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The 4 Categories of Attractiveness Fundamentals

Chase

Chieftan
Staff member
tribal-elder
Joined
Oct 9, 2012
Messages
6,352
We've got a lot of guys on here nowadays who have not read my book (where I introduced the concept of "attractiveness fundamentals" in 2011), gone through One Date, or watch my Fantastic Fundamentals series on GirlsChase.TV.

Girls Chase alums who have gone through the book or One Date are very familiar with what I call "the fundamentals", and you will see them talking about fundamentals all across the Girls Chase blog, Skilled Seducer, as well as on places like Reddit, YouTube, X, etc.

However, the term 'fundamentals' is not very clear, and other people will use it for other things (like "opening fundamentals", "night game fundamentals", etc.). This is my fault for not coming up with a better coined phrase when I named them. It is also the case that since so many guys use the term "fundamentals", other guys also hear that and use it as well, except using it for something different. (presumably had I called them "the rudiments" or "the cornerstones" we would now be seeing guys creating content about "cold approach rudiments" and "reputation cornerstones" and so on, so maybe the muddying of the waters on the term is inevitable)

Anyway, to disambiguate for guys who are not familiar with my material, the attractiveness fundamentals are all the "passive" yet adjustable attractive qualities that make you more attractive to women simply by being around them and being you. That is, they are differentiated from "game", which is the active stuff you are doing to raise attraction and lead a seduction forward.

The four (4) categories of fundamentals are:

  • Body Fundamentals: aspects of your physical, bodily appearance
    • Posture: how you position your back, head, shoulders, chest, feet width, etc.
    • Mannerisms: the way you use your hands when you gesture
    • Movement: both speed and fluidity
    • Walk
    • Eye contact
    • Smile
    • Facial expressions
    • Teeth: whitened, straightened, caps
    • Physique: fat, skinny, muscles
  • Vocal fundamentals: the way your voice sounds and how you use it
    • Voice tone
    • Inflection
    • Depth
    • Resonance
    • Purr
    • Formants
    • Degree of hyoid depression
    • Affected boredom
    • Colorful vocabulary
    • Vocal uniqueness
    • Hint of an accent
  • Social fundamentals: how socially savvy and smooth a man appears
    • Sprezzatura / minding the Law of Least Effort
    • Smoothly conversational
    • Good sense of humor
    • Social awareness
    • Social "normality" (e.g., no weird quirks or off-putting behaviors)
    • Ability to build & use social momentum
    • One's social reputation (in social circle)
  • Fashion fundamentals: choices one makes in deliberately styling appearance
    • Clothing size/fit
    • Use of interesting items & accessories
    • Color & item coordination
    • Interesting outfits vs. loud ones
    • Peacocking
    • Choice of hairstyle
    • Choice of facial hair style
    • Congruence with a particular identity/archetype

All fundamentals are upgradeable and can be worked on a few at a time, generally. Some can be improved immediately but most take time and focus to get excellent.

Not generally thought of as "fundamentals" are passive attractiveness elements largely or totally outside of one's control, such as facial features, height, unchangeable aspects of voice, a uniform one is required to wear, one's position within a structured hierarchy, etc.

Also not "fundamentals" are active elements of attraction, which would be considered "game": approaching, opening, teasing, flirtation, cold reads, leading, getting compliance/investment, building/breaking rapport, setting frames, making moves, escalating, resistance-handling, etc.

Left out of this framework generally is "vibe", which, while very important, is sort of an overall product of fundamentals + game + inner frame/confidence.

In the "fundamentals vs. game" dichotomy, I have long said that the stronger your fundamentals, the less game you need; and the stronger your game, the less fundamentals you need. But if you want the easiest time possible picking up the girls you want, you are going to want to get both your game and fundamentals dialed in airtight.

Anyway, if you have not gone deeply through my material, and have been wondering what guys are talking about when they talk about "fundamentals" and reference a bunch of different qualities, this is it.

Chase
 

TomInHo

Modern Human
Modern Human
Joined
Dec 13, 2021
Messages
723
Great points Chase!

I’ve been seeing fundamentals getting a lot of attention on forums lately, and I actually drafted a post on the topic.

I agree that fundamentals are key to generating passive attraction.

But from my experience with female behavior, I tend to mentally categorize things a bit differently than you.

1) Health Fundamentals

These are the signals that subconsciously communicate to a woman that you’re healthy

After all, on a primal level, when a woman sleeps with a man, part of her is wired to consider whether he could help her create healthy babies

And a lot of health markers directly improve physical attraction. Examples include

- Hair
- Skin
- Teeth
- Muscle Mass
- Body Fat
- Posture

I always considered these the baseline. If a guy can optimize these into healthy ranges, he’ll do well with most women

2) Status Fundamentals

Women don’t just want healthy men they typically want men with social power and influence.

Why?

Because, just like health fundamentals signal your biological fitness, status fundamentals communicate that you have the social resources and power to support and raise offspring.

Examples of status fundamentals include

- Social Proof / Fame / Pre-selection
- Authority and leadership
- Displays of wealth
- Vocal Tonality
- Body Language
- Style

The best way I can explain it is this

When a guy maxes out his status fundamentals, he makes people wonder

“Who is that guy? He must be somebody”

That vibe is different from the one health fundamentals give off. Health signals say, “He’s physically attractive.”

Status signals say, “He matters.”

There’s even that classic video on YouTube where a regular guy pretended to be a celebrity at the mall. He was a total nobody. But once he projected the image of status, look how women started reacting:


Also, there are guys that may have weaker health fundamentals but have very high status fundamentals. These tend to be the dudes women often refer to as "Ugly Hot"

So in practice when a guy can combine both Health and Status Fundamentals, that's when you can get some crazy chasing behavior from women in the early interaction

Obviously, there’s a lot more nuance here. But I do think the forum could benefit from deeper discussions on fundamentals

You think it might be worth having a dedicated section where people can post threads exploring different angles and frameworks?

Lately, a lot of threads have been getting derailed by side debates about fundamentals, so maybe creating a specific space for them could help keep things more focused.

Idk, just my 2c.
 
Last edited:

Spike

Tool-Bearing Hominid
Tool-Bearing Hominid
Joined
Jan 30, 2025
Messages
256
Excellent @TomInHo

I like the way you categorized fundementals. Because these are things girls see immediately upon first glance. And in turn affect how the rest of the interaction will go.

Like in this video I shared in the other thread. She doesn’t know anything about if he moves his hands in conversation is attractive, if the way he talks is cool, how he walks, his voice, his sense of humor, his knowledge about anything for that matter.

All she can see is that he’s tall, good looking, muscular, and probably has some status just by the way he’s dressed. And that’s all she needs to make the approach.

All the other things that aren’t seen upon first glance can either hurt your chances if you don’t have them (most important being social awareness) or help your chances in terms of making it happen (“he gets it”).
 
you miss 100% of the shots you don't take

Skills

Tribal Elder
Tribal Elder
Joined
Nov 11, 2019
Messages
5,482
We've got a lot of guys on here nowadays who have not read my book (where I introduced the concept of "attractiveness fundamentals" in 2011), gone through One Date, or watch my Fantastic Fundamentals series on GirlsChase.TV.

Girls Chase alums who have gone through the book or One Date are very familiar with what I call "the fundamentals", and you will see them talking about fundamentals all across the Girls Chase blog, Skilled Seducer, as well as on places like Reddit, YouTube, X, etc.

However, the term 'fundamentals' is not very clear, and other people will use it for other things (like "opening fundamentals", "night game fundamentals", etc.). This is my fault for not coming up with a better coined phrase when I named them. It is also the case that since so many guys use the term "fundamentals", other guys also hear that and use it as well, except using it for something different. (presumably had I called them "the rudiments" or "the cornerstones" we would now be seeing guys creating content about "cold approach rudiments" and "reputation cornerstones" and so on, so maybe the muddying of the waters on the term is inevitable)

Anyway, to disambiguate for guys who are not familiar with my material, the attractiveness fundamentals are all the "passive" yet adjustable attractive qualities that make you more attractive to women simply by being around them and being you. That is, they are differentiated from "game", which is the active stuff you are doing to raise attraction and lead a seduction forward.

The four (4) categories of fundamentals are:

  • Body Fundamentals: aspects of your physical, bodily appearance
    • Posture: how you position your back, head, shoulders, chest, feet width, etc.
    • Mannerisms: the way you use your hands when you gesture
    • Movement: both speed and fluidity
    • Walk
    • Eye contact
    • Smile
    • Facial expressions
    • Teeth: whitened, straightened, caps
    • Physique: fat, skinny, muscles
  • Vocal fundamentals: the way your voice sounds and how you use it
    • Voice tone
    • Inflection
    • Depth
    • Resonance
    • Purr
    • Formants
    • Degree of hyoid depression
    • Affected boredom
    • Colorful vocabulary
    • Vocal uniqueness
    • Hint of an accent
  • Social fundamentals: how socially savvy and smooth a man appears
    • Sprezzatura / minding the Law of Least Effort
    • Smoothly conversational
    • Good sense of humor
    • Social awareness
    • Social "normality" (e.g., no weird quirks or off-putting behaviors)
    • Ability to build & use social momentum
    • One's social reputation (in social circle)
  • Fashion fundamentals: choices one makes in deliberately styling appearance
    • Clothing size/fit
    • Use of interesting items & accessories
    • Color & item coordination
    • Interesting outfits vs. loud ones
    • Peacocking
    • Choice of hairstyle
    • Choice of facial hair style
    • Congruence with a particular identity/archetype

All fundamentals are upgradeable and can be worked on a few at a time, generally. Some can be improved immediately but most take time and focus to get excellent.

Not generally thought of as "fundamentals" are passive attractiveness elements largely or totally outside of one's control, such as facial features, height, unchangeable aspects of voice, a uniform one is required to wear, one's position within a structured hierarchy, etc.

Also not "fundamentals" are active elements of attraction, which would be considered "game": approaching, opening, teasing, flirtation, cold reads, leading, getting compliance/investment, building/breaking rapport, setting frames, making moves, escalating, resistance-handling, etc.

Left out of this framework generally is "vibe", which, while very important, is sort of an overall product of fundamentals + game + inner frame/confidence.

In the "fundamentals vs. game" dichotomy, I have long said that the stronger your fundamentals, the less game you need; and the stronger your game, the less fundamentals you need. But if you want the easiest time possible picking up the girls you want, you are going to want to get both your game and fundamentals dialed in airtight.

Anyway, if you have not gone deeply through my material, and have been wondering what guys are talking about when they talk about "fundamentals" and reference a bunch of different qualities, this is it.

Chase
excellent! i will repeat what i said previously, this is good enough ^ i am already bored and is only been 2 days talking about fundamentals, it totally becomes narrow casting and it will destroy chats and forums, it becomes repetitive..... don't ask me how i know...

Again, not even the original puahate could do it, in their sub forum their most popular one was shitty advice (not even close amog all the other subforums).....

you guys can do a time machine search...
 

Chase

Chieftan
Staff member
tribal-elder
Joined
Oct 9, 2012
Messages
6,352
@TomInHo,

Interesting spin!

I suspect there's a risk of oversimplifying by going down to just "health vs. status."

OTOH, perhaps for some guys keeping it as simple as possible may work well / be more motivating.

There’s even that classic video on YouTube where a regular guy pretended to be a celebrity at the mall. He was a total nobody. But once he projected the image of status, look how women started reacting:


That's hilarious.

You think it might be worth having a dedicated section where people can post threads exploring different angles and frameworks?

Lately, a lot of threads have been getting derailed by side debates about fundamentals, so maybe creating a specific space for them could help keep things more focused.

Idk, just my 2c.

Interesting idea.

Though I think most of the derailing has been due either to appearances by @Spike or by @KJ Francis summoning @Spike.


excellent! i will repeat what i said previously, this is good enough ^ i am already bored and is only been 2 days talking about fundamentals, it totally becomes narrow casting and it will destroy chats and forums, it becomes repetitive..... don't ask me how i know...

Yeah, I think I agree.

I did a whole 36-video series on it for the TV site and I was already bored by video #5... that series was torture for me... 😑

(kidding a bit... it was kinda fun... but I also really wanted to start talking about game again past a certain point)

There's only so much you can say on fundamentals. You can't write two dozen articles on hand gestures or anything.

I guess in theory you could pump out endless content on "LATEST NEW VEST STYLE ROCKING MILAN SUMMER 2025" but past a certain point it's just navel-gazing.

Again, not even the original puahate could do it, in their sub forum their most popular one was shitty advice (not even close amog all the other subforums).....

Funny. Most popular sub-forum on the future Looksmax forum was not about looks but about game.

So it goes!

Chase
 
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