Beyond the Digits 0

A strong, unapologetic approach

Paul Janka made a big entry into both the seduction community and the mainstream media in 2008. After writing an infamous short guide called “Getting laid in NYC” a couple of years back, a guide which was fast spreading on the internet, he was invited on Dr. Phil and the Tyra Banks’ shows, among others. He made big waves with his completely unapologetic approach to meeting women and “closing the deal”.

Following this mainstream exposure, Janka released this DVD set late 2008 to teach his techniques to the masses.

This is a very interesting program. Janka is not an old member of the “seduction community” – therefore his take on the game is fairly new and many of his ideas are original, which is refreshing when many products are now rehashing old theories.

Janka’s approach is also very straight-forward and simplifies everything – no fancy diagrams here, but a “system” that is basically a variation of the old “it’s a numbers’ game”.

Many concepts

After an analysis of some movie pick-ups, DVD I and II go mostly into “inner game” and mindset. Janka explains that political correctness has bullied men into being emasculated, and they are now afraid to be men. This is countered by his concept of “divine right”; the fact is, men have a responsibility and duty to seek women, there is nothing wrong with it, and women appreciate it.

Janka talks about identity, territory, and mojo. His concept of Assuming Familiarity is something I have used myself to great effect for many years, and this is the first time I see it described so well. Assuming Familiarity is a way of bypassing a lot of the initial awkwardness when meeting women, what he nicely calls “the stranger barrier”.

Pulling the sex forward, another interesting Janka concept, is about injecting sexual overtones from the very beginning. Ambiguity, he explains, is the enemy – the woman you like needs to understand she is pursued.

Janka is a big proponent of Day Game (he also has an audio product on the topic: Day Game). To him, going to clubs is a mistake, and he convincingly explains why:

“ Too many guys fall for the dolled-up girl in the club with high heels, make up, sexy glittery dress, etc; they don’t realize that the same girl was in flip-flops, with a ponytail and a loose sweater, dropping her laundry off at 3 PM.”

Again, I could only nod my head in agreement here, and this is not an opinion you hear often in other products. (There are also few products on Day Game, so this fills an important void.)

Over the hours, Janka then goes over so many concepts that I can only attempt to make a non-exhaustive list: the common mistake of being patronizing and non-sexual, the importance of Roles – which roles to avoid, which roles to take; rooting yourself in your neighborhood, selling through NO, the Roller-Coaster Analogy, setting the bar low, blaming the city, tagging girls for a later date, the Immigration metaphor, the Movie Trailer concept, and much, much more. An awful lot is covered in the first 4 DVDs.

A good point is that in his stories and anecdotes, Janka readily admits his mistakes and doesn’t try to make himself into a Superman. He tells you about his rejection rate and doesn’t pretend to get all the girls, every time, like many gurus unfortunately do for marketing purposes.

Playing The Marketplace

“Phase 3” of the Janka system is called “playing the marketplace”, and as he says himself, it is a bit of an “extreme technology”. That is an understatement. Here we enter advanced/crazy territory.

Janka has a good rationale for why the earlier sex happens, the better, and tens of techniques to make that happen. The last 2 DVDs are basically all about leading the girl to sex as quickly as possible, and Janka has thought about this, and systematized it, A LOT.

Here, the big differences with the usual community teachings become clear. First, while other coaches teach you ways to seduce a girl in order to get to bed with her, Janka teaches you ways to get her to bed within hours (or really, minutes) after meeting her, in a highly choreographed and planned fashion, and the seduction can take place afterwards (or not).

Second, the whole reason to approach a lot of girls in Janka’s system is to have options. It’s not about picking up for the love of pick up, it’s about harvesting numbers for the system. You need a high volume of numbers so you have a “marketplace” to play with.

While all the tips and tricks make sense and are not doubt effective, the high level of systemization will make some uneasy – including myself.

A Clockwork Orange

One of the problem here is that Janka is obsessed with sex, above all else. In his quest to increase conversion rates and get to bed at all costs, he is making it all very mechanical. He outlines a process which is as fool-proof as can be, but that works for him because sex and a wide quantity of girls are his primary objective. If you are after actually enjoying a bit of courtship, enjoying a girls’ company, or generally speaking enjoying the seduction journey in itself and not just the sex, then the point of having such a mechanical process is a bit moot.

Janka himself senses this and says at one point “this is extreme stuff, you might want to tone it down depending on your goals”, and my guess is that most guys will do precisely that. The good news is, it is indeed adaptable and you can pick and choose the techniques you want to use. Consider Janka as an outlier, some crazy pick up guy from outer space –you can use his experience to enhance your life without becoming him.

(Update: a couple of days after reviewing this DVD set, I read Paul Janka’s ebook “The Attraction Formula”, and found that he actually acknowledged the exact problem I outlined above, ie how mechanical his system is and how that could lead guys into trouble - Read my review of “The Attraction Formula” for more details).

Some of the extreme/crazy stuff taught here in the last 2-3 hours include mass texting tens of numbers, tricking out your flat, channeling everything (timing, lighting, furniture, music, conversations) towards getting physical, condom placement, overbooking (stacking 2 to 3 appointments with different girls the same night), and a shameless technique to get her to come straight to your place on the first date.

Some quotes here, to give you an idea of the spirit : “In my apartment, I can close my eyes and go like that, in any direction, I have a condom at arm-length“, and “this is a bit of a bait and switch; well, really, it is totally a bait and switch”.

Crazy stuff, I told you.

This is a really personal section too, with Janka showing you pictures of his apartment, etc.

Weak points

Apart from the overly industrial aspect explained above, there are other weak points to this product.

The most obvious is that while the system relies on a high volume of pick ups in the street (day game), there is little time spent explaining how to do that. While Pulling The Sex Forward, Assuming Familiarity, and many other concepts will be very helpful in the first few minutes of conversation, guys still have to be able to approach and open in the first place. They won’t find how to do that here.

Another problem is Janka’s excessive paranoia on how girls try to disqualify you for the slightest pretexts – a prime reason for him to narrow his system down and take as few risks as possible. The idea is that there are a few things you can do right, and thousands of things you can do wrong, therefore you stick to the system and do the proven steps in order to get it right. There is a certain logic to that, but again, it leads to a very clinical, “rinse and repeat” process. Personally, I like to enjoy my pick ups with a zest of spontaneity. And I think the idea that women try to disqualify you at every corner is a limiting belief – they are not any more or less ruthless than guys are.

Something for everyone

As much as I have explained above, there is much, much more. This product is more than 10 hours of video, and it’s just content, content, content, layered on thick by a Paul Janka who barely catches his breath. There is no fluff here. The production value is good and the price very reasonable for the amount of gold information you get.

This is highly unfiltered, unpolitically correct advice, and some of it could be considered demeaning to women or manipulative or just plain crazy. The approach and mindset are certainly not for everyone but there is a lot to learn in this product, no matter your current level of expertise. Just grab what you can use and discard the rest – and chose wisely.