Sam Bayliss

27/08/2025

If you're a Thai Massage practitioner in Canberra get in touch :)

Send a message to learn more

19/05/2024

Had an incredible time this weekend sharing my understanding of Aunkai Bujutsu with a mix of people from Natural Movement Canberra, Systema Australia and our wonderful hosts Aikido Kenkyukai ACT, and Kuroyama Budokai.

I'm very hopeful this workshop will be the beginning of some exciting collaborations, explorations, and cross-training opportunities here in Canberra.

I'll concede that our 'synchronised shiko' needs a bit of work!

04/03/2024

Had TOO much fun at the AFTK seminar hosted by Kodokan Cummings Karate Dojo this weekend!

Kenbukan Australia was an excellent training partner and kindly refrained from hurting me too badly when returning the favour on the throw.

Thanks to Goshukan Karate Academy ACT for the seminar :)

30/10/2019

Home Gym 🏋️‍♂️ (Old-time Strongman Edition)

Even for something weird and wonderful like old-time strongman training it doesn't take anything too fancy to get the work/play of training done effectively.

I bent nails, levered sledgehammers and tore cards in a little private show for my four month old son yesterday (you can just see the edge of his chair in the picture).

My kids love watching me train (and my daughter loves to join in!).

Part of what I think I'm getting at is that even if you don't think you have the time/equipment to be active, you might! The other part is just me wanting to celebrate a few personal bests and being able to share them with my son.

Have a great day!

10/09/2019

3-D Yoga - Stretch Cage Flow 1

I'm loving playing with concepts of modern postural Yoga in unusual contexts.

Last week I used a functional rig/pull-up bar setup. Today I played with the stretch cage at

It gave me lots of support, made some positions easier and allowed me to add load/active movement to others.

Most importantly, there were no stretches where I was just passively hanging out building stretch tolerance. I was constantly moving in and out of challenging ranges with control and support. And that seems more likely to me to produce the physical outcomes most people come to Yoga for.

Even sitting at the end felt great. Stay tuned for more stretch cage yoga. Definitely coming back to this one!

06/07/2019

Souvenirs!

One of the best things about steel bending is that every workout produces either a cool 'trophy' or even a piece of art!

30/06/2019

👑//All Hail the Bent Press//👑

The Bent Press looks a bit funny, but it's been my favourite way to press a weight overhead for a long time.

It lets me use my lats a lot more than other presses, take advantage of my flexibility, and also really works my obliques and lower back in unusual ways.

I've been working on a few techniques lately that have helped me find a better groove for my bent press and it's feeling awesome.

I'm not sure I believe ALL of the outlandish records the old-time strongmen would claim for this lift, but I know there have been some big weights hoisted like this.

My goal? I think hitting bodyweight on it would be pretty phenomenal. But for now I'm just shooting for a new PR in the next two weeks.

Stay tuned!

27/03/2019

Need help mastering the pull-up? Have a look! 👀

Are you:

🎆 Stuck at the bottom?
🎆 Struggling to get up the top half of the movement?
🎆 Not sure how to work on the weak points in your pull?

This is for YOU!

⏰ And all in less than 5 minutes! ⏰

Know anyone else who needs help with their pull-ups? Get them involved!

PS if you're not able to do 1 just yet, don't worry :) There's another video coming just for you.