My first float in an isolation tank

Yesterday I had my first experience inside an isolation tank! Here are some of my thoughts and a write-up on my experience.

An isolation tank which is used for deep meditation, motivation, and creativity boosting purposes.Click the image to read about the benefits of floating.

What is an isolation tank, you ask? Here is a description from Wikipedia:

An isolation tank is a light-less, soundproof tank inside which subjects float in salt water at skin temperature. They were first used by John C. Lilly in 1954 to test the effects of sensory deprivation. Such tanks are now also used for meditation and relaxation and in alternative medicine. The isolation tank was originally called the sensory deprivation tank. Other names for the isolation tank include flotation tank, float tank, John C. Lilly tank, REST tank, and sensory attenuation tank.

I had read about these float tanks a couple of years ago, after stumbling on the fact that Joe Rogan gifted a tank to one of his fans. I started reading up on the subject, but found myself distracted by every day life and didn’t really have a chance to pursue it until the beginning of this week.

Some of the things that I have read about float tanks over the past couple of years sounded very fantastic in nature.. I have studied accounts of people having profound insights into their lives, super-human relaxation, accelerated learning of languages (through the listening of mp3s while in the isolation tank), and even hallucinations and out of body experiences. I would be lying if I told you I went into my experience completely devoid of any expectations or pre-conceived notions.

The most popular “floatation center” in Los Angeles is Float Lab in Venice Beach, run by a guy named Crash (he also builds custom float tanks for people). Venice was a little far of a drive for me, though, so I was overjoyed when I found a float center a little closer to home!

Today I floated at Unplug Floatation Center in Valencia, CA. After checking out the place last week (walked in, asked some questions), I scheduled an appointment. The environment was very relaxing, the tank was super clean, and the lady who runs the center was very knowledgeable and answered all of my questions before my float..

This is a Samadhi style isolation tank.
This is a Samadhi style isolation tank, the type I used.

Here is how my first float in the isolation tank went:

After speaking with the lady who runs the place and signing some paper work, I locked the door to the private room that the tank was situated in. I showered to wash off all of the oils and deodorants off of my body, put in the provided earplugs, got in the tank, closed the door (testing the weight first), and laid back with my eyes open.

..I waited in pitch black..

Nothing happened for the first couple of minutes, as I was fascinated by the buoyancy of the water and played with different body floating positions.

After about 5-10 minutes or so (I’m guessing), I started slipping into a half-asleep state. I also started hearing what sounded like water drops and after some thinking I realized it was my heart beat. Wow, was my heart loud when I couldn’t hear anything else!

Some more time passed in my half-asleep state, and as I looked up I realized the “ceiling” was moving. I thought that I had left a crack open in the door and some light was coming through, but when I really tried to focus on watching the grey shadows move, everything went pitch black again and I lost it..

I spent the next 20 or so minutes floating around in my half-asleep state, not really thinking of anything in particular, occasionally adjusting my position in the tank when I’d float into one of the sides. After some time I realized the grey patterns had started again. This time I made sure not to freak out and to just observe the movement. What I (barely) saw in the morphing lines and shadows, was something resembling water. After watching this “water” for a couple of minutes, I started seeing darkness enveloping my vision in consecutive rings, which started from the outside and would converge on themselves in the middle of my vision. After watching these movements for a little while, everything stopped again (I guess I must have woken up out of excitement).
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The next stretch of time was spent on just relaxing and focusing on the feeling of being weightless. When my time was up, I heard a gentle knocking on the side of the tank, signalling it was time to get out. I knocked back and heard the lady leave the room.

Standing up was a very interesting feeling. I felt so relaxed, as if I had just had an hour long massage. All of my muscles moved effortlessly and I had to concentrate a little to not lose my balance.

After showering again to rinse the salt water off of my body, I walked out to the front of the float center and had a pleasant conversation with the owner.

—————

What did I think of my first experience? It was very relaxing, and I can’t wait to go back to do it again! For the rest of the day I felt an extreme calm radiating in waves off of my body. (I still feel it today, actually!)

I also observed something very interesting yesterday.. As I was having a conversation with someone about something important, and would start getting a little stressed, I swear I could feel waves of warm relaxation flow into my mind and make me relax. It was as if I could see everything with clear eyes, and I could speak with a clear, truthful mind.

Right now I feel very loose and relaxed, with a sort of afterglow which has been with me since my float yesterday. I find myself being able to focus all of my attention on one task at a time, and my mind and body are still feeling very peaceful.

This was only my introduction to the float tank, and I want to keep floating regularly! Maybe eventually I will be able to use the tank for creativity, motivation, and training purposes.

I would definitely recommend for you to try floating in your area if you can! You can search “float tank” in your area on google, or use this website (or this one) to find a center in your area!

If you live around Santa Clarita, I would definitely recommend Unplug Floatation Center!

Have a wonderful day, and remember that the beauty you see in the world around you is already within yourself!

– Rustic

(Yes, that’s a deep one..think about it though, if you are able to realize something is beautiful, it is your mind which is creating that emotion within yourself. Therefore whatever your mindset is, is how you will see the world and the type of life that you’ll live!)

QUESTION: Would you ever try to float in an isolation tank? Or if you have already done so, what was your experience like?

Chex Mix National Commercial

Hey guys, today I’d like to share with you my first ever national commercial!

Back in May, I landed a role in a national commercial for Chex Mix. It started airing on TV several weeks ago, and you can check it out here if you want to see it! – http://ispot.tv/ad/7RRh/chex-mix-decoy-bag

Rustic B in his first national commercial for Chex Mix.

The shoot was super fun and simple. We filmed about 3 different versions of the commercial (one without me going through the window, one with, and one with me playing a completely different character!). Everyone was very professional, fun to work with, and easy to talk to. The day went by fast, and we were out of the studio before the sun set! Also, director Roderick Fenske did an amazing job. He was fun to work with, gave good direction, and loved our improv moments. I really hope to again work with him in the future!

[Group Picture coming soon]

Over the last 3 years of living in Los Angeles I must have auditioned for over 100 commercials, and it was an amazing experience to finally land a national commercial! I feel very blessed, and thankful to everyone who has helped me get to this point. Thank you Kimo Keoke for finding me the audition, you’re always looking out for me! Thank you to my friend Surawit Sae Kang for coordinating and rigging up the wire I was suspended on, and to Jeff Pruitt for keeping me safe! And thank you to my agency, Mavrick Artists for believing in me, negotiating, and helping me to land the part!

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I learned something from this experience.. find something you love doing, and focus your energy on doing that! One day you will get your break and realize that hard work which you invest in yourself is always worth it!

Rustic Bodomov dressed in a suit as an alternative character for a chex mix national commercial.

My other character which never got included in the final version.

Have a great day, everyone!

I was originally wrote a longer version of this article with an in-depth explanation of the whole process of being in a national commercial, but I think I am going to leave it for a future update if anyone shows interest..

Stunts interview for BKO Kung Fu

Martial Arts website, BKO KUNGFU recently asked me for an interview, and I was very happy to speak with them! You can check out the original interview on their site, or read it below. We spoke about how I got into the stunt business and what it’s like for me to be constantly working to make your way up.. I am in no way close to the top of the stunt game yet, but it was a very pleasant interview to re-cap my journey so far, and maybe offer some people an insight into the lifestyle!

Rustic Bodomov did an interview for BKO Kung Fu. Rustic B doing an aerial cartwheel.

Rustic Bodomov has over a decade of experience in martial arts with training specialization in Judo, TKD, Karate, Jiu-Jitsu, and boxing. He also has 7 years of Parkour and freerunning experience. He’s been featured on camera in films, television and commercials on numerous occasions.

How did you get your first paid gig as a stunt person?

I moved out to Los Angeles specifically to pursue stunt work. Before I moved out, I already had a little bit of screen fighting experience (gained from making videos with my friends), and several years worth of parkour videos I used to make..so I cut together a showreel for myself in order to market myself.

Right after I moved to Los Angeles, I started training at several gymnastics gyms in the area and asking around about where the stunt people trained. After meeting a couple of working stunt people, and making some friends, I was referred to do some tumbling on a music video as a favor for a friend. My first paid stunt job came as another referral after that music video, I was asked to be the main character for this video – https://vimeo.com/40581867

If one wants to break into action movies, do you think it’s easier to start out as a stunt person and then become an actor or is it better to go straight into acting?

I don’t have a straight answer to this one. Both paths are difficult for their own reasons, I would recommend for the aspiring action actor and/or stuntman to decide which direction you want to go for yourself, then take it. Becoming good at acting, just like stunts, takes hard work and time to get good at. If you want to be an action actor like Jackie Chan, starting with stunts will teach you set etiquette and how a film is run, as well as educate you on how to safely perform your own stunts.. but going directly into acting will start getting you established as a “name” which can be attached to sell a movie.

How many times on average does one have to do a stunt before the director is satisfied with it?

This varies from stunt to stunt, and director to director. If a stuntman is asked to do a high fall, or a similarly large stunt or wreck, everyone will be pushing for only one take. From personal experience, I’ve only been asked to do a “big” stunt for a maximum of 2-3 takes.

When you get into fight choreography, the amount of takes will start to rise because you have more factors involved (such as a moving camera person, several performers, varying energy levels), and you can start seeing upwards of 5-10 takes per shot. Jackie Chan is known for doing some of his “trick” stunts over 100 times to get it just right!

At what martial arts skill level would you recommend someone to make a showreel of themselves for marketing purposes?

If you are going to be pursuing a career in the action film industry, I’d recommend getting yourself some good looking footage soon. The sooner you have something you can use to get jobs for yourself, the better. If you don’t have the ability to create something that accurately reflects your skill, I’d wait until you start working with other people and get enough good footage for a 1 min video (this is a good, short, sweet length for a reel).

Important Side Note!! Martial Arts skill level is not important when it comes to screen fighting skill, and they often times aren’t even in the same boat. While Martial Arts will teach you proper body control, and will definitely help you make your Martial Arts style movement look great, you still want to train with some screen fighters in order to make yourself look good on camera. I come from a Martial Arts background, and I struggled for the longest time to be able to translate my skill level to film. (Martial Arts movements tend to be small and efficient, while good-looking screen fighting movements tent to be bigger, more showy, and sometimes aren’t even proper technique.

What do you find is the best way to network in the martial arts community?

Honestly, I haven’t really networked much with the Martial Arts community. I have made good friends with fellow Martial Artists in the stunt world, but my main networking happens within the stunt community in Los Angeles.

There are several ways to network in the stunt community. Several times a year, different groups of people host “stunt networking” events..and there are several awesome stuntmen who have great training equipment set up in their backyards, and let people come train with them.
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Personally, my favorite way of networking (and where most of my work stems from) is to become a real friend to the people I meet. I try and leave a good first impression while remaining honest to myself. People can usually tell when you’re being sincere and open minded, and it will take you far in life. 🙂

No one teaches Parkour in our area. What’s the best way to get started with it?

I also started learning Parkour when there were no gyms or instructors around! There are plenty of online resources for learning various parkour moves safely (I learned almost everything from YouTube), and you don’t need to leave the ground (aka go on roofs) to learn how to do every type of movement!

My advice is, don’t be afraid, get out there and start moving around and have fun! If you’d like a starting point, check out how to do a parkour roll..

What kind of diet do you have to keep up your strength and stamina?

I don’t follow any set diet plan, but I do try and keep my food intake clean. This means that on a good week, I will stay away from any bread, fried or processed food. I don’t drink soda. I try to eat as many green vegetables as I can, along with a good source of protein (chicken, beans, etc). Greek Yoghurt and Chick Peas are amazing too… I might be getting too particular here, but my basic nutritional philosophy is to stay away from anything processed, deep fried, or carbonated. It just feels so good to eat clean!

What projects are you currently working on that can we can look forward to in the future?

I’m currently helping produce my first feature film, called “Boone: The Bounty Hunter”, which stars my friend John Hennigan (aka, WWE’s Johnny Nitro).

Also, I just doubled one of the main actors on “SMOSH: The Movie” which comes out later this year/early next, and I’m waiting on a couple of VFX-heavy projects I starred in last year to be finished. My side project for the time being is my youtube channel.

Is there anything else you would like to tell our readers?

You’ve probably heard this before, but it’s true.. only you can do anything you set your mind to! I’ve learned time and again that the secret for creating success in anything you set out to do is to do it with a positive attitude and to really invest in yourself with hard work. What would the future, successful you be doing right now? Training? Writing? Filming? Be the person you see yourself being in the future, today!

Thank you very much for your time, and for asking such great questions guys! 🙂

Hopefully you guys enjoyed this interview, and feel free to ask me any more questions you might have!

Also, remember that we are all growing every day and an interview is a good snapshot of the current moment.. but never stop growing and evolving! Have an amazing day, everyone!