Musings
A (Too Long) Essay on Multisport Coaches
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On my never-ending “to do” list for this blogzine is to start training with other coaches and share those experiences with you. I feel in order to give someone a fair shake, I would need to spend at least one season in their “system.” However, that costs money I don’t have right now so I’m trying to figure out how to accomplish this some other way.
Why would I want to do this?
Well, let me start off by saying that I am quite satisfied with my training under the “Multisport Mutant” Steve Ilg. Steve brings a deeeeeep and broad history to his coaching. In fact, I would hesitate to call what he does as sport coaching, it’s closer to lifestyle coaching. As he often says, “Your fitness is everywhere.” The older I get, the more I am learning to appreciate that maxim.
In the 14 on-and-off years I have worked with Steve, I have come to think of his training system, Wholistic Fitness®, as my foundation system. His approach which artfully weaves nutrition, cardiovascular, strength, yoga, and meditation, has served me well.
However, there are only so many things one coach, or one system, can do. As talented as Steve is in a shitload of sports, he is the first to admit that his Swim Fu is at the white belt level . Accordingly, he has encouraged me to seek coaching elsewhere for that particular sport.
Using Wholistic Fitness® as my foundation, I can experiment with other training styles and philosophies and see which will help me build on that foundation. It is through that experimentation where I have learned the most when it comes to building the Temple of Hak.
Sometimes a teacher, always a student
Now, if Steve were an insecure slug, he would cry “foul” at me for even considering someone else’s system. If you question your coach and they hammer you for daring to challenge their omnipotent authority, run, don’t walk, for the hills. Fortunately, I have a good coach who understand his students’ needs to test or validate their experiences. The one caveat to this (and here I plead guilty far too often!) is to not ping-pong from one system to another every three days. You ain’t gonna learn a thing that way.
While I haven’t had much of an opportunity to study under other multisport masters, I’d like to. It’s when I’ve explored outside my own comfort zones that I have learned the most.
The best example from my life comes from my forays into martial arts over the past 24 years. Let me share a little story with you…
The sad story of American Kenpo
Ed Parker founded American Kenpo in 1954. While he didn’t really create anything new from vapor, he did beautifully blend elements from other martial arts and declared the birth of a new fighting system. You see this a lot in martial arts. Some Chinese monk sees a couple of monkeys fighting 2,000 years ago and he “creates” Monkey Fu. That’s why there are a gazillion martial arts in the world.
The true magic espoused by Parker and other early American Kenpo practitioners was the inherent flexibility of the system. Once you understood the basics, you were relatively free to modify moves to suit your own strengths and weaknesses.
Unfortunately, no one lives forever and Ed Parker exited stage left in 1990. Without a strong leader to keep peace in the international kenpo family, his system fractured into competing factions.
There may be others out there, but here are the main groups from what I remember:
- Old Guard: These were some of Parker’s original students from the 1960s. They claim they are teaching the “true” Kenpo as Parker taught it back in the old days.
- New Kids: These belong to Parker’s last group of students before he died. Parker was never satisfied to rest on his laurels and was constantly trying to improve and streamline his system. This group believes they are teaching the “true” Kenpo as Parker had defined it at the time of his death.
- Copy Cat Kids: These are a mish-mash of students who have taken Parker’s philosophies and infused them with their own style. This group believes they are teaching the “true” Kenpo as it was the direction that Parker was taking the art when he died.
I’ve studied under at least four American Kenpo teachers and in each of those three main philosophies. While one school was complete and utter bullshit, the other three had something valuable to offer. What saddens me, and other Kenpo aficionados, is not that the system is fractured. That’s just the natural evolution that’s taken place in sports for centuries. The sad part is all of these asswipe “masters” who don’t recognize that evolution is taking place. They spend so much time bitching about the flaws of the other systems that they are missing an incredible opportunity to learn from one another.
They forget everything evolves.
Creating your own foundation system
I didn’t fully appreciate the concept of a foundation system until I had the good fortune of studying under another martial arts teacher, Guro Frank Monsalve. Much like Wholistic Fitness, Frank’s Hurricane Combat Arts is a hybrid system. Standing nose-to-nose with Frank quickly showed me the flaws of Kenpo, as well as its strengths. Instead of saying I had to quit my Kenpo studies, Frank encouraged me to continue them and to use Kenpo as my foundation. He wanted me to adapt and take what worked for me to create my own martial system.
There is no ONE system. Whether it’s martial arts, fitness, yoga, endurance sports, etc. That’s the beauty of Kenpo and Wholistic Fitness to me. They are soooo adaptable. Once I know the basic recipe, I can change a little of this and a little of that and create my own masterpiece.
While it may not work for you, it works for me. So why crap on it? That’s the part I don’t get from various coaches and experts. They believe they are the first original thinker and have to protect their “teachings” from that nasty evolution thing. Sadly, they fail to realize two things: 1) they didn’t create anything; they just stole their ideas from others and re-branded it as their own; and 2) due to their fear of letting loose their “secrets,” whatever contributions they could have made to the sport will die with them.
As athletes, we have to identify a core system and then adapt it if we are to grow. If that core system no longer holds truths for us, then we find a new one or create our own…hence, why the world has a shitload of coaches on every corner!
I don’t know why coaches can’t figure this out. I’m sure a lot has to do with their fear of losing their brand and their income. After all, why would you pay someone for something that wasn’t “unique and original?” Yet the true visionaries open their systems up for experimentation. One has to look no further than the operating system Linux or personal productivity guru David Allen (Getting Things Done) to see the incredible advances these “systems” have made from the contributions of their disciples. Instead of trying to control everything, like an overbearing parent, they have let their children grow and evolve. As a result, I think you’ll see their systems go on for quite some time and continue to make incredible contributions to our society.
I’ve gone on a bit longer than I had planned for this topic. In a nutshell, I guess I could have summed it up with a two-sentence post: “We are all just experiments of one. Find what works for you and never, ever, stop learning.”
Find your edge and dance upon it.
hak
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Discussion
18 comments for “A (Too Long) Essay on Multisport Coaches”
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You should also look at the accomplishments of the coach’s clientele. You hire a coach to help YOU perform better, not listen to his or her war stories. Just because some 20-time champion was a champion, doesn’t mean he can coach worth a darn. I saw the Outside article on Steve Ilg and read his blog for a little bit. It’s all about how great he is and how no one can do what he does. That may be true, but I haven’t seen anything about his clients and their accomplishments. I don’t mean to dis your coach but I just use that as an example. If he works for you, great.
Most Noble Hakado Ru,
thank you for the Metta. and, as you can easily tell from Mr.Triscooter’s comments above, a Dharma Teacher can only vibrate at a certain Level and attract the Seekers who are ready to Find. in the past 6 months alone, my two Blogs have carried 200+ Student Testimonials worldwide, unsolicited. Each blog carries a DharmaTeaching unconditionally expressed for all those Warriors who are ready to attack their weaknesses and resistances and surrender to the elusive art of Wholeness in this lifetime.
keep cranking with one eye on the Highest of All Podiums; Enlightenment.
Hak,
Great article! Thanks for posting.
TriScooter,
Indeed, you should judge a coach by the accomplishments of his or her clientele. In the case of Steve Ilg, while he is too humble to mention it himself, he can count a number of national and world champions among his clientele.
I do think it is valuable to learn from a coach who has “been there” as well. While there are many excellent coaches who have not walked their talk, I find I learn the most from those who have.
As Hak stated, it is not fair to judge another coach or system without direct experience. You must commit fully and allow your thoughts, feelings and results to determine success or failure.
Peace,
Brad
Mr. Hak ~
Thank you for the space here.
Many things come to mind reading Tri
ScootShi(f)ter. I look forward to visiting your pages more often.*******
TriScooter: That’s it? One measly paragraph—just a diss? Including this: “….but I haven’t seen anything about his clients and their accomplishments.” Come on better, Grasshopper: earn a metta(l). Develop your sense(s).
Who are you? Perhaps share a little about yourself. How are you doing in your life journey? What are your goals? Have you been around long enough to become a Master in any discipline?
*******
May you be at peace. May your heart remain open. May you awaken to the light of your own true nature. May you be healed. May you be a source of healing to all beings.
*******
Most respected Brother Steve:
Thank you Sir for the unsolicited Mettas you have shared with me, first of which is front and center on my website.
Semper of the Path. Consciously of it since 1967.
–Erl
btw, TriScooter here’s a link for some shi(f)t The Very Dedicated Ilg wrote
aboutaround me:Ops oops:
My code is bad—didn’t make links up there.
Just copy and paste these in your “location” bar:
http://www.SemperSigns.com
http://indirectlines.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html
they give it all for nimcompoops
A practicing si(g)nwriter. I’ll keep practicing until I get it right.
–Erl
Wow. A call to unleash your people on me? What a vitrolius action for someone all about “love”. Perhaps you all need to go spend some more time meditating.
I had nothing against Steve Ilg when I made my comment. I’m sure he is a fine coach and he is obviously a talented athlete. If you read my comment, I am talking about coaches who are more about themselves than their clients. Steve’s blog appears to lump him in that category.
If that is what floats your boat, then good for you. To challenge my background simply because I raise a question about your coach, that makes me wonder if he has a base of clients or a cult. Drink all the Kool-Aid you want my friends.
I make no claim to be a coach. The point is this: Just because someone is talented in one field, doesn’t automatically make them talented at teaching those skills to others.
TriScooter,
For the record, I posted my comments prior to reading Steve’s blog entry. While I do not believe that you deserve to be attacked for your beliefs, (you do make some good points) you did draw first blood.
In a way we are having a heated agreement:
1. A great athlete does not necessarily make a great coach.
2. You need to find what works for you through direct experience with different systems and teachers.
Enough talk. Now we run!
TriScooter ~
“you do make some good points”.
That settled, why not answer some questions.
….first of which: who the / / / / are you? How long have you been of earth? Total number of years (sum of of your life experience) with us counts.
–erl
btw: Most Honored “Ilg” isn’t first my Coach. He appeared after me. I am of him, though. He wrote the book. I didn’t.
Answer my questions, Pup.
Erl,
I’m 42 and have been around the block a few times, so please do not call me pup. Looking at your website I can only assume that your Gunny knocked a bit of smarts out of your brain…as he did mine back in the 1980s.
I stand by my points and respect your decision to stand by your coach. We all have better things to do than bicker here.
I will leave it at that.
Semper Fi.
Backatcha, TriScooter ~
Got damn Marines. You, a fighter !! ..i should have figured. I’m sure Chesty loves you, too.
You said: “I can only assume that your Gunny knocked a bit of smarts out of your brain…as he did mine back in the 1980s.”
Not me. No one has knocked any smarts out of my BHG. Gunnys? They were small potatoes in my AO of the wing, IE, nothing of any consequence, what with so many pilots, E-8 and 9s to keep track of.
You can know: I did knock some better sense into a MGy and a Major once upon a time.
O/W, what you say: “You should also look at the accomplishments of the coach’s clientele. You hire a coach to help YOU perform better, ….”
Who is my first coach? Me, a tiny “thou”. I mean (thanks for the break) ..Ilg was only four years old when I figured to his coming / / / /. Like I said, he wrote the book in my ways. I didn’t. It’s not hard to imagine that i have been practicing his ways before he was born. How did Hak put it? ..”it’s closer to lifestyle coaching.”
Exactly. Which is why at 58 i still do no docs or meds. So far, so good: no eye or hearing crutches either.
I wish you the same, Marine—good health in smart minded lifestyle choices.
Like you said, “whatever floats your boat”.
Sf,
–Erl
my page
My most important page ==>my page
Most Noble Warrior Erl,
damn, you were only 13 when you started training…NICE!
never gets easier; the Path is always steepest nearest the summit. hell, i’m doing a 35-mile old school Mountain Bike Race this Saturday, and i promise you; there are gonna Older Big Guns than my 45 years of age that will be kicking my ass!
hey, the Start and Finish Lines come in many, many different forms…
keep it crank’d my Beautiful Elder of the Sacred Sweat!
Gentlemen…for what’s it worth, the guy that SPANKED everyone’s ass at the sprint division at the Mountain Man Triathlon in Flagstaff last month was Nick Martin (a local boy) in the 50-54 age group. Second place went to Jane Esahak-Gage in the 45-49 age group. Third? A young man, Eric Yatko in the 0-19 age group…nearly 2 minutes behind the “old” man.
Also…thanks to everyone for keeping the discussion civil. I thought I was going to have to break out the big stick for a minute! ;)
hak
Dear Mr. Triscooter,
The goal of WF is to experience and behold the self. Every workout is an opportunity for me to experience the moment and through that to live nobly. I’ve observed that becoming fit and gaining control of my body is a basic need and a step towards the final goal of enlightenment. Attaining enlightenment takes time, reflection and practice - I perceive Coach Ilg’s website, blog and the list of his acheivements at major competitions as a reminder for me to practice with patience and to continue to challenge myself to evolve. My acheivement as a result of WF is the daily practice of WF and the reward is an opportunity to live a life filled with awareness and love.
Andante Con Moto* Man, Steve ~
“hey, the Start and Finish Lines come in many, many different forms…” –Steve Ilg
Exactly. Me, “om” The Path since 13? ..yer making me think real hard to prove that one (~ Smiles ~). That was the age that I decided to give my parents’ ways one more year, until I graduated 8th grade ..then hi yo through eighteen. Geesh, my own place, good job (lots of money for a kid)…. Is this all there is? ..then enlisted ..four years of this shi(f)t? Man, what a depression.. After a couple of months a personal best way appeared ..for Country, Corps and me. I really did connect in a couple of yogic and meditative ways, re-connected to cycling (etc, etc)….
Life is a series of adjustments—always “new” shi(f)t work. All my parenting, professional and financial goals are realized or close, in process.
Me into all that extreme stuff in Ilg’s book “Total Body Transformation”. No. I am not nuts.
But just consider: life iself is an athletic event. Consider all the “bad” genes you were born with, which move you in how you
willmight think, live and die. Ilg’s way is mind over matter in all things, like Hak put it: “lifestyle (mind) coaching. “Your fitness is everywhere.—Me? Not very perfect. I’ve got a big discussion going on with my lazy genes.
An Andante (walking) Moto man,
–erl
* (music term) Ilg’s tempo is quicker, thus “com”
Wow, what a discussion.
A little about my background with Ilg. I learned about his techniques early on with “Outdoor Athlete” as I was building a training program to fit my needs. They worked and I have stuck with the basic principles for quite a few years.
I just recently came back to see what he was up to and I have to say my initial impressions echoed Triscooters: “What is up with this guy constantly tooting his own horn?” I initially wrote it off as someone trying to make a living in a rough business by building himself up.
Well I have hung in there with it for awhile now and have to say there is something to the message once you put it all into perspective. I have to say it is proving enlightening. I am not a competetive athelete so don’t look for me on any podiums. However, there could be some summit pictures of an ancient warrior forthcoming in the future.
PS The raving skeptic in me would never touch the kool aid! ;o)
It Ain’t Braggin’ …if you can do it.
BrianE ~
Your first thoughts about him are essentially mine. What’s Ilg to do? I mean, he must make a living. His profession, as he as noted is “Yoga Instructor”. His achievements are best pictured with his body, face (and his Joy) and positions. It’s all about show and tell—marketing.
Me too. Pictures of me are best represented by my works.
Me tooting my own horn? Sure! Who better than me (or Ilg in his works) to best represent self—to attract more business.
What am i supposed to do, put up pictures of other people’s stuff?
Yes, I know. A few good links can be very helpful. If i weren’t about the best in my works ….yah, well ….TriScooter, keep on figuring to your personal best way.
Bottom Line: All business is rough. Ilg is motivating, like you said.
“Find your edge and dance on it”.
–erl
Yeah, Ilg writes about his own accomplishments frequently in his blog. Lots of seemingly gratuitous photos too!
For me though, reading what he writes is no different than when I watched him skate up Snow Canyon in Utah during a Wholistic Fitness retreat–one of the most inspiring things I’ve ever seen. The image of him bolting up that mountain road past all of us on bikes is seared into my mind, and motivates me to do all sorts of things with the same focused grace: from running, to sitting, to washing the dishes.
Back then, what I saw was one badass endurance athlete skating. Today, if I were to witness the same event, I’d see a yogi being mindful of every moment and every breath. THAT is how you skate up a mountain. I haven’t won any trophies, haven’t climbed any podiums. Yet I now see with different eyes, and that’s why he’s my coach.
Certainly not everyone’s cup of Kool-Aid, but it works for me!
Interesting post and thread Hak.
Mike
Wow- i take a month off from the computer and DL and, Jeez, all hell breaks loose! Hak, what a beautiful essay…and folks, what a great thread. You all make so many solid points…with real heart.
i wish to briefly add my story. i get what Triscooter is alluding to, howver he lacks the perspective of those of us who are in WF and on the Path.
To be brief, i am 55 and about 2 years ago hit total health bottom: my situation of ompensating for a knee blown out 35 years ago had seemingly gone south, i had contracted some kind of stomch infection traveling and hade become downright sick without a doagnosis or treatment, and i had just been in a bike crash that left me with a torn and fractured right hip- i had arthroscopic surgery, and was left with a lot of pain, loss of function, and a pretty good limp. i contacted an old friend, who had studied with Ilg for years, seeking advice, and he arranged a “meeting.” i was accepted to WF and eventually began studying with Coach Ilg directly this last January. (and yes the infection was finally diagnosed and treated and left a lot of problems behind.) Unlike other trainers and coaches i had tried, Ilg has gone slowly, emphasizing a very internal energetic approach.
To cut to the chase. i just returned from a weeklong backpacking trip in the San Juan range of the Rockies. I carried a 55 pound pack up, climbing almost 3500 feet, to 13,200 and over the course of the next days covered some pretty gnarly ground climaxing in a killer descent down the Highland Mary Lakes trail, dropping almost 2500 feet in like a mile and a half! OK, not such a huge superhuman clmb ar descent (would not have been such a big dreal before), however
1. not only was i barely able to walk only 4 or 5 city blocks without serioulsly limping a year ago, and had not trained for this trip specifically. i hadn’t even been hiking too much.
and 2. i did this pack trip totally without “mechanical support” in that i left the knee brace i had used for the last fifteen years at home, and also went entirely without the usual hiking sticks on which i had come to depend before the recent bike crash! This was all the result of my time with WF and Ilg.
i did not swell, i set an amazingly (for me) strong pace, and i recovered each day with almost no stiffness and soreness!
i was able to accomplish this entirely based upon the herbs, tools and inner Practices in which Ilg had so insightfully and carefully trained me, both through internet study and a recent Intensive at his home in Flagstaff. Yeah it helped to be doing squats again, and intevals, and yet all of the real success was based upon the internal Yogic Practices of Breath, Posture, and Mindfulness.
Regardless of how a blog might appear to an “outsider,” the proof of a coach is in the Pudding- the Chi and Triumphs and Healings of his students- and in the Strength of their Practices.
i really wish to honor Hak, all of the commenters, and Triscooter, who was clearly trying to provide constructive and honorable feedback and perhaps encountered more flak than he had anticipated. i have enjoyed reading the thread.
namaste-