Transformations with Mark V. Wiley

What does real transformation look like—not in theory, but lived through the body, mind, and spirit? In this powerful conversation, Swami Kripananda shares his journey from addiction and recovery to deep immersion in yoga, meditation, and spiritual practice. Drawing from decades of experience—including training with masters such as B.K.S. Iyengar—he offers a raw and unfiltered look at what it mean...

What if most self-defense training is teaching the wrong thing? In this episode of Transformations with Mark V. Wiley , Teja VanWicklen breaks down why traditional self-defense often fails women—and what actually works in real-world situations. Drawing from decades of martial arts training, personal experience, and deep research, Teja introduces the concept of Protective Offense —a radically diffe...

Sifu Alan Yee is a 5th-Generation practitioner of Choy Lee Fut who lives in Sydney, Australia. His teacher was 4th Generation Grandmaster Li Yiu Ling who was one of only two direct inner chamber disciples of 3rd Generation GGM Chan Yiu Chi, the grandson of the Founder of Choy Lee Fut, Chan Heung Gung. Chan Yiu Chi's other inner chamber disciple was his eldest son, the late-GM Chan Wan Hon. Alan Ye...

Phil Matedne was born and raised in the city of Stockton, California. As a teenager, he began his martial arts training in the Kajukenbo style of Karate under Sifu John Valdez. As a young adult Guro Phil began his extensive training in the Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) with many of the West Coast teachers since 1983 and now has close to thirty years of experience. The teacher primarily responsible f...

Eskrima, the Filipino martial art. From his humble beginnings as a six-year-old enthusiast in 1979 to his present-day endeavors, Jason's journey has been one of relentless pursuit, unwavering commitment, and remarkable accomplishments. With over 40 years of experience in Eskrima, Jason is the inheritor of the esteemed Inayan System of Eskrima. Following in the footsteps of his father, Mangisursuro...

For over 30 years, Derek Notman has dedicated himself to the study of physical culture and philosophy. This pursuit has led him all over the world including time living in China and Southeast Asia, studying with traditional masters of martial, movement, and healing arts. Derek has always sought to extract the essence of the traditions while connecting the common elements. Despite the uniqueness of...

For over six decades, Grandmaster Rene J. Navarro has been on a mission, traveling the globe to learn from extraordinary masters of impossible skills, and to then develop those skills within himself. From the depth of Yang family Tai Chi Chuan to the refined and arcane techniques of Internal Alchemy, from poetry and music to deadly kung-fu, from meditation to discovering the Great Dao,  Of Fire an...

Antonio Aloia has been training a mixture of aikido, judo, and Olympic Fencing since 2002. He also holds a Master's degree in history from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. In 2020, he published his  Aikido Comes to America , a history of aikido in the United States. Antonio runs the online martial arts chronicle  Martial Arts of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow , where it houses many intervi...

Datu Shishir Inocalla is a pioneer of wellness and the creator of the BMST (body mind spirit training and living system). He is a grandmaster of Arnis Maharlika, a Filipino martial art, and master of Tai Chi, Yoga, Meditation and natural healing. He was the wellness trainer at the World HQ at David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Champions Gate, FL. He started martial arts training at the age eight and...

Tai Chi teacher Hal Mosher discusses his journey in studying Tai Chi, including his time with Robert Smith and his experiences in Taiwan. He shares insights into his conversations with Robert Smith about the CIA and the importance of not trusting everything on TV. Mosher also highlights the evolution of his training methods and the emphasis on song gong and syncing in Tai Chi. He concludes by disc...

Dr. Anthony Feinstein is a professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a neuropsychiatrist. His research and clinical work focus on people with multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury and Conversion Disorder. He has undertaken a number of studies investigating how front-line journalists are affected by their work covering war and man-made and natural disasters. Our discussion focus...

Josh Paynter and Jack Shaefer are both ordained 22nd generation Daoist Priest in the Quanzhen, Longmen tradition at the Jian Fu Gong on Qingcheng Mountain, and ordained 25th generation Daoist Priest in the Quanzhen, Longmen tradition at the Qingyun Daoguan. Jack and Josh are the Co-abbots of Parting Clouds, a formally recognized as a temple organization by Zhang Mingxin the Abess at the Jian Fu Go...

Lily Sanders is an author, manifestation coach, actress, and changemaker has been impacting hundreds of millions with her expertise on major media TV. Her award-winning book Truth to Triumph continues to transform lives. Lily myth busts the global beliefs about domestic abuse and human trafficking to bring insight, education, and reason to humanize the domestic violence experience and eradicate it...

Robert Coons is a resident of Toronto where he teaches Tai Chi, Meditation, and Tea Ceremony. He studied with secular Taoist disciple Hai Yang, and various teachers in China such as Yin Qin (Yang Style Taiji), He Caitong (Taiwan Cha Dao), Yu Jiang (Xin Yi Liu He Quan), and others. He is the author of Internal Elixir Cultivation: The Nature of Daoist Meditation and i n 2016 he will give a keynote p...

Dr. Jeff Skolnick is a Psychiatrist in Washington who has been practicing since 1988. Besides neuropsychiatric assessment and treatment, Dr. Skolnick has created a new approach to psychotherapy and advanced ("spiritual") development called the SatoriWest Method. The subject of two books, it has been trialed in two psychiatric facilities with hundreds of patients, getting positive metrics, as well...

Robin Young is a global medic who has carried out humanitarian work in Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, Morocco, and other war-torn and food insecure countries around the world. He was a paramedic and taught paramedicine at university level and is a kung-fu master, who has practiced since 1968. In this podcast we discuss his humanitarian work, the shift in teaching paramedicine from the reality on the s...

Fran Sands is an amateur boxing coach and mentor to kids and teens in the Northeast of England. His involvement in amateur boxing began in 1978, when at the age of six he entered his first boxing gym. Over the next 13 years he competed in 60 amateur contests, winning regional titles, reaching national semi-finals and finals, and representing England at Under-19 level. At the age of 23, he moved in...

Sifu Deng Ming-Dao is a Chinese American author, artist, philosopher, teacher, and martial artist who, from a young age, has studied Taoist internal arts such as Qigong and Kung-Fu . He is the author of nearly a dozen books, including Lunar Tao, The Living I Ching, 365 Tao , Scholar Warrior , and Chronicles of Tao . he studied qigong, philosophy, meditation, and internal martial arts for 13 years...

Dr. Dale Dugas is an Acupuncture Physician, Chinese herbalist, martial art master, and author.   His interest in Asian medicinal practices arose in his early teens and throughout the late 1980s, while he was living in Iwate Prefecture, in Northern Japan. Dale is a much sought-after brewer of Dit Da Jow – the transdermal herbal liniments used for pain and recovery – often associated with kung-fu. D...

For over 40 years, Stuart Alve Olson has been studying Taoist and Buddhist philosophy and Chinese language while practicing Taoist meditation and ceremony, Qigong, Taijiquan, Praying Mantis Kung Fu, and Internal Alchemy. He is the founder, director, and head teacher of the Sanctuary of Tao. Born in the year of the White Tiger (1950) in Minnesota, he is an author/translator of nearly 40 works on Ta...

In this conversation, Mark V. Wiley and David Kutzik discuss various topics including social media, the impact of technology, the decline of social interaction, and the nature of intelligence. They explore the addictive nature of social media and the control exerted by corporations. They also delve into the role of artificial intelligence and the importance of independent press. The conversation h...

This podcast is Part 2 of 4 in my discussion with David Verdesi. You can watch Pat 1 here . David Verdesi had daily mystic vision as a child. At 14, he left home in search of their meaning and travelled all over the world for 30 years, researching and comparing his own experiences with those of 120 mystics, yogis, cave-dwellers, saints and genuine enlightened beings, Siddhas from the mountains and...

Dr. Vijayendra Pratap, a student of Swami Kuvalayananda, is the Founder/Director of SKY Foundation, President of the Yoga Research Society, Director of the Yoga program at the Jefferson-Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, and author of A Teacher's Guide to Beginning Yoga, Yoga Vision, Secrets of Hatha Vidya, Stories Retold, Yoga of Gheranda , and Yog...

David Verdesi had daily mystic vision as a child. At 14, he left home in search of their meaning and travelled all over the world for 30 years, researching and comparing his own experiences with those of 120 mystics, yogis, cave-dwellers, saints and genuine enlightened beings, Siddhas from the mountains and jungles of India and Xian immortals from China and Southeast Asia, the Shamans of Central a...

Dr. Douglas V. Porpora is a professor of sociology in the Department of Culture and Communication at Drexel University. His books include How Holocausts Happen: The United States in Central America , Landscapes of the Soul: The Loss of Moral Meaning in American Life, Post-Ethical Society: The Iraq War, Abu Ghraib , and the Moral Failure of the Secular , and Reconstructing Sociology: The Critical R...