Terrorism in Boston

Watching the vision of today’s bomb explosions near the finish line at the Boston marathon brought back memories of my own experiences of terrorism (1) in Boston. Now I don’t suggest it was in the same league as the victims around today’s blast, however it was still, in my opinion - terrorism. Act intended to cause fear. It was, in my opinion, intended to give me a clear message – don’t come back to Boston. It didn’t work. I have been back to Boston nearly every year since. It did work on others though. Let me tell you my story.

It was 1999 and before I left for a seminar tour of the US I received an email from a person who I had never heard of before, despite my 19 years in coaching at that time and the 10 prior years travelling to, studying, and meeting with as many leading US strength coaches as I could. He seemed very excited about my impending visit, and even invited me to visit his facility when I was in Boston. My tight travel schedule prevented me from taking up this offer; however this ‘coach’ did introduce himself to me at the start of the seminar in his home town of Boston.

All seemed normal. Up until about one third of the way through the day, when I spotted a gathering of people in the middle of the presentation room (actually a squash court) during a break. All bar one of the people in this highly visible impromptu yet serious meeting did not return the seminar, constituting my first and only mass walk-out during a seminar.

I’m not sure if the ‘sole survivor’ of this group was an independent thinker, or left to report on the remainder of the day!

Now I was to learn that later that apparently the leader of this group, my new found want-to-be Boston buddy, has called the meeting and due to his desire to ‘protect’ his people form my terrible content and terrible delivery, had ushered them to safety!

That would be their prerogative, yet the subsequent events may tell a different story as to the motive of this mass walk-out.

Shortly after the event my host received a written communication that left her in tears, full of fear. The communication made it very clear how terrible the seminar was, the worst ever experienced by this ‘strength coach’. The content was really bad and the presenter equally bad.

What was I presenting? I was presenting the content of my releases from 1998, a collection of many of the concepts I had developed and refined in the prior 19 years of real world intense and high volume physical preparation coaching. Things like:

• Speed of movement and my three digit timing system
• Lines of movement
• Balancing the body based on my lines of movement concept
• Chin ups don’t balance out the bench press
• Loading is over-rated
• My unique unilateral bodyweight exercises
• That the aerobic base was a myth
• Static stretching before training
• Control drills conducted in the start of the strength workout to activate selected muscles
• And much more

Now I know this content was radical at that time, and I can bet you this ‘strength coach’ was doing none of this at that time, and thus stood to loose face with his local followers because this ‘visiting coach’ (myself) was teaching it totally different to what he was doing. I get that.

(I challenge my Boston friend to produce his 1999 and pre-years workouts – now that would be interesting stuff….)

But what I don’t get was what happened next. The communication then went on to outline all the retribution that would occur if my host dared to bring me back to Boston ever again. And that’s where it really became terrorism.

Now the story didn’t end here, and the following sheds further light on the motives of my

Boston ‘friend’. During the subsequent decade, from 1999 to 2009, he published extensively on some new trends in training, including:

• Speed of movement and my three digit timing system
• Lines of movement
• Balancing the body based on my lines of movement concept
• Chin ups don’t balance out the bench press
• Loading is over-rated
• My unique unilateral bodyweight exercises
• That the aerobic base was a myth
• Static stretching before training
• Control drills conducted in the start of the strength workout to activate selected muscles
• And much more

And not once did my name get mentioned in the way you would expect an ethical and creditable person would when publishing and teaching another persons original concepts.

So how did it all end up? Well, the person I call a terrorist got known as a leader in the methods I taught on that infamous day in Boston in 1999 due to his prolific publishing on these subjects, my host never worked with me again (in fact they quickly stopped communicating with me at all…). And me? I go back to Boston every year and do seminars…..Just like the Boston marathon will go on every year moving forward. Because we can’t control the actions of others, but we can control our response. Its okay to experience fear, but it’s not good enough to allow fear to change how you life your life. And despite my ‘Boston friend’ benefiting commercially and professionally from my original works after the damage he sought to cause myself and those who supported me that year, he has to live with his acts of terrorism….

(1) “the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion “ - http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/terrorism (2)

(2) Yes, that’s inverted commas indicating a direct quote and after that is the reference – I know this has been discouraged by the US fitness industry ‘its okay to steal’. Brothers, but bear with my old-fashioned values…..

Lines of movement - the origin and intent of the concept

In 1998 I released a wide range of original, innovate training concepts developed during the prior 18 years of coaching, based on extensive personal professional experiences training large numbers of elite athletes. Many of these methods have gone on to shape how the world trains.

I have summarized many of these in the on-line course ‘KSI Level 1 – Legacy’, which was released for the first time about two years ago.

For example, I began my first public extensive teaching of the concept of lines of movement in 1998 with the following statement:

….To balance the athlete I work on a ratio of 1 to 1 of hip and quad dominant - in general. And I can assure you – most programs you’ll see are 2 to 1 – quad and hip.

That’s a concept I’m sure you’ll have never heard before because this is the first time I have spoken about it. (1)

The following shows a breakdown of the body into major muscle groups/lines of movement, and then into examples of exercises. It is what I call ‘the family trees of exercise’. Use this to assess balance in your exercise selection…. (2)

Now I am going to show you how I break the muscle groups up: (3)

Lower body:
Quad dominant
Hip dominant

Upper body:
Horizontal plane push
Horizontal plane pull
Vertical plane push
Vertical plane pull

These concepts are now used throughout the world. Ethical and well read authors and presenters reference and credit the origin.

Initially these concepts were referenced and credited accurately. For example, this was said about one concept, a concept I called ‘lines of movement’:

Before Ian popped up from Down Under, most coaches said to train all the muscles of the legs in one session and use the most efficient exercises. That means squatting and deadlifting on the same day. Problem — As effective as these big mass builders are, they’re also very fatiguing and really sap your energy levels. If you start your workout with squats, your deadlifts will suffer and vice versa.…

To help you understand how to divide and balance out your training, Ian came up with a list of major muscle groups that reflects their function:

Horizontal pulling (row)
Horizontal pushing (bench press)
Vertical pulling (chin-up)
Vertical pushing (shoulder press)
Hip dominant (deadlifts)
Quad dominant (squats)….

Ian has a few other categories for abs, lower back, calves, and arms, but the ones above are main muscle groups you need to worry about. Based on this list, you need to be doing vertical as well as horizontal pushing and you need to be doing the same number of sets for each and keep the rep ranges equal where appropriate.

Let me give you an example of how this list can help you. Before Ian provided this simple list, I did almost nothing but chin-up variations for back training. Sure, I did rows occasionally, but not very often as compared to chins. This was an imbalance. Now I do just as many sets of horizontal pulling as I do vertical pulling and it’s really helped my back development....(4)

To reinforce this point, here’s a program published in a popular men’s magazine in the US in 1997, about six months prior to the 1998 release of many of my concepts including lines of movement.

Stage 1: Wks 1-4 – The ‘bodybuilding’ phase (5)

A (Day 1)             B (Day 2)      (Day 3)        C (Day 4)           D (Day 5)        (Day 6)    (Day 7)

Incline Bar Press  Squat Off      Off               Bench Press       Hack Squats      Cardio      Rest day
DB Press              Leg Press                           Dips                   Lunge 
Pull-down            Romanian Deadlift             Seated C/Row   Leg Extension
Bent-over Row    Glut/Ham Raise                 Upright Row      Lying Leg Curl
DB Sh Press         Standing Calf Raise           O/head Tri Ext  Seated Calf Raise
                                                                       Barbell Curl
Hanging Leg Raise                                         Hanging Leg Raise
Crunch Abs (if not done on day 3)                Crunch Abs (if not done on day 3)
Oblique Crunch                                              Oblique Crunch

You will note the absence of many concepts that I released in 1998 in this program. e.g. lines of movement, uni-lateral bodwyweight exercises, abs first, control drills, pre-training stretching etc etc.

However in 2005 two ‘books’ were ‘published’ by two different and ‘effective’(6)  marketers, both of which ‘publications’ contained a wide range of my original ideas in the absence of referencing or credits (7). For example, both of these publications taught and used the concept of lines of movement without any referencing or credits (8). Both ‘authors’ were in seminars where I taught this concept in or around 1999 and or ordered my books and videos where I taught these as original concepts (9). So I conclude they knew the origin and simply choose to ignore it.

2005 formed a watershed year for my concepts, and since then I have seen a number of additional publications where the authors and or publishers have made no attempt to provide accurate credits or referencing, or at best a diluted one.

I believe that well-researched writers and teachers with integrity will apply acceptable professional guidelines when using the original works of others. Those who lack these two qualities don’t.
I watched this direction with interest. I raised these matters with a number of private organizations, professional bodies and publishers. Over time it appeared that values other than honest writings, ethical referencing and legally compliant copyright respect were not high on the priorities of these entities.

To the one particular staunch defender of this plagiarism – I share my belief that the willingness of these organizations to continue to associate with and endorse these individuals is not a reflection of the right of these individuals to carte blanche use of my intellectual property in the absence of professionally accepted standards of referencing and crediting – rather is it a reflection of the values of these entities, the implications of which will be judged by history.

I understand there is a market segment who belief that it doesn’t matter where the information comes from, as long as they get it. I respect their right to form any opinion they choose. However let me share mine position – those who lack the trait of honesty and long term application that would result in developing their own experiences to teach and sell do not understand the concepts, do no teach them accurately, have not used them long term in true practical application, and when either a new trend comes along or they feel it’s time to dump these concepts, will do so. Their motive to create short term personal and commercial gain by being the one to bring ‘new concepts’ to the market - I suggest this serves only themselves.

I also recognize that there may be some pain involved in me putting my hand up to correct this information. Those who entered to industry post 2000 and were first exposed to the un-referenced diluted versions may struggle with the idea that their source failed to teach the full picture. Some of the pain may even be deflected back to us.

None of this will change what the direction we are taking – to accurately and honestly teach my original concepts. To regain the legacy.

Despite the widespread teaching of my concepts by ‘authors’ such as this, or perhaps because of, the true intent and power of my concepts has not been put to use. The world is no better off. Sure a handful of new entrants to our industry have been given an impressive collection of information – but nothing really has changed. The reasons I created these concepts – to produce superior performances and reduced injuries – has not occurred.

This is disappointing but not totally surprising. I believe you will not serve humanity in the absence of a true deserve to serve. When the motive is to gain credit for new idea and short term cash flow, neither of these motives form what I call true intent, and therefore the original intent of the concepts falls short of their potential.

To address these issues, a few years ago I decided to collate my concepts and provide a summary of them in a way that included the history of why and how I developed them, and the most extensive explanation available as to how to use them. I called this the ‘KSI Level 1 – Legacy Course’. This is the first step in balancing the misinformation for self-serving purposes that has denied the world the opportunity to fully benefit from my original, innovative training concepts – concepts shaped, tested and proven by decades of practical application.

For the last two years this course has been available and undergone a long testing period. It began with a trial group that were virtually given the course, and even now, towards the end of the testing period, the price of the Legacy Course is only twice what many paid in the mid-2000’s for a document that was in essence a very poor copy of my How to Write / Get Buffed! TM and How to Teach books.

Perhaps over time, as more people gain access to the original content rather than the diluted plagiarized and/or unreferenced versions, the power of these concepts will come closer to fulfilling their potential in serving the world in optimizing performance and reducing injury.

Recently I was giving a lecture at a university in the US on the subject of ‘lines of movement’. I was given three hours to teach this concept. As I taught, it struck me that the content I was sharing would be so powerful for the world to gain an insight into where concepts such as this came from, why they were created, and their original and true intent in how to apply them.

To this effect, I have decided to make this three part seminar – Lines of Movement - available for order. You can order and watch this electronically delivered video by clicking on this link.

http://www.kingsports.net/products-ksi-evid-Linesofmovement.htm

If you value honesty, if you value learning from the source, and if you value learning the true intent of one of the many concepts I have created that have changed the way the world trains – I believe you will enjoy this video program!

(1) King, I., 1998, Strength Specialization Series (DVD), Disc 3, approx 1hr 06m 00sec in
(2) King, I., 1998, How to write strength training programs, p. 38
(3) King, I., 1998, Strength Specialization Series (DVD), Disc 3, approx 1hr 03m 00sec in
(4) Shugart, Chris, 2001, The Ian King Cheat Sheets, Part 1 - A quick and dirty look at all the cool stuff Ian King has taught us so far, Fri, Aug 24, 2001, T-mag.com
(5) Reference available upon request.
(6) If you can call deceit 'effective'
(7) One even made the effort to use his own words
(8) Interestingly both ‘authors’ claimed to have ‘read everything there is to read in physical preparation’
(9) Although one did claim the content of my seminar was so bad he needed to walk out and take as many of the audience with him!

The only coaching program that can and does teach the art of coaching by doing

Every day my coaches and I train athletes, and every day provides new experiences. Today one of my coaches and I were working on a few elite athletes from another country. One of them asked later how I learnt what I did. I said:

“By training athletes”.

Another asked how my coach learnt his skills, and this got me thinking. My answer was:

“By working beside me in many different individual athlete and coach situations in many different sports at all levels in many different countries over many years.” 

As I reflected on how competent the top KSI coaches are, I was reminded of how special our program is. I believe no one offers a teaching experience like this. Yet I am continually amazed at how many are drawn to the bright lights and seductive marketing of certain programs, only to feel short-changed. I can understand how easy it is to be tricked into believing these ‘teachers’ will improve your coaching.

I know one personal trainer who we gave a work experience opportunity to about a decade ago. This personal trainer was simply giving a guided experience in how to write a generic program (and he choose to take the program and publish it and sell it in more than one publication for personal gain) This personal trainer never met the players, coaches or administrators. Never even laid eyes on them, let alone coached them. This personal trainer never saw any interaction between myself and athletes, in this program or any other. And yet ever this personal trainers marketing has claimed  they have worked with elite players in this code, which we have good reason to believe this ‘personal trainer’ refers to the one generic program with no athlete contact.

You learn little by exchange of information compared to what you learn when you are actively involved, observing or assisting, in high level coaches executing their competencies. If you want to learn how to physically train athletes, I suggest you take more than most in reviewing your choices in teaching before investing your time and money.

It’s really nice that you are making charitable contributions however I suggest more worthy causes for this charity than the ones you have been donating to! I also feel you may actually want to learn how to coach one day (just maybe) and get value for your time and money.

Real athletes. Real coaches. Real learning. The KSI Coaching Program. The only program than can or does teach the art of coaching by doing.  http://bit.ly/10pXQu3

Wow! There is some integrity left!

WOW! Fortunately I was sitting down! I just received an email from an American publishing company seeking permission to reprint some of my works!!!!! And they were going to reference it!!! Wow!!! I am almost in a state of shock. Just when I thought integrity in publishing had left the US!

And further it was just for one relatively small piece of information, a concept I had expressed in a table format in 1992!

After watching now a decade of publishing of my works by individuals and publishing houses with no reference to the source - including page after page of verbatim copying, covering in excess of 20 different publications - I had come to the conclusion that the 'new rules' of publishing were not only dominant, they were the new rules!

Lying, cheating and stealing has, from my perspective, dominated the US based strength and fitness scene since 2003. I'm not the first person to raise this concern, nor do I expect to be the last. However what I exposed what so staggeringly expansive it was a shock to me. Even though there are many who believe that stealing is okay as long as they benefit individually ...

Well first off, I don't care if someone plagiarized health info. As long as that info is correct.


....I still maintain a dim view of society where this behaviour is tolerated, let alone endorsed. Oh, and by the way - when someone cuts and pastes others works, and when they apply their paraphrasing creativity (like reversing words, mixing up the paragraph, substituting examples...) - it is never going to be a correct reflection of the original intent of the author.

And endorsed it has been. From national professional organizations to publishing houses, my direct communication to them has at least forced them to confirm their official position - that they endorse plagiarism and plagiarists.

Which is why I was so pleasantly surprised to see a publishing house taking the time to seek permission and reference other peoples works!!!!

And more than this - this book they were putting together is based on the authors personal experiences (amazing difference that!) over twenty years of developing the concept. I know this because I was working closely with the author back then. So this is very unusual in the modern world of bullshit publishing - someone taking the time, applying long term determination, delayed gratification - to develop an artifact that will have meaning decades from now, and where works other than the authors is used, appropriate professional referencing applied.

Wow! That is going to be one book I recommend on any ethical professionals library!

And the name of the publisher - Human Kinetics....I have just gained a lot of respect for this company if this example is an accurate reflection of how they fact check and do business. I know a number of other publishers that could take a lesson here.

Looking for the messages from the Lance events

Watching the Lance Armstrong drug allegations situation I feel this event may be more significant that it appears on the surface. It certainly raised a lot of questions for me – including how far into cycling will the expose go and will it jump to other sports. However the biggest question I have yet to answer is why such a big name American athlete has been ‘taken down’. If you read between the lines there has arguably been a degree of protection offered to high profile US athletes in relation to positive or potentially positive drug tests, so why Lance?

I can only think of two possibilities. Firstly he really upset someone. However the collateral damage to the sport of cycling is too big for this. Which leaves me with my second possible answer – it’s a genuine desire to play it straight, a rare example in a sporting landscape that has all the rules but so few ever get caught up on the wrong side of the rules.

If this is the case, what is driving this position of greater integrity? Is this a sign of the promise of 2012 and the ushering in of a higher social values with the Age of Aquarius?

This will be interesting to watch, to see if this is just that or an aberration before things return to the way they were.

Nike’s decision to cut ties with Lance was either a case of their corporate ethics genuinely being violated, or they were concerned about the impact on their bottom line. Either way, it was a significant move.
One thing I can say with certainty is that I have not seen any promise of this greater integrity in corporate or organizational ethics in physical preparation. I am familiar with certain US companies that see fit to continue to retain and endorse certain individuals who values and actions include publishing other peoples works unreferenced, uncredited and in many cases verbatim, and on a number of occasions claiming or inferring it as their own. In essence, what I believe has been the greatest intellectual property heist in modern physical preparation. Yet these companies still endorse and engage these individuals.

Will the corporate integrity shown in cycling and Nike spread to physical preparation? I hope so, for everyone’s sake.

And then it was over

I was driving past a playing field at 6am this morning and saw a group of young people participating in a group training session. I thought on my way back I would stop and watch, get some cultural insights. A few minutes later I was back, and pulled over, enjoying the fresh morning sun and the crisp morning air. They were stretching, in a static hip flexor position, a very popular one, however it only covers half the work needed in that area, so I hoped they would show greater variety in this position. They didn’t. In fairness I didn’t know if they had done this before I stopped. But what I did note was they were doing two stretches in one – an upper body one at the same time they were doing a lower body one. I could see the influence for this, as it’s a current dominant trend.

I was looking forward to the rest of the workout. Then they stopped. I was wondering if it was a drink break, but by the way they were back slapping and packing up I realised it was all over.

Then I remembered – you only do static stretching, at the end of the workout! Another new trend. Then I saw the heavy ropes being packed up, and the Prowler. That was all I needed to know – they were doing all the ‘current things’.

I have had this discussion with many around the world – athletes, coaches, and personal trainers. And one thing keeps coming up – they can rationalize the benefits of it. Overlooking the fact that most of these rationalizations are little more than parroting the marketing – let me make this point. I am not interested in whether you think it is beneficial. I want to know if it is the best thing to be doing. I want to know if you have asked yourself this question. I want to know if you have put in the energy that the end users adaptations deserve as to whether what you are doing is the best choice.

Now if you are involved in personal training, I can cut you some slack. Expectations on outcome are less precise. The main concern is the injury potential of what you are doing. But if you are involved with athletes, there is more weighing on your decisions as the outcome as measured by competitive success is more specific – very specific – and the rationalization that it’s a dominant trend or you can regurgitate the benefits are of even less value, and any absence of discernment in decision making more potentially serious – you are now not only dealing with injury potential, you are also dealing with performance decrement or increase.

The unique thing about sports training is you can’t market or convince your way onto the podium.

So I repeat – I am not interested in the rationalization of the benefits of your training choices. I am not interested whether what you choose to do is the current dominant trend (in fact I am almost definitely going to be concerned if this is the case). I just want to know how much discernment you are willing to employ in your decision making. The world needs more discernment, less non-thinking compliance to training methods and exercise equipment.

Our people are growing while the rest of the world is shrinking

At the end of each quarter (every 3 months) I go over the KSI students business and financial reports for that quarter. This applies to Level 5 and above. I did 2 today – one from a Level 5, the second from a Level 6.

The first one was up 28% from last quarter, and 700% up on six months ago. Okay, so this student was in the first year at this level, so maybe that explains it.

So the next case was in their 4th year – and they were up 62% on last month!!! And this coach increased their client base by 31% over last quarter and achieved a record profit in last quarter!

We are not talking year on year, which is a review and comparison to the same quarter 12 months prior – we are talking 3 months!

Want year on year? The second coaches income was up 32% on the same quarter last year, and his expenses down by 48%!

Okay, maybe this is just recent success. What about since joining the KSI Coaching Program 4 years ago? Quarterly income up by 225%.

Now we offer a holistic approach and this is only one of their income streams, albeit their oldest, being their physical preparation service income. We also mentor them in other income streams.

Not bad for a time when most of the world is imploding and shrinking economically, where most people have had their client list and asset base shrunken substantially by the forces of the economy.

We are committed to guiding our students to growth even during the most challenging economic times in this 80 years cycle. Isn’t that great!

After all we believe that for all those shrinking financially, .there is a vacuum to be filled by someone growing and expanding. That’s what we do. Help people by staying with them daily, weekly and yearly, guiding them to fulfil their potential. As opposed to doing a 2 day seminar in which we convince them of our greatness and they go home to their own devices. That’s much easier. It’s much more demanding standing in the front line of the battle field with them. Our success in many areas is only achieved when our students success. Which means we are more than committed to this outcome – we are determined about it.