This is my life story. It is about how I turned, in a single day, from depression, stress, anger, pills, addictions, to freedom, relaxation, energy, vibrancy, a purpose, excellence. Now, you will learn in this book some of the tools that helped me to improve my life, achieve goals and what I used to get through my challenges, I am living my dream and bringing hope to thousands of people, how I survive with Haemophilia, Hepatitis C, Brain bleed twice, and joint pain daily.

I was born in 1982 – Jacobus Gysbertus Johannes Visser in a small town Vereeniging to great parents; Theunis and Ansie Visser who both where in the police service and later started their own business to give their children a chance for a greater future. I am also proud to be the Great grandson of South Africa’s first State President – Charles Robert Swart (Oom Blackie).

Gifted with  two great sons Tiaan and Wihan Visser.

So let us go on a journey with me to see how I discovered the Power in Me to become the Hero I am and striving for today.

New Journey
Growing up in school was challenging as sometimes because of the bleeds in my joints and I had to stay home for days sometimes months. I was bullied a lot as the other children did not understand and also because I could not play any sport like Rugby. The teachers also did not understand and probably the chance of you the reader is the same as most people do not know about Haemophilia. Also known as a bleeder where my blood does not clot and because of that my joints get damaged.

My journey to a new life started at the end of 2011 I discovered a way of living with the pain and inspire others. I have had haemophilia (a genetic condition in which the blood has difficulty in clotting) since birth and as the years went by, my condition got to a point where I was in a really bad emotional state. I went from depression, to stress, to drinking a handful about 10-20 of pain pills each day. I was taking up to 10 pain and other pills each day. It was as if suddenly I could not cope with pain.

What was tough for me was when my first son was born in 2009 and I could not pick him up as I had too much pain in both my elbows, for 4 years I could not pick him up or bond with him. Living in pain everyday is challenging as it challenges you to be friendly, have patience with friends and family. My wife had to look after me daily and sometimes even bathed me, she did the driving, looking after kids and so much more. I would not have gotten through if I did not have the backing of a great wife a superwoman on this Journey.

And, as if that was not enough, I needed to get both my elbow replacements (I had had an arm brace for six months and my doctor said I could not pick up anything heavier than 2-5kg), and both ankles needed to get fused or replaced.

That was not even the end of my medical problems: I was also on hepatitis C treatment that made me sick (some of the symptoms are like chemotherapy). I got very sick in with the Hepatitis c treatment at one point thinking it would be better to die than to go on.

As a haemophiliac I used some 20-40, each of 1 000 units of a blood-clotting factor per month, also I need to inject myself in a vein when I give myself the clotting factor. Without such treatments a simple deep cut or heavy bruise could be extremely painful and even life-threatening. December of 2014 I was admitted to hospital in Port Elizabeth with a cerebral bleed and faced death as most haemophilias dies of these kinds of bleeds. After 2 weeks in hospital I healed and could go home after spending Christmas and New Year in hospital.

In 2015 I moved to Centurion to come and inspire people and live my dream and in the first 6 months of the year I could not walk as both ankles had too much pain to put any weight on them. I could not put any weight on my ankles and had to crawl where I needed to be. It took me 4 hours to get to bathroom to clean myself and clean up, through this I got holes in my knees of all the crawling and most of the days spend in bed going deeper in the hole of depression and pain. This was very depressing as sometimes it was too painful to clean myself bathing, going to the bathroom was a mission and some nights I cried myself to sleep. Looking at my sons how can I be a father if I am in bed all day. Luckily they do not have haemophilia as the gene is carried over through a daughter to a grandson.

With all this hanging over me, I came to a defining moment at a seminar, and I told myself something has to change. I thought: ‘I am dying!’

This is where I discovered how powerful we as human beings truly are and how uniquely we are made. It was then that I had my first experience with fire-walking.

So in 2015 I had to apply everything I learned from 2011 to get myself out of this state and I did. Soon I could walk normal again without any wheelchair or crutches and mostly no pain.

Seek & you will find
Whatever you seek you will find, whatever you ask you shall receive. I have discovered this to be true. I have learnt that you need to renew your mind every single day. Through a self-development course I was set free and discovered that anything is possible and what my dreams truly are.

From walking on fire more than 700 times without any burns, walking up to 14m on a coal bed at 650ºC, board and brick breaking with my elbows (wow!), arrow breaking with my throat and rebar bending, as well as broken glass walking without bleeding, and needle piercing through my hand without bleeding.

I have gone from being a near cripple to leading what you might consider something like a ‘Superman’ life.

I have gone from 150kg to 120kg (lost 30kg) and I now take 4-8 1000 factor blood clotting units a month (a fifth of what I was using before) and only about one pain pill about a week. My life has been transformed from where I previously could not jump, to the present in which I can jump several centimetres into the air. I have no arm brace any longer and, of all the improvements in my health, the best result of all is that I can now pick up my son and hold him in my arms. That alone brings tears of happiness.

Ritual & transformation
For thousands of years and in all cultures, shamans have walked across hot coals to honour the element of fire and bring healing to their communities. In modern times, it is crucial that we actively reclaim our own innate power to heal ourselves and direct our destiny, to move from acting from fear into a place where each action is based out of love and joy.

Ritual marks a time of change and transformation. To witness or participate in a fire-walking ritual offers a chance to break limiting belief systems, and provides participants with the tools to make the shifts you want in your life to stick. Whether you choose to walk or not at the end of the fire-walking seminar, you will be changed for good.

There are just a few times in our life when we are offered a ‘square centimetre of chance’; a gift to completely transform our lives. For me – and apparently many others too – the firewalk is such an opportunity. Joining in as a participant in this ancient, sacred gathering opens us up to deep healing and change – and offers the chance to dance with the fire of life.

Dancing the FireIt is one of the first lessons we learn as children: fire burns. And for many of us this lesson goes in very deeply, and includes not only the sting of physical fire, but also translates into a fear of the fire of our own passions, desires and dreams. Fire-walking is one of the oldest human rituals on the planet. In every culture around the world, people have used fire-walking as a means of healing and purifying their communities and themselves. Today, fire-walking is an incredible tool for modern humans to use.

Moving Beyond Fear
Our fear of fire is a deep-seated belief, one of the core players in our belief system. The first time I watched someone step onto the 600 ºC coals, I felt something snap. Suddenly one of my core beliefs had been turned upside down, bringing down virtually all my other beliefs with it.

The possibility of creating serious change in my life was so tangible at that moment, because the structures within my brain had been shattered. I had actually witness what I knew was impossible. There was nothing for my constructs about reality to do but crumble.

As a rule, we do not enjoy our mental constructs crumbling – it feels very threatening and dangerous. Our ego loves being right, having things be safe. Whenever something is not safe for the ego, it pumps out a wave of fear to deter us from changing in any way that goes against its self image. And fear, as most of us know, is a powerful human emotion.

However, I have found through my two years of fire-walking and teaching that fear can actually be a great friend. Even after 700 plus fire-walking sessions, I still feel that initial rush of fear as I step up to the fire. But I have learned to take the fear and see it as simply energy. We can all take the energy of our emotions – any emotions – and by seeing them simply as energy we can use them to support us rather than hinder us on our path.

With practice, it is simple to find a place of silence within, take a deep breath, and transform the fear into excitement and joy.

The next time you feel fear rise in your life, tell yourself: ‘This is simply energy. This is simply energy.’

With that awareness, you can make a choice about how you want this particular energy to work in your life. You can definitely use it to stop you in your tracks.

You also have the choice to take your deepest fears and transform them into impetus for change. Know that your belief system was inherited from your parents, and may not necessarily be true. The firewalk can bring these beliefs to the light.

Fire as Teacher
Walking across 13m of coals, I savour each step as I watch my feet move across the fire. I feel like I am walking above the clouds of Texas. Even when doubts come up in my life, I always go back to that moment on the coals; the feeling of total communion with the fire, a perfect marriage of my soul and the coals. Fire continues to teach me everyday – when I meditate with a flame; when I burn myself on the stove and laugh that I can walk on coals but when I am not paying attention will burn myself on a frying pan; when I feel passion within my body and act on it. With this I can change my destiny

The fire has taught me to honour the flames within myself and walk through all the firewalks in my life. Because for each of us, the real firewalk, the real challenge is to live our lives fully, with purpose and joy.

It is so hard to convey what happens in a fire-walking session to someone who has not been there and done that.  To some it might seem crazy, even – or some sort of trick. But it is neither.

I remember this experience: light misting rain haloes our bodies in the darkness as we circled around the red glistening coals wearing our shoes loosely on our feet.

We held hands and chanted, energy buzzing my fingers, shaking my knees against the backdrop of hush of silence, and we all stared at the centre, a thick layer of burning charcoal chunks 3m by 3m of contained fire to prove the impossible is possible.

I looked at Lori, standing solidly next to me, not knowing what to expect. In her eyes I saw, even if none of us walked, even if we left with our feet still cold from this wet grass, we are changed. And then the first woman stepped forward, quiet, curly-haired. ‘She is going first?’ I thought, as with slow grace she stood before the fiery challenge.

This seemed a dream, a vision as she bowed respectfully to the impossible, raised her arms to her side proud as a gymnast and walked across the coals. She walked across the coals! I saw her feet touch the fire I saw her feet swallow the coals. I saw, and I was crying and laughing, feeling my cold feet tingle.

This is the power and the spirit of the life-changing firewalk. If only everyone could know for themselves the power of the fire, its capacity to teach us about ourselves and our true potential; its capacity to instigate change within us that in turn allows us to heal, even from genetic disorders and severe long-term disease; its near-magical ability to make our lives whole again. If only.

We are the ones in charge of our thoughts, words, and actions.

“Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny.” -Mahatma Gandhi

 Biography
Certified Master Firewalking Instructor,
Certified Master NLP Life Coach Trainer,
BBA in marketing – ‘the Tony Robbins of Africa’

Business owner 4 franchises ”Zebros”, Part owner of a Dog Biscuit factory, 6 properties, 6 furniture stores to also being CEO of property company with 65 properties, CEO of 27 furniture stores –FURN4U. Went from being in debt of (R7million) to be debt free.

Five years on, Cobus has personally firewalked over 1000 times, in the USA, Spain, Uganda, Kenya, Lesotho and South Africa and has taught almost 100 firewalking instructors how to firewalk using the safe, safer, safest methods taught by the Firewalking Institute of Research and Education in all of these countries and has qualified as Master Firewalking Instructor in October 2014 making him one of nine worldwide active Master Firewalking instructors and the very first and only Master Instructor in Africa.

He is an author, International speaker, International trainer, life coach, and Master Firewalk Instructor dedicated to helping individuals, business leaders and people with disabilities to achieve any goal the want to achieve.

Following years of “real life” experience, He founded Supermanlife Coaching in 2012. His perseverance to survive Hemophilia and pain everyday and a lifetime of personal challenges have given him the skills and energy to help thousands of people change their lives for the better. Cobus went from Future in wheelchair to walking again and surviving pain every day.

He has brought the Training of the FIRE Institute to the continent of Africa with the dream to transform the lives of the people and to give them Hope in this beautiful continent of Africa.

He is a sought after keynote and Africa’s Nr1 Motivational speaker who brings depth, insights, and energy into his presentations. Some of his Keynotes – “Power of FIRE”, “Be Your Own Hero”, Pain to Pleasure” and “Supermanlife a Heroes Journey”.

Cobus’ work and methodology is all about the Heroes Journey and to live a SupermanLife – Unleashing the Hero within us all.

“I am here for a purpose; and that purpose is to grow into a mountain and not to shrink into a grain of sand. Henceforth will I apply all my efforts to grow into the HIGHEST Mountain off all and I will strain my Potential until it cries for mercy”
Og Modino