Shaming the Strong with Simplicity

Categories: Blog Mar 06, 2016

And now, a guest post by Piers Kwan, OS Coach from Down Under....

I recently discovered that there was to be another Australian Original Strength event this year in Perth.  I was excited and was thinking of how I could communicate to the coaches in that region about the value of the course.  I know how effective the course is, but I also know how crazily simple the information is as well.

The simplicity of the system is both it’s greatest strength and something that is often viewed as a bit of a weakness.  There was a man of antiquity, a hero of mine named Paul, this man talks about how foolish things have been chosen to confound the wise, and how weak things have been chosen to  shame the strong.  In other words, sometimes, things are so simple, that smart people look at it and go, “Impossible, there’s no way that’s right”.   And strong people will look at something in a similar light.  "There is zero load there.  How on earth can leopard crawling possibly impact my squat? "

Prior to OS I had spent thousands of dollars (I believe over $10,000), on different courses and education around corrective exercise.  I had travelled all around the world, read text books, popular books, watched videos, DVD’s, and listened to podcasts. I had spent so many hours and so much time learning this stuff, and there was some fantastic material in there.  However, I was about 3 hours into my first OS course at QKB, I think we’d done breathing and nodding, when the penny dropped.  I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I realised that this course was even more effective than I had expected, and that it had effectively rendered almost all of the training I had previously learnt redundant.  Not only was it simpler and easier to follow than the other systems, it was more effective as well.  There was a logical progression that helped people whether they were broken or whether they were healthy, and with 40 people at the workshop, we got to see it working profoundly for both.

I had already read The Well Balanced Child, and I’d seen a little bit of Smart Moves, so I had a theoretical understanding of what might happen.  I’d read Becoming Bulletproof and Pressing Reset, and it had been the Original Strength book that had initially intrigued me, but it wasn’t until I saw the theory shift from my brain to reality, the reality of 40 people’s bodies, that I really started to imagine the possibilities.

Since then, I’ve seen people of all sorts proclaim either directly or indirectly, how silly it is, or how basic it is to be doing the resets, or how their system has moved beyond that sort of rudimentary thing.  However, the proof has, and always will be in the eating of the pudding.  This system is so straight forward that it is seemingly foolish.  The hardest thing in this whole system is to suspend your disbelief long enough to reap the rewards, but the rewards are there for anyone willing to take a chance.

I can’t explain why every single reset works in every single situation.  I can’t apply the system to the same level that Tim or Dan or Geoff or Dani can.  I don’t have a super clinical background.  In fact, I can’t even name every muscle and bone in your body.  The awesome thing here though, is that I don’t have to.  The system was still super effective for myself and my clientele when I first began using it, when my understanding was even less than it is now, and the system will hold up as my understanding becomes yet more.

The other side is the side which shows how the weak things can shame the strong.  I don’t need to talk about how the seemingly easy resets like dead bugs, leopard crawling, or breathing can impact people’s level of strength, there are plenty of articles on that.  This seemingly easy system has been shown, and so many people have told, that these relatively light, simple movements make a huge impact on not just their movement quality or their level of bodily discomfort, but a significant measurable impact on their over all strength and work capacity.

Do yourself a favour and take a scan through the archive of OS articles.  The scope of what this incredibly simple Original Strength system can do is unbelievable.  It’s so unbelievable, and so simple, that some people will even suggest it’s foolishness.  Have the courage to try it before you become one of those people, I can pretty much guarantee it’ll mean that you never will…





Piers is an experienced coach and presenter who has worked with athletes of all levels.  Piers gains great satisfaction from applying Original Strength principles with his clients and seeing the incredible changes to their movements on a regular basis at Queensland Kettlebells in Brisbane, Australia.  You can get in touch with Piers by visiting www.qldkettlebells.com.au or by using the OS “Find a Coach” page.

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