Over the last two months, I’ve been working with a new private student. Like many other students, he came to me wanting to get in shape and learn a few cool tricks along the way. Most of the private students that I teach have the same goals. This guy was just a little different, and I use the term “little” loosely. You see, Bill Ivory Larson is one of the most motivating—and motivated—people I’ve ever met. He’s persevered and managed to shed the weight of an entire adult person from his body. Every session I’ve had with him leaves me wanting to practice and become better at what I do. Not too many people are able to have that effect on me these days.
It all started several months ago at a party I went to with my wife. She and her group of friends/business partners tend to travel in packs. I usually meet up with them all at an afterparty for some event and we have a ball chatting and being ourselves after the work is done. This evening would be no different. I showed up in the middle of a networking event for some creative folks in the Northern Liberties area of Philadelphia. Upon my arrival, I found my darling wife speaking to “the crew” plus a new face I’d never seen before. After a brief introduction, a friend got the bright idea that I should give a self-defense demonstration right in the middle of the room. (Did I mention that he’d had a few drinks at this point?) Never being one to back down from a challenge, I said, “let’s go!”
After being attacked with a makeshift knife and a few moves that began with the phrase “grab my shirt” (which is never a good sign), the “new guy” came up and spoke to me again. He introduced himself to me as Bill, and said he was really taken with what I’d just done. He then told me he’d been looking into getting involved with my kind of training as a way to tone up and get into shape. Bill stood before me, a tall, more than 200-pound, well-dressed gentleman, with the warmest smile and attitude I’d seen at one of these events for a while. After the usual phone numbers were exchanged, we went our separate ways for the evening.
On the way home, my wife informed me that not only was Bill a cool person, but he’s already been through one of the most amazing life changes anyone of us can go through—extreme, natural weight loss. Good old diet and exercise had helped Bill lose 175 pounds and counting! That’s right, 175 pounds!!! No surgery, no pills, nothing fake about it, just the drive to get his mind right, and get his life on the straight and narrow using his body the best way he could. This is where I come in.
After not hearing from Bill for a few months, I get a really cool voicemail. It began, “Hi, Doug. It’s Bill Larson, the guy who dropped 175.” I called back, and we got to talking about everything he’d been through and how excited I was to be a part of his transformation. The training would begin immediately. During the months I’d been thinking about Bill’s story, I had come up with a special workout that was a combination of things that I teach in my regular classes, but that would also target Bill’s special needs and get him to where he wanted to be. I had no idea how fast I’d be seeing results.
Our first few sessions were the basics of boxing’s punching, karate’s kicking, and Gracie jiu jitsu’s ground defense, ending with a few poses from the Ashtanga yoga primary series as a cool-down. After only six sessions, Bill could see his arms, chest, and back becoming more defined, as well as an increase in flexibility. He’s been practicing at home, watching his diet, and continuing to love his workouts to this day.
One of the coolest things about these sessions is that we feed off of each other’s motivation. He’s adding his sweat to my training space as a way to keep his body and mind the beautiful working machine that it is supposed to be and, as he grows as a student, I get to find new ways of getting students of every level to do things that they never thought possible. As a student, you need to be able to see yourself progress. You need to not only feel the growth over time, but you need to be able to see the difference when you look in the mirror. If you are lucky enough to meet a person in your lifetime that can pull the best out of you and help you to learn that having trust in yourself to accomplish those goals is a good thing, your mental stress level will decrease sufficiently.
As a coach, that’s what I strive to be. My students train not only for the workout and to be able to defend themselves, but also to relieve stress. I know that high stress and unhealthy eating habits are things that plague this country. I also know that if you are willing to take control of your health by making the choice to take care of your body that you’ll live a longer, happier life.
You can read Bill Ivory Larson’s story on his Web site. He blogs daily about his pursuit of weight loss via healthier eating and exercise. Hopefully you will find inspiration in his story. I challenge you, my readers: what have you done for yourselves this summer? How have you made the commitment to stay physically and mentally fit? Please share your stories with me and Bill. We’d both love to hear them.
