I once taught martial arts inside a juvenile prison in Torino. 🥋

You know, when I was a teenager back in Torino, I had this wild opportunity…

I got invited to teach martial arts at the local juvenile prison.

⛓️‍👮‍♂️

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking:

"Wait… you were teaching kids in prison to beat people up better?!"

Nope. Not even close.

What we were actually teaching them was focus.

Discipline.

Courage.

Method.

Health.

Better habits.

Better ways of thinking.

Better feelings.

And…

Prison had its own set of rules, its own language.

One day, I learned this lesson the hard way, and pretty fast!

Two factions inside the prison went at each other’s throats — literally —

because of a single compliment.

(WTF!?!?) (YEP!)

Here’s how it went down:

There was this girl in the female section.

She made the same compliment to two different boys in two rival groups.

They found out.

They didn’t like it.

And suddenly, everyone wanted to prove who was “the best.”

It escalated fast.

And watching it unfold, I had a few questions in my mind:

how the f*ck are we stopping this?

&...

Who is going to stop this?

&

...

Was she doing it on purpose?

Did she know she was triggering chaos, just to see how much power she had?

And then — once settled... I started to reflect.

Who’s responsible when things blow up like that?

Her, for playing the game?

The guys who passed the info along?

The ones who instigated the fights?

The ones who actually threw the punches?

What I learned that day was this:

Even if it’s juvenile, it’s still prison.

And inside prison, a different set of rules applies.

But here’s where it hits you.

Because… aren’t we all, in some way, living in our own version of prison?

Not with bars and guards —

but a prison of reacting.

Think about it.

How often do we just react to what someone says?

To what the news feeds us?

To what social media decides to show us?

...

How often are we just victims of someone else’s game…

…without even realising we’re being played?

(OUCH)

Every action has a consequence.

Every reaction… even more so.

And here’s the uncomfortable truth:

We’re constantly being manipulated.

Subtly. Invisibly. Strategically.

Well... Lately it had been quite evidently (it's not even hidden anymore.)

The question is:

Are you aware of it?

Are you equipped to see through it?

Are you able to choose independently?

Because here’s what I know —

once you start recognising the game,

you stop being a pawn.

You start playing on a whole new level.

And that’s exactly what I help my clients do.

See the manipulation.

Break the patterns.

Choose their own damn path —

consciously

powerfully

freely.

So that they can help others!

The alternative?

Staying in a prison you don’t even know you’re in.

Your move.

FREEDOM IS EVERYTHING, AND LOVE IS ALL THE REST (R.B.)

KNOW THYSELF, OTHERS, & THE WORLD AROUND YOU.

Change before extinction.

#freedomiseverythingandloveisalltherest #changebeforeextinction #trainwithalessandro #bali2025