Bob Yetman, CFT, SMAC
Vice President & Associate Instructor
Lone Wolf Personal Defense Systems, Inc.
Bob Yetman of Orlando, Florida brings a tremendous amount of versatility, training, personal experience, and attitude to his role as a fitness trainer and instructor on behalf of Lone Wolf Personal Defense Systems, Inc. Born just outside of Boston, Massachusetts in 1962, Bob has a long history of participating in a variety of sports throughout his early years. Among his achievements during this time includes becoming a two-time medalist in the Massachusetts State Cycling Championships and a champion distance road, cross country, and track and field runner. Military service followed high school, and it was as a young soldier in the US Army that Bob first became a strong believer in the usefulness of apparatus-free resistance training. While the military's reliance on such training for individual combat readiness is legend, Bob noticed that the same exercises could be incorporated from a bodybuilding perspective, and that individuals could therefore effect the same kinds of desired changes to their physiques that others felt were only possible through apparatus training. Says Bob, “At a core level, resistance is resistance; it is about exhausting the muscle tissue in such a way that when it grows back, it does so stronger. The muscle does not know, nor care, that you've exhausted it with a free weight, a machine, or by doing simple pushups. There can be exceptions to this, but the point is that most people seeking to get themselves in better shape will find that that apparatus-free training can often be a terrific fit to their lifestyles and budgets.”
Bob has participated in a variety of professional pursuits that have required him to be highly dependent on superior physical conditioning. In addition to his several years in the military, Bob has a long resume in the area of personal and site security, one that includes work as the Head of Security for one of Orlando's busiest nightclubs, as well as a roving undercover operative for one of Florida's largest department store chains, a vocation that frequently required him to engage criminals in some of the state's most dangerous areas.
The mind-body connection, as a component in the pursuit of physical fitness and athletic achievement, is of great interest to Bob. In addition to his work as an ISSA-certified trainer and his over 30 years as a serious participant in the fitness lifestyle, Bob has spent many years investigating and developing psychological strategies to aid athletes, fighters, and martial artists in their endeavors, strategies designed to do everything from help with forging high levels of motivation to persevering in the face of great physical discomfort and pain. “The study of human behavior, in and of itself, is fascinating, but I think even more interesting is the subject of mental toughness as it pertains to soldiers, athletes and others who must force their physical bodies to unimaginable levels in order to survive, emerge victorious, or achieve whatever compelling goal sits in front of them at that moment.” Bob's interest in the subject led him to Stetson University following his discharge from the service, where he picked up a B.A. degree in Psychology. He has used that degree as a platform from which to further his examinations of sports, fitness, and combat psychology. Bob is also an accomplished writer who has written books on a wide variety of subjects, from physical fitness and self defense to business and finance. With Sensei Reeves, he is the co-author of Power Breaking (Paladin Press), a book on martial arts breaking that covers everything from hand conditioning to the practical applications of breaking, as well as of Ultimate Combat Conditioning for the Street Warrior (Paladin Press), a book that deals with high-intensity physical training for self-defense. In addition to these written manuals, Bob and Mike have produced a video companion to the Power Breaking book, as well as a video follow-up to Ultimate Combat Conditioning . Several other projects with Sensei Reeves are currently in the works, including books and videos on such subjects as multiple attacker defenses, combat fitness for the 40-plus demographic, and success strategies for everyday life.
Bob loves the fact that his work at Lone Wolf requires that he maintains a lot of intensity, and firmly believes that all self-defense-minded people can only benefit from that sort of approach to life. “Personally, I believe that intensity-of-attitude is a key component to realizing success in unarmed combat. It is every bit as important as physical conditioning and the mastering of fighting skills. Technical fighting skills are important, make no mistake about it, but I have witnessed a sharp, focused, intense, mental edge, combined with top-flight conditioning, defeat more technically skilled fighters on numerous occasions. That's what makes Mike so damn dangerous – he is truly the complete package, a guy who is amazingly well-conditioned, maintains a level of intensity that few among us will ever encounter in another person, and possesses the superb technical fighting skills that are representative of his seventh-degree black belt in the Isshinryu style.”
