Who the Heck is Kim Wood, Anyway?

[Mike Corlett]

There is a common theme in a number of posts where guys start jumping on Kim Wood for things he says. There are a number of Goobers who think he is just a grumpy old man. I actually think that is funny - - I am sure he (Kim Wood) does not. And KW does not need anyone to defend him. But, I thought I would post a Cliff Notes version of 10 things about Kim Wood that people who post on this forum should know. And, for that matter, people who read this forum should know. None of the information provided here is actually from Kim Wood. It is all from magazines, books, or people who I personally know or spoken to. A small bit of it is from...the Internet.

1. In a fairly recent issue of MILO, Dr. Ken Leistner had an article that had a photo of Wood in football gear. He was a Running Back for Wisconsin in the 1960s. According to Leistner, possibly pro material, but a knee condition hampered his career from going beyond College.
2. Wood was in on the founding of Nautilus in its earliest days, and was Arthur Jones' right hand man. I personally know someone who saw Wood at Jones' compound in the early 1970's, and asked, "who is that?". The answer was, "oh that is Kim. Arthur really likes Kim". Arthur Jones didn't like very many people.
3. Wood was the Strength Coach for the Cincin Bengals for 29 years. He was the first "full time" strength coach in perhaps any professional sport.
4. Kim Wood has been one of the most anti-performance enhancing drug figures, as an outspoken critic, in all of sports history. In 1985, there was a landmark Sports Illustrated article talking about the rampant use in professional sports. It was an historical and revolutionary article. One of the few going on record was Kim Wood. They had his photo in SI, and somewhere in there he was quoted as saying something about "scumbag (or was is 'scumball'?) NFL Coaches" as being part of the problem. To me, that was a gutsy thing to say, almost unheard of in the sports world today.
5. KW was one of the founders/creators/sellers of Hammer Strength equipment.
6. He is quite a collector of vintage equipment, with a museum-level inventory of stuff. Purchased the original Thomas Inch Dumbbell from David Prowse about a dozen years ago. I met Prowse in 2008 and asked him if that were true. It was. (Hey, just because everyone says it was so, didn't mean it was, so I figured I may as well ask...)
7. I was recently reading a compilation of Ken Leistner's "Steel Tip" Collection, a compilation of his newsletters from the 1980s. I saw that before MILO, IronMind, or Dinosaur Training, Wood was integrating grip training in the Bengals' strength program. Lots of it. Not sure if anyone else on the planet was doing it at that time. This was mentioned in multiple issues. By the way, also buried in those issues, it mentioned that Wood was bench pressing in excess of 400 lbs in high school, that he was an All State running back, and was "State Heavyweight Wrestling Champion at 210 pounds". I don't know his height, but it is under 6 feet.
8. If you want to read what he is up to lately, to hear interviews with him, and get a feel what journalists say about him, go to www.footballstrength.com.
9. His son, John Wood, has several internet strength sites. The two main topics seem to be "old time" strongmen and matters of grip. At the 2010 AOBS Dinner, cold, John credit card set a very hard brand new Number 3. I saw Tommy Heslep fail to credit card set and close the same gripper. RGC guys: it was about 158.
10. From everything I can see, this guy seems to be the same outspoken fellow in the 1970s, 1980s, and today. In the critically acclaimed great book by Randy Roach, "Muscle Smoke and Mirrors", Wood is portrayed as a major player in several portions of the book.

[Zach Kasukonis]

Thank you for setting this up, Mike. I was already aware of most of the things on this list, but it is good to put this out there so those less familiar with Kim can get a quick overview. I will post any further responses I have to Kim in this thread to keep from sidetracking the GOPD thread of Randalls.

[Zach Kasukonis]

"wow! "Bully Beatdown " is one of my favorite shows...
Zack: you are really full of it... and isn't it "red flag" strange that
YOU are spending such time and energy coming after me...

Randy: you started this with your GOPD remarks...I thought it
was funny...and with some of the people here I thought the
shoe fit...
But, Randy...quite frankly without me posting it's kinda
a dead board...I'm not sure of the stats but when I post
somebody let's the dogs out ...
...I'm amused but the "we knock the front teeth outta bullies and you are a bully and Joe Kinney is a goober" riffs have to stop...
Help me Rhonda!" LATEST POST ON GOPD THREAD BY KIM WOOD


In what way, exactly am I "full of it," Kim? Be specific, as I have said a lot of things, and surely they cant all be BS. If I am misinformed, or incorrect about some things I have said, by all means enlighten me and dispel my ignorance. Awesome that you are also a fan of "Bully Beatdown"! Its Jason "Mayhem" Miller who hosts it, right? Hes a very goofy guy from what I saw of the show, but seems to be a very nice fellow as well. A "red flag" of what, do you think? What is this a warning sign of?
I get tired of seeing you post attacks on benders, "gripper guys," and specific individuals who you don't approve of, so I have turned the spotlight right back on you in response, and if I am going to do this, I'm going to spend the time to do it properly, and try to create clear, cogent arguments. I just thought maybe it would be useful to you to have someone take the same kind of interest in you that you had been taking in Jordan for a while there...Its good to be able to see things from both sides of the glass, sometimes.
I was already aware of your rather impressive "Iron Game" resume which Mike has referenced in this thread. However, rather than looking at this and saying "Well, if hes done all that, surely we can't say anything when he behaves like a petulant child occasionally on this forum and attacks people," I look at this and say "Clearly this guy has been around the block, knows a heck of a lot, and DEFINITELY should know better than to behave like such a jerk to others, and if hes going to anyways, he should expect people to throw some rocks right back at him(metaphorically speaking, of course)"
Randall DID start the GOPD thread, and I first replied to it to make a lame joke of my own, then later got the wrong impression from some of the things he was saying, and spoke my mind to him, as well. The difference is that Randall engaged in a bit of dialog with me, clarified what he meant, and was quite civil about it, and I realized we were not on opposite sides of the issue, after all, and that what I had taken for disrespect and hostility was not what was intended, and I admitted I may have misunderstood him. This is much more how I feel disagreements should be handled, and was a relatively drama-free exchange of differing viewpoints.
You do post quite a bit, but still only average a little over 1 post a day. You are, however, quite good at increasing the views and traffic on any given thread. About half the time this is because you make well thought out, informative and interesting posts that people want to see. The other half of the time it is because you go and intentionally post some kind of attack or disparaging comments about either some large segment(or "clique") of the IM forum users, or 1 or 2 in particular in an attempt to "stir the pot" and create an argument or contentious thread. So overall in my opinion losing ALL of your posts would cost us some good information, but would cut the pointless drama and personal attacks seen on this site far more drastically.

[Randall Strossen]

[Mike Corlett]

Zach, I am not sure what your real point is. I don't buy the noble defender-of-the-weak story as to your motivations, but I do understand that KW pushes some buttons of yours. But that sounds like a personal issue.
I didn't take the time to condense what took me 39 years of observations about someone (beginning with someone telling me what they saw at Nautilus in 1973) in as objective fashion as I could, and post it on the World Wide Web for general readership so that someone could immediately use it as a springboard to...well I am not sure what.
If, by posting some facts about Wood here, I have created a situation where now guys can prove how tough they are by attacking a tough guy, I clearly made a mistake and apologize to Randy for starting this thread.

[Steve Friedrich]

Not everyone likes hot sauce but it certainly keeps things from being bland.

[Erick Brown]

I had read that Sports Illustrated article back in the 80's and remember the gist of it still. I didn't remember that Kim was quoted. But that article opened my eyes to drug use in the NFL and management's response to it and to the health of the players.

[Zach Kasukonis]

Zach, I am not sure what your real point is. I don't buy the noble defender-of-the-weak story as to your motivations, but I do understand that KW pushes some buttons of yours. But that sounds like a personal issue.
I didn't take the time to condense what took me 39 years of observations about someone (beginning with someone telling me what they saw at Nautilus in 1973) in as objective fashion as I could, and post it on the World Wide Web for general readership so that someone could immediately use it as a springboard to...well I am not sure what.
If, by posting some facts about Wood here, I have created a situation where now guys can prove how tough they are by attacking a tough guy, I clearly made a mistake and apologize to Randy for starting this thread.

Yes, it is more about having buttons pushed than anything. There is no one on this forum who is not capable of defending themselves, but I feel I am likely more capable than most of "responding in kind", and did so in a way to demonstrate a point(that this stuff is not productive or fun regardless of who it is pushing the buttons). I just got tired of seeing the same kind of intentionally provocative posts from that direction, and finally decided to respond in a thorough and extensive way. I have had my say, and I doubt Mr Wood will respond in any meaningful way, so I am going to leave it at that. I apologize if what I have said has offended you, and you can count on this sort of thing being exceedingly rare from me. I prefer to keep things on a civil and helpful basis if possible. If you look through everything else I have said and done on this forum, you will find nothing at all similar to the last couple of days of the GOPD thread.

[Todd Lewis]

Two More Things to the List

Guys,

I thought you might like to know two other things related to Kim Wood.

First, if you are a fan of the methods of Brooks Kubik's book Dinosaur Training but hate Wood, then I suggest you re-read the book. His name is everywhere in the book. Remember the two 180 lb suitcases for farmer's walk? Kubik got those from Wood, who had received them from Ken Leistner (sp?).

Second, his collection of weight equipment figures prominently in an article about Wood in the online magazine ASAP. Unfortunately, the Inch Dumbbell didn't make the photo spread, but it is an incredibly beautiful collection.

Todd

[Mike Corlett]

Yes, it is more about having buttons pushed than anything. There is no one on this forum who is not capable of defending themselves, but I feel I am likely more capable than most of "responding in kind", and did so in a way to demonstrate a point(that this stuff is not productive or fun regardless of who it is pushing the buttons). I just got tired of seeing the same kind of intentionally provocative posts from that direction, and finally decided to respond in a thorough and extensive way. I have had my say, and I doubt Mr Wood will respond in any meaningful way, so I am going to leave it at that. I apologize if what I have said has offended you, and you can count on this sort of thing being exceedingly rare from me. I prefer to keep things on a civil and helpful basis if possible. If you look through everything else I have said and done on this forum, you will find nothing at all similar to the last couple of days of the GOPD thread.

Okay, thanks.

[Jim Bryan]

Kim is a good friend from the Nautilus days. I would come up and visit Kim while Arthur was mad at me. We had some seriously good laughs. He's got a good sense of humor and there are some **** funny stories from back then. He's someone I'd like at my side when things go sideways. We have many of the same interests from lifting to combat. He's a Historian and collector of many rare and very cool lifting equipment.

[Chris McCarthy]

Mike,

Regarding your Point 5 above, hopfelly you'll allow me to present a story I found quite interesting at the time...

A couple of years ago I made a light-hearted post over at the P&B along the lines of "If I won the Lottery I'd like to buy the Inch Dumbell and bring it home to Blighty...". A few days after this I got an e-mail from someone who shall, for obvious reasons remain nameless, saying that they could procure the "Real" Inch Dumbell for me for a decent price. Now, this was not someone with whom I had had dealings with before (or since) but it was someone who knew well enough that I knew that Wood had purchased the original off of Prowse and that Wood was unlikely to sell it to me. I should probably further make it clear that in no way did the e-mailer suggest that the dumbell in question would have to be removed from Wood in any way - it was being held in a completely different location.


Now, this was something that I never pursued further - I presumed if the e-mailer actually intended to follow through with anything at all it would have been one of the many replicas sold to me at a tidy profit - Inch Dumbell do look pretty similar afterall - but it did make me chuckle when I read that you had asked Prowse point-blank if he had sold the Dumbell as conventional wisdom had it.

Chris

[michael starkey]

This is my view on this thread in no particular order

I would say kim is 1 of the reasons i dont post updates or go to much into details about my grippers after i read a post basically moaning about all these gripper guys coming out of the woodwork .

However i did throw a moonshine insult at kim he never barked back
i then became aware of his history and that he is loyal to ironmind which is understandable .

I would say and im not siding here although he is set in his ways there have been people trying to bait him lately and probably are trying to get a reaction .

If this was a different forum mods and admin would off probably barred half their members ,but as it is this site allows for open speech .

Anyway lets all get back to proper topics even though kim has been inducted into the ironmind hall of fame .

[Mike Corlett]

Now, this was something that I never pursued further - I presumed if the e-mailer actually intended to follow through with anything at all it would have been one of the many replicas sold to me at a tidy profit - Inch Dumbell do look pretty similar afterall - but it did make me chuckle when I read that you had asked Prowse point-blank if he had sold the Dumbell as conventional wisdom had it.

Chris

There were about 10 of us that had dinner together. Someone asked David if he wanted to join us, which he did. Never spoke about Star Wars, but I didn't hesitate to ask him about the Inch.

If you ever meet him and want to see his face light up, ask him if he has any good Bruce Wilhelm Stories.

[Chris McCarthy]

I've chatted with Dave on several occasions over the years (some time ago now unfortunately)...If I ever get the chance I'll mention Wilhelm!

[Kim Wood]

you'd want to ask him about Bruce White also...

[Mike Corlett]

But, I thought I would post a Cliff Notes version of 10 things about Kim Wood that people who post on this forum should know. And, for that matter, people who read this forum should know. None of the information provided here is actually from Kim Wood. It is all from magazines, books, or people who I personally know or spoken to.
7. I was recently reading a compilation of Ken Leistner's "Steel Tip" Collection, a compilation of his newsletters from the 1980s. I saw that before MILO, IronMind, or Dinosaur Training, Wood was integrating grip training in the Bengals' strength program. Lots of it. Not sure if anyone else on the planet was doing it at that time. This was mentioned in multiple issues. By the way, also buried in those issues, it mentioned that Wood was bench pressing in excess of 400 lbs in high school, that he was an All State running back, and was "State Heavyweight Wrestling Champion at 210 pounds". I don't know his height, but it is under 6 feet.

After Mr. Wood made his exit from the IM Forum, he sent me an email. He said that he was second, not the winner, as a heavyweight in the State of Illinois as a high school wrestler. Besides reading that he was champion in Leistner's "Steel Tip" piece, I had been told that a few years ago by a Randy Roach-level Iron Game source.

Just correcting the record.

[Dave Hartnett]

There were about 10 of us that had dinner together. Someone asked David if he wanted to join us, which he did. Never spoke about Star Wars, but I didn't hesitate to ask him about the Inch.

If you ever meet him and want to see his face light up, ask him if he has any good Bruce Wilhelm Stories.

Mike, that was a fun dinner.. Some good stories told there..

[Peter Martin]

I would just like to add, that all argument aside regarding attitudes.....the loss of Kim Woods from the forum has severely reduced the level of historical knowledge now made available to it. Personally, I always found that there was another side to Mr Woods in His PM's.


Sad loss, I enjoyed his threads. (well most of them)


Peter

[Kim Wood]

Peter: I'm not gone from this forum but I'm certainly
gonna take a lower profile than before... a forum IS the
people who "inhabit it" and this one has many good men that do contribute but it also has a few wing-nuts that wreck it for everyone. This forum should be a "private" forum only open
for subscribers to Milo... instead, kept in its current form
it will become Grip Board II. Thank you for the nice words, Peter.