Always the first question…even when not asked out loud. So this page will give a little background. It will illustrate my “why”. The mission statement boils it down to its essence as it directly relates to FasTwitch Kinetics. What follows here is the path traveled from an approximate starting point. The story. I will try not to get too wordy and stick to the high points, although as always, some low points have certainly been pivotal. They certainly exist on this path. What’s important is what I have chosen and am pursuing as a result.
At start of the 1990s there was a struggle of self. Things simply not working in any way that I expected they should. Trying to find purpose and higher calling…the “why”. I was not consciously labeling anything I was doing as pertaining to those goals really. I knew I wanted to do more for me and my family but could not find the flow. Real Estate course and certification, series 6 license and financial services, both on the heels of several attempts at business in construction services. Nothing hitting the mark. Nothing resonating. Really pretty frustrating.
A friend suggested I do something I loved just because I loved it. (Thanks Steve) That something was in the ski industry. I skied and was good and it had been a passion since 10 years old or so. I had seen the Hahnenkahm downhill race on TV and watched Killy and Kidd and others in Olympic events and it was what I wanted to do so bad! I learned to ski behind a snowmobile! (imagining it was those races) Thanks Dad, it was really cool…it still is! I did not know much about technical aspects of equipment then, but when it is something that is in your blood as it were, you learn differently.
Jumping ahead a decade or so and I am living in a different part of the country. A place where much history of skiing in America was written. Vermont. Killington to be exact. At this point highly proficient and now developed eye for technical evaluation and a unique and comfortable ability to engage with skiers on any level and lead them to solutions that bring a higher degree of fun and excitement to them in the sport. The intricacies of equipment selection and set up. Bootfitting and all that it entails from selection to fine tuning. Biomechanical evaluation that results in the next level of performance. Part technical and part education for the client. Everything moves from their perspective and goals. Demanding and invigorating and deeply satisfying. Though, still something missing, it was just not quite “it”.
In this time frame I was also racing around New England and the country in USSA Masters and some citizen events. I took a view of this as a serious undertaking from the standpoint of safety and proficiency. I evaluated everything regarding my performance and sought to get better on every run or event. Without bogging down on detail this all led to working with a friend as a ski tech for the Austrian Skicross team one month prior to the 2010 Olympics at Vancouver. This was a pivotal point that came from a very high point. A very very high point. An introduction to one of the very new and to me very cool emerging freeski/freestyle sports. I am leaving so much out here, but what I am doing with FasTwitch Kinetics really began to accelerate from right here!
In August 2010 I was on a plane to Argentina with the powerhouse Canadian Skicross team to essentially interview for the same position with that 11 member team. I worked for them during the 2010/11 season and then had something of an epiphany. I knew, I just knew and could see a unique convergence of my experiences especially in the previous 15 years, but not only, and it was very clear that it was time to step into my lifelong passion.
Result was, diving headfirst into a 4 year degree plan to ramp up my applicable knowledge base and couple that with considerable experience, reinventing myself based on the living energy from what all of this had reignited! I punctuated these 4 years with a semester “off” working again on the World Cup for China Freestyle Aerials Team. A remarkable season with former US Ski Team Freestyle Head Coach Jeff Wintersteen. More energy, more fuel to the fire.
As I began the meat of my B.S. degree at the College at Brockport, I came in contact with the technology that I present to you through FasTwitch Kinetics ,as well as Dr, Chris Williams, an individual I consider pre-eminent in the research and application of this training mode. The equipment, a very rare responsive kinetics machine and the opportunity to engage in training on it, training others on it and doing research on it for 2 years. A lot of things were lining up and my eyes and ears were much more open. Very early, a concept, a seed was planted. Throughout the 2 years it was cultivated, after graduation it began to germinate. The process continues, the passion for performance, the fundamentals of discovery and gifting to others, all continue to expand daily!
I hope you can see a little of why this is my vehicle of purpose. My opportunity to gift back from the gifts given to me! I most certainly look forward to introducing you and thousands more to life changing experience !
Thank you!
Matt
