into the country. The Malaysian troops cut their motor and left the entire boat of refugees out to die. For 30 days straight, the refugees drifted out with no access to clean water or food. Just as Tu’s mother had given up all hope and contemplated feeding poison to her children to spare them of further misery, a Russian naval supply vessel spotted their boat. Despite being on opposite sides of the war, the Soviet troops showed mercy and saved the refugees by providing food and medical aid. This was nothing short of a miracle made by fortuitous timing. If the war was still ongoing, the Soviets would have been compelled to follow wartime protocol and would have taken the refugees back to Vietnam. The horrors the Lam family faced, unfortunately, did not end there. The refugees were relocated into a camp in an Indonesian jungle, with no actual facilities or resources. Dead bodies would be regularly found in the jungles near the camp as people attempted to forage and find food. The strength of Tu’s mother was all that held them together. “[My mother] is my strength… [During that time] there was a slim to no chance that we would have lived. And she goes, ‘I would have rather died than to have lived in fear’” After a year and a half, Tu’s uncle was finally able to pay for his family to immigrate to the US. 12:55 Living in a Post-War America One of Tu's earliest memories of living in the states was entering a grocery store in North Carolina with his mother. From living through horrific starvation to suddenly being able to pick any food item of his choice was a culture shock. But post-Vietnam War America was not without its faults. Tu’s entire childhood was riddled with instances of racist encounters and harassment from his white counterparts. The context Tu gives is that the entirety of the Vietnam War was not at all popular in the US, which in turn spawned many racist anti-Asian sentiments. At eight years of age, Tu experienced bullying from a racist white classmate. One day the situation escalated to where both Tu and his bully were sent to the principal’s office to be...

Out of the loop: "Beyond OODA" isn't just the name of Varg Freeborn's new book, it's the distilled essence of how you should be live life.

Today's guest is the Pew Pew Jew himself, Yehuda Remer — a successful firearms education author, podcaster, and Second Amendment advocate.

This episide features a one-of-a-kind super-human: Chadd Wright: former decorated Navy SEAL and leader of the 3 of 7 project.

What new products is Streamlight rolling out in 2021? Listen in and learn about the company's competitive innovation and design principles.

Listen in as Daniel and Ian Boehm discuss the optics division at Primary Arms, new optics coming out for 2021, and what the future holds.

Daniel and Jason Henkel dive into ShotStop’s 2021product offerings, the future of the company, and the future of ballistic protection tech.