John Davies
Founder, Renegade Training International
The industry vanguard,
John Davies is the founder and creator of the Renegade concept
of fitness, sport and life
force coaching based upon his incredibly diverse background in
business consulting, athletic coaching and artistic endeavors
in various mediums. He is a well-known advocate of ethical practices
in sport and lives a voracious life surfing, skateboarding and
snowboarding around the world, defying age against those half
his age. Additionally he has served as consultant behind-the-scenes
in every level of sport from professional teams, to over 50 top
NCAA institutions and hundreds of high school programs not only
across the country but worldwide. Throughout the country’s
Football community, the Renegade system is seen as and is the
most influential training methodology as it is continues to produce
unstoppable forces.
Mr. Davies is in the author
of four highly regarded books ("Renegade
Training for Football," "Xtreme Sports Training ~ Renegade
Style," "R Factor for Golf" and "The Mark
of R; Part II - The Rebirth of Honor") and over 600 articles
ranging in varied topics such sport training, his love of skate
and surf culture, dark noir, inspirational choices in life, dwindling
corporate ethics, the slide of the health system in America and
fund management. Many of his more thought provoking artistic
voyages appear exclusively at renegadestyle.com, which is scheduled
to gallery his artistic collection in 2006-2007.
The winter of 2005 will
see the release of his next book, tentatively titled "She," an in-depth look at the destruction of
body image, pornification and the abandonment of respect towards
women in our culture. The following year, the anxiously awaited "Destined
- The Renegade Chronicles" is planned to be released. Additionally
he has appeared in nationally syndicated radio shows, over twenty
major DVD productions and is the most sought after writer and
spokesperson in the health and fitness industry. In the winter
of 2004, the re-tooled R-Style apparel of young women's and men's
clothing line emerged under his design eye and quickly became
an underground success.
In the fall of 2004, he
launch the Renegade Certification Program for fitness, health
and business professionals
to teach the "R" philosophies,
and to use one of the company’s mottos "make a difference." Quickly
this program has grown by leaps and bounds and like all Renegade
systems is a defiant success. This summer/fall of 2005 he has
turned his attention to developing the first dedicated Renegade
personal and executive training services located in New York.
These services will provide individual and customized training
and coaching services for discretionary business leaders with
focus on personal health, team management, motivation, diet management,
and a wellness regime that will not only fuel continued career
success but life enrichment.
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TRAINING JOURNAL, 11.08.06
Motivation comes in many forms and is sometimes impossible to predict. Training days fold and tumble together endlessly over the years and then suddenly something inexplicably happens that takes it to the proverbial "next level." Sometimes it's the interactions with different people and other times it's the simple "man in the mirror."
Yesterday was one of those days, when the motivation blew in on the heels of hot Santa Ana winds that had temperatures climbing near the 100 degree mark. Maybe it was those Santa Anas blowing a bit of tireless magic of another era this way but whatever it was, I found myself back in my old garage, a place where much of my career was privately built and one that has been kept in the background.
In the corner, encased in thick cardboard sleeve is a perfect Eleiko bar that has seen it all in my career. It gets taken out only for special reasons and just the same hasn't seen the light of day for quite some time. I can't exactly tell you why but I went to the corner, laid it down, slowly pulled it from the sleeve and placed it the free-standing forks. In the opposite corner was the crate that housed the special plates for it. I opened it carefully and slowly began unpacking the weights and then loading the first 20 kilo plates on either side.
The plates for the bar are not simply loaded as they need to be spun-on, giving a unique "light" feel to it that I can't explain . and a hum like fine Waterford crystal as they rub together. And while the bar has been dormant for many years, the first touch of it breathed a sense of youthful familiarity. I looked at it, made a decision to grab more weight and set the bar to 198 lbs, precisely.
It had been quite some time since I had performed Overhead Squats with this type of loading. For the briefest of moments, I forgot about the variety of injuries, the many years that passed signified now by the graying temples, the dreams and visions that have come and gone and now alone in this little garage that so much of my career was spent, I simply hoisted the bar over my head. I turned moderately to face my reflection in a piece of broken glass that rests against the wall, which seemed to fit the occasion perfectly and checked that the bar was held straight on these beaten shoulders. And still again, for the briefest of moments, on those magical Santa Ana winds, youth came in just once more. Confidently I pushed my hips back, settling into the deepest depth of the Squat, feeling the lower back stretch out and began driving up repeating four solid reps in the first of many sets.
Maybe it was the Santa Anas rolling in a little magic in these precious confines, or maybe it was just the realization that challenges are what we make of them and for the most part a taste of adversity is meant to be overcome. Adversity is something I overcome.
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